page_title: Coultershaw Wharf and Beam Pump
section_title: Coultershaw Wharf
hierarchical_section_title: Coultershaw Wharf and Beam Pump / Coultershaw Wharf
caption_attribution_description: English: River Rother at Coultershaw: The near bridge is that for the lock cut of the derelict Rother Navigation, but it has been lowered. Immediately above the bridge, out of sight, is what is left of the lock. The brick building is the engine house that formerly housed engines to power the mill here at times of low water. Beyond this are sluices and chambers for the former waterwheels that powered the mill, which is now demolished. The building dimly visible beyond the sluices houses a water powered water pump, formerly used to supply Petworth with water. The water level seen here is somewhat higher than usual.
context_page_description: Coultershaw Bridge is a rural community situated 1.5 mi south of the town Petworth in West Sussex, England where the A285 road from Petworth to Chichester crosses the River Rother.
  Between 1792 and 1888, there were also wharves and a lock at Coultershaw on the Rother Navigation. Until the 1970s, a water mill stood on the river housing a beam engine which was originally installed in 1782 by the 3rd Earl of Egremont to pump water from the river to Petworth and his home at Petworth House. Following the demolition of the mill, the Coultershaw Beam Pump was restored to working order and is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument, which is open to the public on summer weekends.
context_section_description: Between 1791 and 1794, the Third Earl of Egremont financed the upgrading of the River Rother and the construction of a series of locks, to make the river navigable for commercial traffic between the River Arun at Pulborough and Midhurst.
  Digging the route for the new Rother Navigation began in August 1791 at Stopham, where, by use of the River Arun, it connected with the  Wey and Arun Canal and thus to London. By the end of July 1792, the excavations had been completed to Coultershaw Wharf, where the canal made use of the millstream, which here ran nearly due south, with the main stream of the river running in a large meander to the west with a weir at its head. At the mill itself, the fourth lock was constructed a few yards to the west of the mill. By June 1793, commercial traffic had started to use the canal with timber being carried from Coultershaw to the Arun in August 1793. In November 1794, the first barge loads of chalk arrived at the newly built kiln at Coultershaw, which was situated to the east of the road about a hundred yards north of the mill.
  Until 1800, the turnpike from Chichester to Petworth descended Duncton Hill before crossing the River Rother at Rotherbridge, half a mile north-west of Coultershaw. The Petworth Turnpike Trustees, including the Third Earl of Egremont, suspected that William Warren, the miller at Coultershaw, was allowing his "friends" to cross the river by using the mill bridge, thus avoiding the toll for use of the turnpike. By Act of Parliament in 1800, Lord Egremont paid for the construction of a new bridge at Coultershaw and the re-routing of the turnpike direct from there to Petworth. As a result, the former twin-arched bridge at Rotherbridge was pulled down and the stone was used to build the new bridge at Coultershaw with a toll-house on the west bank of the river.
  Although Coultershaw was about 1.5 mi (2.4 km) south of Petworth, it was the nearest wharf on the navigation and quickly eased the transport of fertiliser, coal and building materials to the town and surrounding areas and improved access to wider markets for agricultural, timber and other products. The wharf at Coultershaw was the busiest on the navigation, handling over half the navigation's traffic. In 1820, 1,683 tons of coal were carried to Coultershaw.
  By 1808, the wharf stretched over both sides of the river. "Big Wharf" on the north (east) bank, contained a small warehouse (leased to William Upton, a Petworth merchant, until 1840), a blacksmith's shop and shoeing shed (leased to Michael Ford), and six coal pens. A variety of huts and storehouses also stood on "Little Wharf" on the south (west) bank. Adjacent to the wharf stood the flour mill (now leased to William Dale), with Lord Egremont's limekilns nearby.
  The navigation was at its busiest from 1823 to 1863, with the annual tonnage never falling below 10,000. In 1843, the quantity of coal carried to Coultershaw had risen to 2,000 tons with a total of 7,000 tons of merchandise passing through Coultershaw that year, which represented 55% of the total traffic on the navigation. 
  In October 1859, the London Brighton and South Coast Railway opened the railway line from Pulborough to Petworth with the new Petworth station being sited half a mile south from Coultershaw, 2 mi (3.2 km) in all from the town centre. At first, the railway had little effect on the navigation until, in 1863, the Arun Valley Line was extended south from Pulborough to Arundel and Ford where it connected to the south coast mainline. Within a year, the navigation had lost 5,000 tons or 40% of its annual traffic. The extension of the railway to Midhurst in 1866, resulted in further loss of traffic, with the canal traffic being restricted to loads, such as large trees, which were too large for the railway.
  Commercial traffic continued on the navigation until 1888 although it was only formally abandoned in 1936.
  The toll house at Coultershaw was demolished in the late 1870s, although its foundations were still visible on the west side of the canal bridge in the 1950s. The lock and bridge have s
caption: River Rother at Coultershaw in flood. The near bridge is that for the lock cut of the derelict Rother Navigation, but it has been lowered. Immediately above the bridge, out of sight, is what is left of the lock. (February  2011)
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