Bond End Canal
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(originally 1)
| Bond End Canal | |
|---|---|
 The entrance to Shobnall Basin, pictured in 2009 | |
 Interactive map of Bond End Canal | |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 1.5 miles (2.4 km) |
| Locks | 2 (originally 1) |
| Status | Closed |
| History | |
| Date completed | 1775 |
| Date closed | 1874 |
| Geography | |
| Start point | Bond End 52°48′02″N 1°37′43″W / 52.8006°N 1.6287°W |
| End point | Shobnall Basin 52°48′23″N 1°39′21″W / 52.8065°N 1.6557°W |
| Connects to | |
The Bond End Canal was a canal in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. It was built in 1774–75 by the Burton Boat Company who operated the Trent Navigation between Wilden Ferry and Burton and who feared that the Trent and Mersey Canal would threaten their trade (the canal joined the river downstream of Wilden Ferry and ran via Burton to North West England). The Bond End Canal ran between the Trent at Bond End, near the town centre, and a basin adjacent to the Trent and Mersey Canal at Shobnall. Originally cargo had to be unloaded to pass between vessels on the two canals but in 1794 permission was granted for a lock to provide direct passage between the two. The Trent and Mersey Canal eventually won the battle for trade and the Trent Navigation was abandoned by the 1810s.
The Bond End Canal remained in use until the 1860s. In 1874 the Midland Railway received permission to build a branch line along the route of the canal. They retained the lock at Shobnall as an interchange between the railway and the Trent and Mersey Canal but most of the Bond End Canal was infilled by 1900. After nationalisation the lock at Shobnall was purchased and converted into a marina and chandlery. After the branch line fell into disuse much of the route of the Bond End Canal now forms the alignment of the A5189 Evershed Way.
William Paget, 6th Baron Paget and his successors had the right under the River Trent Navigation Act 1698 (10 Will. 3. c. 26) to make the River Trent navigable from Wilden Ferry to Bond End in Burton on Trent, and to charge a toll on freight.[1] The rights over the Trent Navigation were leased to the Burton Boat Company who profited from the movement of hops, grain and malt for the brewers of Burton as well as cheese, pottery, iron and timber. The Trent and Mersey Canal was built from 1766, eventually providing a navigable route for narrowboats from Derwent Mouth, just downstream of Wilden Ferry, through Burton to North West England.[2]
The Burton Boat Company was concerned that the new canal would threaten their existing trade.[2] They had tried to persuade the Trent and Mersey Canal's engineer James Brindley to make the connection to the Trent at Bond End and use the Trent Navigation for downstream trade. Brindley refused because fluctuating river levels made the navigation less reliable than a continuation of the canal.[3] The Burton Boat Company then resolved to make their own connection to the Trent and Mersey Canal and provided finance of £3,600 to run a widebeam canal the 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from Bond End to the Trent and Mersey basin at Shobnall.[3][4][5] The canal ran entirely on land owned by Henry Paget, Lord Paget and without benefit of an act of Parliament, commonly used for other navigation works.[6] The Bond End Canal has sometimes been referred to as a branch of the Trent and Mersey Canal but this is incorrect as they were always in separate ownership.[2] The construction works were completed between 1774 and 1775.[1]
The Bond End Canal originally had just one lock at the point of connection to the River Trent, on Peel's Cut, which was also the site of a basin and wharves for transfer from the Trent Navigation.[3][1] The Trent and Mersey Canal refused permission for a direct connection between the two waterways and so a physical separation between the two was maintained at what became known as the Shobnall Bar. This required cargo to be unloaded and transferred manually between vessels on the two canals.[3][7]
