Baybridge Canal

{{Short description|Canal in West Sussex, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}} {{Use British English|date=March 2017}} {{Infobox Canal |name = Baybridge Canal |image = Baybridge_Old_Lock_geograph_530668.jpg |image_caption = The disused lock at the lower end of the canal |former_names = |original_owner = |engineer = |other_engineer = |date_act = |date_use = |date_completed = 1826 |date_closed = 1875 |date_restored = |len_ft = 75 |len_in = 0 |original_boat_length_ft = |original_boat_length_in = |len_note = |beam_ft = 12 |beam_in = 6 |original_beam_ft = |original_beam_in = |beam_note = |start_point = |original_start = |start_note = |end_point = |original_end = |end_note = |branch = |branch_of = |connects_to = River Adur |locks = 2 |original_num_locks = |lock_note = |elev_ft = |elev_note = |status = reverted to river |navigation_authority = }} {{Baybridge Canal map}} The '''Baybridge Canal''' was a short canal built entirely within the parish of West Grinstead in the English county of Sussex. It opened in 1826, and closed in 1875.

==History== The River Adur is formed when the Western Adur and the Eastern Adur join near Henfield. The Western branch starts near Slinfold, and flows through Shipley and West Grinstead. The Eastern branch rises on Ditchling Common, and flows through Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill. Below the junction, the combined stream flows for {{convert|10.8|mi|km}} to reach the English Channel at the port of Shoreham-by-Sea.<ref name=jane50>{{harvnb |Cumberlidge |2009 |pp=50–51}}</ref> Under the River Adur Navigation and Drainage Act 1807 (47 Geo. 3 Sess. 2. c. cxvii),<ref>{{harvnb |Priestley |1831 |p=4}}</ref> the river was improved, to aid both navigation and drainage, and barges could reach Bines Bridge on the Western Adur.<ref name=jane50/>

{{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = Baybridge Canal Act 1825 | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom | long_title = An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Cut or Canal from the River Adur, at or near Binesbridge, in the Parish of West Grinsted, in the County of Sussex, to Baybridge, in the said Parish. | year = 1825 | citation = 6 Geo. 4. c. clxiv | introduced_commons = | introduced_lords = | territorial_extent = | royal_assent = 22 June 1825 | commencement = | expiry_date = | repeal_date = | amends = | replaces = | amendments = | repealing_legislation = | related_legislation = | status = | legislation_history = | theyworkforyou = | millbankhansard = | original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Geo4/6/164/pdfs/ukla_18250164_en.pdf | revised_text = | use_new_UK-LEG = | UK-LEG_title = | collapsed = yes }} In 1824, the civil engineer May Upton produced a plan for extending the navigation northwards to West Grinstead, at a cost of just under £6,000. This formed the basis for another act of Parliament, the '''{{visible anchor|Baybridge Canal Act 1825}}''' (6 Geo. 4. c. clxiv), and created the Baybridge Canal Company. Seven men were named as proprietors, including Lord Selsey and Sir Charles Merrick Burrell, and they were empowered to raise £6,000 by issuing shares, and an additional £3,000 by mortgages if required.<ref>{{harvnb |Priestley |1831 |p=58}}</ref> Although called a canal, it was essentially a river navigation, as it followed the course of the river to West Grinstead, to terminate at a wharf near the Worthing to Horsham turnpike road,<ref name=jane50/> now the A24.

The canal ran for {{convert|3.5|mi|km}} from Bines Bridge to the wharf at Baybridge. There were two locks, designed for boats which were {{convert|75|by|12.5|ft|m}},<ref>{{harvnb |Cumberlidge |2009 |p=376}}</ref> each with a 7-foot rise. All of the route was within the parish of West Grinstead, and the construction work was completed in 1826. The main trade was manure, coal and chalk. The canal closed on 1 September 1875 due to competition from the railways, having been little used after the opening of the railway from Shoreham to West Grinstead in 1861.<ref name=vine2>{{harvnb |Vine |1985 |p=2}}</ref>

==Course== The waterway was crossed by a swing bridge just above the lower lock,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/430796 |publisher=Geograph |title=Locks Bridge |author=Peter Cox}}</ref> and a lift bridge at Hatterell Farm. Both have been replaced by fixed bridges, and the Environment Agency maintain a gauging station at the Hatterell Farm bridge,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/399996 |publisher=Geograph |title=Hatterell Bridge |author=Peter Cox}}</ref> which measures flows in the river. The average flow up to 2005 was 22.43 million gallons (101.9 Megalitres) per day.<ref>{{harvnb |Marsh |Hannaford |2008 |p=115}}</ref>

==Points of interest== {{GeoGroup}}{{PoIgb start|type=collapsed}} {{PoIgb|Bay Bridge wharf|50.9741|-0.3402|TQ166207|Start of navigation}} {{PoIgb|Butchers Row bridge|50.9727|-0.3341|TQ170205|}} {{PoIgb|Hatterell Farm bridge|50.9650|-0.3235|TQ178197|once a lift bridge}} {{PoIgb|Locks bridge|50.9556|-0.3218|TQ179186|once a swing bridge}} {{PoIgb|Lower lock|50.9536|-0.3222|TQ179184|End of navigation}} {{PoIgb|Bines Green bridge|50.9452|-0.3081|TQ189175|River tidal below here}} {{PoIgb end}} {{clear}}

==Bibliography== {{Refbegin}} *{{Cite book |first=Jane |last=Cumberlidge |title=Inland Waterways of Great Britain (8th Ed.) |publisher=Imray Laurie Norie and Wilson |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-84623-010-3 }} *{{cite book |url=http://www.ceh.ac.uk/products/publications/documents/HydrometricRegister_Final_WithCovers.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031184702/http://www.ceh.ac.uk/products/publications/documents/hydrometricregister_final_withcovers.pdf |archive-date=31 October 2014 |editor-first=T J |editor-last=Marsh |editor2-first=J |editor2-last=Hannaford |title=UK Hydrometric Register. Hydrological data UK series |publisher=Centre for Ecology & Hydrology |year=2008 }} *{{cite web |url=http://www.jim-shead.com/waterways/sdoc.php?wpage=PNRC0059#PNRC058 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310142500/http://www.jim-shead.com/waterways/sdoc.php?wpage=PNRC0059#PNRC058 |archive-date=10 March 2016 |url-status=usurped |title=Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, of Great Britain |first=Joseph |last=Priestley |year=1831 }} *{{cite book |first=P.A.L. |last=Vine |title=West Sussex Waterways |publisher=Middleton Press |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-906520-24-6 }} {{Refend}}

===References=== {{reflist|30em}}

==See also== {{Portal|United Kingdom|Transport}} {{Commonscat inline|Baybridge Canal}} *Canals of Great Britain *History of the British canal system

{{Unnavigable Canals of the United Kingdom}}

Category:Canals in West Sussex Category:Transport in West Sussex Category:History of West Sussex Category:1826 establishments in England Category:Canals opened in 1826