page_title: Bridgewater Canal
section_title: Subsequent owners
hierarchical_section_title: Bridgewater Canal / Subsequent owners
caption_attribution_description: The en:Barton Swing Aqueduct near Eccles in en:Greater Manchester. It takes the en:Bridgewater Canal over the en:Manchester Ship Canal. Photo by G-Man
context_page_description: The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. It was opened in 1761 from Worsley to Manchester, and later extended from Manchester to Runcorn, and then from Worsley to Leigh.
  The canal is connected to the Manchester Ship Canal via a lock at Cornbrook; to the Rochdale Canal in Manchester; to the Trent and Mersey Canal at Preston Brook, southeast of Runcorn; and to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Leigh. It once connected with the River Mersey at Runcorn but has since been cut off by a slip road to the Silver Jubilee Bridge.
  Following the construction of the Sankey Brook Navigation, Bridgewater has been argued to be the first true canal of the Industrial Revolution in England, and it required the construction of an aqueduct to cross the River Irwell, one of the first of its kind. Its success helped inspire a period of intense canal building in Britain, known as Canal Mania. It later faced intense competition from the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and the Macclesfield Canal.
context_section_description: In 1872 the Bridgewater Navigation Company Ltd was formed, and on Monday 9 September the canal was purchased in the names of Sir Edward William Watkin and William Philip Price, respectively chairmen of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway and the Midland Railway for £1,120,000.  The canal was sold again in 1885, when the Manchester Ship Canal Company paid the Bridgewater Navigation Company £1,710,000 for all their property.  The construction of the ship canal forced the removal of Barton Aqueduct and the construction of Barton Swing Aqueduct, as the former was too low for the vessels which would use the new canal.  In 1907 The Manchester Ship Canal (Bridgewater Canal) Act 1907 was passed, permitting coal mining near the canal between Monton Bridge and Leigh, in exchange for which the mine owners were obliged to pay the associated costs of keeping the canal open and navigable.
  In 1923 Bridgewater Estates Ltd was formed to acquire the Ellesmere family estate in Worsley. In 1984 Bridgewater Estates Ltd was purchased by a subsidiary of Peel Holdings. In 1987 Highams acquired a majority shareholding of the Manchester Ship Canal Company (subsequently the shares held by Highams were transferred to Peel Holdings).  In 1994 the Manchester Ship Canal Company became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Peel Holdings group. In 2004 ownership of the Manchester Ship Canal Company was transferred to the Peel Ports group.
caption: Barton Swing Aqueduct, built to replace the original aqueduct during construction of the Manchester Ship Canal
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