Editing Trent and Mersey Canal (section)

==History==

The Trent and Mersey Canal (T&M) was built to link the [[River Trent]] at [[Derwent Mouth]] in [[Derbyshire]] to the [[River Mersey]], and thereby provide an inland route between the major ports of [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]] and [[Liverpool]].  The Mersey connection is made via the [[Bridgewater Canal]], which it joins at [[Preston Brook]] in [[Cheshire]].  Although mileposts measure the distance to Preston Brook and [[Shardlow]], Derwent Mouth is about {{convert|1|mi}} beyond Shardlow.

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Trent and Mersey Canal Act 1766
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for making a Navigable Cut, or Canal, from the River Trent, at or near Wilden Ferry in the County of Derby, to the River Mersey at or near Runcorn Gap.
| year                  = 1766
| citation              = [[6 Geo. 3]]. c. 96
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 14 May 1766
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
The plan of a canal connection from the Mersey to the Trent ("The Grand Trunk") came from canal [[engineer]] [[James Brindley]]. It was authorised by an act of [[Parliament of Great Britain|Parliament]], the '''{{visible anchor|Trent and Mersey Canal Act 1766}}''' ([[6 Geo. 3]]. c. 96) and the first [[sod]] was cut by [[Josiah Wedgwood]] in July that year at Brownhills, [[Burslem]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Ward |first=John |date=1843 |title=The Borough of Stoke-upon-Trent in the Commencement of the Reign of Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, Comprising Its History, Statistics, Civil Polity, & Traffic, with Biographical and Genealogical Notices of Eminent Individuals and Families; Also the Manorial History of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and Incidental Notices of Other Neighbouring Places & Objects; |url=https://archive.org/stream/boroughstokeupo00wardgoog#page/n198/mode/2up |location=London, UK |publisher=W. Lewis & Son |page=154 |quote=The first clod of the Grand Trunk Canal was dug the 26th July, 1766, on the declivity of Brownhills, in a piece of land, now belonging to Mr. Wood, within a few yards of the bridge which crosses the canal, by Mr. Josiah Wedgwood, then of Burslem, (the gentleman who afterwards rose to such eminence as a Potter), in the presence of Brindley, the Engineer, and many respectable persons of the neighbourhood, who each cut a sod to felicitate the work.}}</ref> In 1777, the canal was completed,<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Navigation from the Trent to the Mersey |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003222/17770729/002/0001 |newspaper=Chester Courant |location=England |date=29 July 1777 |access-date=1 June 2024 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription  }}</ref> including more than 70 [[canal lock|locks]] and five [[tunnel]]s, with the company headquarters in [[Stone, Staffordshire|Stone]].

The first known idea to build a canal between the [[River Mersey]] and the [[River Trent]] was put forward in 1755, though no action was taken at that time.{{Citation needed|date=February 2012}} In 1760, [[Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford|Lord Gower]], a local businessman and brother-in-law of the [[Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater|Duke of Bridgewater]], drew up a plan for the Trent and Mersey Canal. If his plan had gone ahead, this would have been the first modern canal constructed in England. [[James Brindley]], the engineer behind many of the canals in England, did his first canal work on the Trent and Mersey, though his first job in charge of construction was on the [[Bridgewater Canal]].

In 1761, [[Josiah Wedgwood]] showed an interest in the construction of a canal through Stoke-on-Trent, the location of his [[Wedgwood]] pottery, as his business depended on the safe and smooth transport of his pots. Pots transported by road were liable to be damaged and broken, and a canal near to his factory would provide fast and safe transport for his wares. Wedgwood's plan was not to connect the two rivers by canal, but to connect the potteries to the River Mersey.

There was much debate about possible routes that a canal could take. [[Coal]] merchants in [[Liverpool]] felt threatened about a canal that could bring coal in from [[Cheshire]]. The owners of the [[River Weaver]] Navigation were also not happy about the proposals, because the route would almost parallel that of the river. Yet another route was published which, much to the shock of Wedgwood, did not at all include the potteries.

