page_title: Bridgwater and Taunton Canal
section_title: Restoration
hierarchical_section_title: Bridgwater and Taunton Canal / Restoration
caption_attribution_description: English: Bridgwater and Taunton Canal The canal emerging from a tunnel.
context_page_description: The Bridgwater and Taunton Canal is a canal in the south-west of England between Bridgwater and Taunton, opened in 1827 and linking the River Tone to the River Parrett. There were a number of abortive schemes to link the Bristol Channel to the English Channel by waterway in the 18th and early 19th centuries. These schemes followed the approximate route eventually taken by the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal, but the canal was instead built as part of a plan to link Bristol to Taunton by waterway.
  The early years of operation were marred by a series of legal disputes, which were resolved when the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal Company and the Conservators, who managed the River Tone Navigation, agreed that the Canal Company should take over the Tone Navigation. The canal originally terminated at a basin at Huntworth, to the east of Bridgwater, but was later extended to a floating harbour at Bridgwater Docks on its western edge. Financially this was a disaster, as the extension was funded by a mortgage, and the arrival of the railways soon afterwards started the demise of the canal. The canal was rescued from bankruptcy by the Bristol and Exeter Railway in 1866.
context_section_description: From the late 1960s, there was a growing awareness of the benefits of retaining the canal. The Inland Waterways Association produced a report, entitled The Bridgwater and Taunton Canal - Waterway with a Future, suggesting that the canal had the potential for development as a linear Country Park, and the County Planning Officer for Somerset County Council produced a second report, suggesting that funds should be made available for maintenance and restoration, which the County Council duly adopted. The Countryside Act 1968 provided a framework for such action, and a visit in 1971 to see the work being done on the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal as part of the creation of the Brecon Beacons National Park convinced the Council of the wisdom of such a course of action. By 1974, Higher and Lower Maunsel locks, which are listed buildings, had been refurbished by the British Waterways Board, with funding from the County Council. Funding for towpath maintenance and weed cutting was also provided.
  In December 1974, the Council bought Bridgwater Dock from British Railways. The concrete wall across the barge lock was removed, but there was no intention to restore the ship lock. By 1980, the Council had invested over £50,000 in the restoration, which included Kings and Standards locks, and the bottom gates of Newtown Lock. Some bridges had been raised, but only to 4 feet (1.2 m), which allowed canoeing, but prevented bigger boats from using the waterway. Work on the deep cutting between West Street and Albert Street started in September 1978, jointly funded by the County Council and Sedgemoor District Council, using direct labour, while a Manpower Services Commission scheme to dredge the canal from the dock to the cutting and to widen the towpath was funded by the District Council in 1981.
  The condition of the swing bridge at Bathpool caused a change in policy. There were objections to the plan to replace it with a fixed bridge with limited headroom, and the planning application was deferred. By 1983, a six-year plan to restore the canal was fully costed, and it was adopted by the British Waterways Board, the County Council, Sedgemoor District Council and Taunton Deane Borough Council in the following year. The scheme was supported by the West Country Branch of the Inland Waterways Association, who offered the services of the Waterway Recovery Group, to do some of the work. The swing bridges at Crossways, Boat and Anchor, and Fordgate were rebuilt, and by 1987, 4.5 miles (7.2 km) of canal were available for navigation. After some teething problems, it was decided that many of the rest of the accommodation bridges would be raised to give 8 feet (2.4 m) of headroom, rather than rebuilding them as swing bridges. Restoration of the bridges at the Taunton end continued during the early 1990s, and the canal was finally re-opened in 1994.
caption: The canal emerging from the tunnel beneath West Street, showing the timbers used to shore up the cutting walls after their partial collapse in 1968
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