# Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, of Great Britain/Bradford Canal
## BRADFORD CANAL.

       11 George III Cap. 89, Royal Assent 29th April, 1771.
       42 George III. Cap. 93. Royal Assent 22nd June, 1802.
THIS canal commences in the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, near the manufacturing village of Shipley, and extends along the eastern side of the valley, in which runs the rivulet called Bradford Brook, and terminates at Hoppy Bridge, situate in the lower part of the town of Bradford. It is in length three miles, with a rise from the Leeds and Liverpool Canal of 86¼ feet by ten locks. The locks are 66 feet in length, and in width 15 feet 2 inches, being the same in dimension as those on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The depth of water is 5 feet.
The act under which this canal was executed, is entitled, 'An Act for making a navigable Cut or Canal from Bradford, to join the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, at Windhill, in the township of Idle, in the county of York.' The subscribers to this canal, at the time the act was obtained, consisted of twenty-eight persons, who were incorporated by the name of "The Company of Proprietors of the Bradford Navigation." They were empowered to raise among themselves £6,000, in sixty shares of £100 each, but the works were not to commence until the whole sum was raised; and if the above sum was insufficient, they were empowered to raise an additional sum of £3,000, by the admission of new subscribers. ​

### TONNAGE RATES.TONNAGE RATES.

| Clay, Bricks, Stones, Coal, Lime, Dung and Manure | 6d per Ton. |
| Timber, Goods, Wares, Merchandise or other Commodities | 9d ditto. |
And so in proportion for any greater or less Weight than a Ton.
If Goods remain upon the Company's Wharfs more than Twenty-four Hours, they are entitled to Wharfage, the Amount of which to be agreed on between the Parties.
That Fifty Feet of round, or Forty Feet of square Oak, Ash, or Elm Timber, or Fifty Feet of Fir, or Deal, Balk, Poplar, and other Timber Wood, shall be estimated as One Ton; and that Lime, Stone, Coal, and other Goods, shall consist of Twenty-two Hundred Weight of One Hundred and Twelve Pounds each.
No Boat of less than Twenty Tons Burthen to pass a Lock without leave, unlessTonnage is paid to that Amount.
The canal was finished in 1774.
For the purpose of giving a better supply of water to this canal, the proprietors were under the necessity of purchasing mills and lands contiguous to its banks, by which the shares were in creased, by additional calls, to £250 per share; and in order to secure this part of their property from the operations of the statute of mortmain, they applied to parliament, and obtained an act, entitled, 'An Act for vesting divers Estates in the parishes of Bradford and Calverley, in the West Riding of the county of York, purchased for the benefit of the Proprietors of the Bradford Canal Navigation, in Trustees, upon certain Trusts, discharged from all Claims of the Crown, in respect of any Forfeiture incurred under or by virtue of the Laws or Statutes of Mortmain.'
As the neighbourhood of Bradford abounds in flag paving-stone, coal, and valuable beds of iron-stone, this canal has been of infinite advantage in conveying them to various parts of the country. The extensive iron works at Bowling, and Wibsey Low Moor, with others of inferior note in the vicinity, may, in a great measure, be said to have been founded, or at least greatly enlarged, in consequence of the facility which this canal afforded, by its connection with the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, for the conveyance of their castings to all parts of the kingdom.
From these foundries, iron railways approach the town of Bradford, but though they do not extend to the head of the canal, yet they have the effect of materially reducing the price of the carriage of the heavy articles from these works. Flag, stone and slate from the eastern bank of this canal, and also near its head, (where it is very extensively worked) finds its way to the London ​Market, and to the towns on the eastern coast; and coal, and the first-mentioned articles, are sent by this and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, into the extensive district of Craven. Since Bradford became the centre of the stuff manufacture and principal market for it, wool is also become a considerable article of traffic upon this navigation.