Wedgwood, intent on having a waterway connection to his potteries, managed to send his proposal to Parliament, with the help of two of his friends, [[Thomas Bentley (manufacturer)|Thomas Bentley]] and [[Erasmus Darwin]]. [[John Gilbert (agent)|John Gilbert]]'s plan for the "Grand Trunk" canal met opposition at the eastern end where, in Burton on Trent, the locals objected to the canal passing parallel to the upper Trent navigation. In 1764, Wedgwood managed to convince Gilbert to include the Potteries in his route.  In 1766, Gilbert's plan was authorised by an Act of Parliament. Later that year, "[o]n July 26th a massive celebration was held in the Potteries where Josiah Wedgwood cut the first sod of soil. James Brindley was employed as engineer and work got under way."<ref>{{cite web |work=Canals & Waterways: Routes and Roots |title=The Trent and Mersey Canal |first=Peter |last=Hardcastle |url=http://www.canals.btinternet.co.uk/canals/trentmersey.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010152001/http://www.canals.btinternet.co.uk/canals/trentmersey.htm |archive-date=10 October 2012}}</ref>

Six years before the complete opening of the Trent and Mersey Canal in 1771, Wedgwood built the factory village of [[Etruria, Staffordshire|Etruria]] on the outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent, close to the canal. By this time, much of the canal had been built towards [[Preston Brook]]. The only obstacle that still had to be tackled by the canal company was the hill at [[Kidsgrove]], through which a tunnel was being dug. Up until 1777, pots had to be carried on the short journey from Etruria, over the top of Kidsgrove Hill, and to the other side, where the canal had been constructed to Preston Brook. 
 
On 15 January 1847 the Trent and Mersey Canal was acquired by the [[North Staffordshire Railway]] Company (NSR).  This was done to stifle the opposition of the Canal Company to the creation of the Railway Company.  In particular, the NSR had plans for a railway from Stoke-on-Trent to Liverpool, however, this line was abandoned because of opposition from other rail interests.

In 1891 the North Staffordshire Railway Company obtained statutory powers to raise £400,000 ({{Inflation|UK|400000|1891|r=-4|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}){{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}} to widen and improve the canal.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Trent and Mersey Canal |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000206/18910306/023/0003 |newspaper=Manchester Courier |location=England |date=6 March 1891 |access-date=22 June 2024 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription  }}</ref> By 1893 the section between the Anderton Boat Lift and Middlewich had been widened and deepened to allow an increase in the maximum tonnage of boats using this section to be increased from 30 tons to 60 tons. The basin at Middlewich was widened from {{convert|16|ft|m}} to {{convert|50|ft|m}} with the erection of a concrete wall and an extension to the wharfage. The canal was dredged by a [[Priestman Brothers|Priestman]]-type steam dredger which removed between 80,000 and 100,000 tons.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Improvement of the Trent and Mersey Canal |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000033/18930505/037/0008 |newspaper=Birmingham Daily Post |location=England |date=5 May 1893 |access-date=22 June 2024 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription  }}</ref> 

The Grand Trunk was a part of a larger scheme of [[James Brindley]]'s to link the four main rivers of England ([[River Trent|Trent]], [[River Mersey|Mersey]], [[River Severn|Severn]] and [[River Thames|Thames]]) in a project known as the "Grand Cross".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mike-stevens.co.uk/maps/1770/index1770.htm|title=Waterways Of England And Wales, 1760 to 1770|last=Stevens|first=Mike|access-date=2007-09-13 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070817195021/http://www.mike-stevens.co.uk/maps/1770/index1770.htm |archive-date = 2007-08-17}}</ref> The Trent and Mersey Canal provided the northwestern arm of the cross (to the Mersey), and the northeastern arm (to the Trent). It also provided the central hub of the cross, between [[Haywood Junction|Great Haywood]], and [[Fradley Junction|Fradley]] Junctions. The southwestern arm, to the Severn, was built as the [[Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal]], whilst the southeastern arm (to the Thames) traversed the [[Coventry Canal|Coventry]] and [[Oxford Canal|Oxford]] Canals.