Westport Canal

Westport Canal
The derelict Westport Canal near Westport.
Specifications
Locks	1 + a flood gate
Status	Derelict
History
Original owner	Parrett Navigation Company
Principal engineer	William Gravatt
Date of act	1836
Date of first use	1840
Date closed	1875
Geography
Start point	Westport
End point	Muchelney
Branch of	River Parrett

[ ] Westport Canal
Langport River Yeo Law Lane, Muchelney River Parrett Westmoor Pumping Stn + Drain Midelney lock (disused) bridges Midelney bridge Junction with River Isle Weir and flood gate B3168 road bridge River Isle Westmoor Lane, Hambridge New School bridge Church School bridge Third bridge Knighton Drove bridge Barrington Broadway bridge Westport wharfs

The Westport Canal was built in the late 1830s to link Westport and Langport in Somerset, England. It was part of a larger scheme involving improvements to the River Parrett above Burrow Bridge. Langport is the point at which the River Yeo joins the River Parrett and the intention was to enable trade via the port at Bridgwater. It remained in use until the 1870s, but closed when the Somerset Drainage Commissioners took over control of the River Parrett. Despite a petition against closure by local people, the Commissioners ruled that navigation of the canal must cease due to their interpretation of the Act which gave them control of it, leaving the canal to serve as a drainage channel since 1878.

The channel has survived to the modern day due to its drainage function, and many of the structures associated with the canal can still be seen. A number of them are on the listed building register because of their historic importance. There is some interest in improving the canal for its amenity value.

By the 1830s, the village of Westport was well-connected to the surrounding area, as a result of turnpike road construction in 1753, 1759 and 1823. The roads linked Westport to Ilminster and Chard, which were also on the planned route of the Chard Canal. Although that canal would link the towns to Taunton, those planning the Westport Canal made approaches to the Chard Canal proprietors about the possibility of a link from Westport to the new canal, but this was rejected.

Against this background, and having engaged Isambard Kingdom Brunel as engineering consultant, the construction of the Westport Canal was authorised by an Act of Parliament obtained in 1836. The Act gave the newly formed Parrett Navigation Company powers to raise £10,500 by the issuing of shares, and an additional £3,300 from a mortgage if required. The canal was part of a bigger scheme; the act authorised improvements to the River Parrett between Burrow Bridge and Langport, rebuilding of the river bridge at Langport, which had obstructed navigation up-river from there for many years, and construction of the canal to Westport. The scheme was supported by two local landowners, the Trevillian family and the Combe family, and so obtaining land for the route was not difficult.