Stover Canal

The Stover Canal is a canal located in Devon, England. It was opened in 1792 and served the ball clay industry until it closed in the early 1940s. Today it is derelict, but the Stover Canal Society is aiming to restore it and reopen it to navigation.

History

The canal was built at a time when the ball clay industry was expanding, but transport of the bulky product was difficult. James Templer saw this as an opportunity, and began to construct the canal at his own expense in January 1790.M.C. Ewans, "The Haytor Granite Tramway and Stover Canal", (1966) David & Charles, Newton Abbot] He planned to reach Bovey Tracey, passing through Jewsbridge, near Heathfield en route, and to construct a branch to Chudleigh. Having invested over 1000 GBP in the project, he sought an Act of Parliament which would allow him to raise more capital, but although the Act was passed on 11 June 1792, he did not invoke its powers, as the canal had already reached Ventiford and he did not extend it further.

As built, the canal was 1.7 miles (2.7 km) long and included five locks. It was supplied with water from three feeders, one from Ventiford Brook, a stream which also supplies Stover Lake and one from the River Bovey at Jewsbridge, both of which fed the top pound, and one from the River Teign at Fishwick, which entered the canal just below lock 4. The exit from the canal was on to the tidal Whitelake channel, and from there to the River Teign and the docks. The first three locks did not originally have side walls, but used earth banks instead, which were replaced with timber or brick walls in due course. The Graving Dock lock was only 56 ft (17m) long, and so could take a single barge, but all the others were long enough to take two barges end to end. The first Jetty Marsh lock was much bigger, at 215 ft long and 45 ft wide (65m by 13.7m), but carries the inscription "Duke of Somerset, 1841", and so it would appear that it was reconstructed as a basin, so that barges could wait in it for the tide. The Graving Dock lock is probably unique in the United Kingdom, in that it was reconstructed with a dock at its side, which could be used as a dry dock when the lock was empty. Both Jetty Marsh lock and Graving Dock lock are currently Grade 2 listed.The website of the [http://www.stovercanal.co.uk/index.htm Stover Canal Society] ]

Having invested most of his capital in the project, James Templer was rewarded by the success of the canal. A major contract with Josiah Wedgwood and Sons was re-established in 1798. Wedgwoods remained the major recipient of the ball clay until 1815, after which trade was established with other pottery manufacturers and other ports.

At the beginning of the 1820s, the Haytor Granite Tramway was built to connect the Duke of Somerset's granite quarries at Haytor Rocks to the canal basin at Ventiford. For the next 40 years, the traffic in granite supplemented the ball clay trade. When plans to build the Newton and Moretonhampstead Railway were proposed, the Duke sought to sell both the canal and the trackbed of the Granite Tramway to the fledgling railway company. It was duly sold for 8000 GBP on 4 June 1862, by which time the section above Teignbridge was effectively redundant, and so the railway company was not required to maintain it. However, the section up to Graving Dock lock was retained, so that users of the canal could still repair their barges, and it was at this point that the new dock was constructed which gave the Graving Dock lock its name. The canal was almost immediately leased to Watts, Blake and Co., a company who sank clay-pits.

The canal passed into the ownership of the Great Western Railway in 1877, but continued to be leased to Watts, Blake and Co., who paid a fixed price for its use, and were also required to maintain it. Traffic dwindled and finally ceased in 1937, but Watts, Blake and Company's latest 14-year lease did not end until 1942, and so it was not formally abandoned until March 1943. It remained in water until 1951, when one of the banks was breached, flooding a clay pit.

Current Status

In the late 1980s, parts of the towpath were incorporated into the Templer Way historical trail, created by Teignbridge District Council, who were by then owners of Jetty Marsh Lock and Ventiford Basin. The rest of the canal was owned by Railtrack, who have recently agreed to hand it over to the District Council for leisure use. The Stover Canal Society is working with the District Council to formulate a strategy for its restoration.

ee also

*Haytor Granite Tramway

References

Bibliography

* Ewans, M.C. (1966). "The Haytor Granite Tramway and Stover Canal". Newton Abbot: David & Charles.
* Harris, Helen & Thurlow, George (1994). "The Haytor Granite Tramway and Stover Canal". Peninsula Press, ISBN 1872640281.