Editing Liskeard and Looe Union Canal (section)

==Origins==
[[File:Limekiln at Sandplace.JPG|thumb|Ruined limekiln at Sandplace; when the canal opened limekilns opened at Moorswater and lime by-passed Sandplace]]Agricultural land around the Looe valleys was considered to be of high quality, but the acidic soil required annual improvement with lime. Traditionally the limestone to prepare this had come from the Plymouth area by coastal shipping to the East Looe Valley where it was burnt in kilns to make the lime. While the coastal shipping element of the journey was straightforward, even main roads were in a primitive condition; for example:

<blockquote>Despite its grand title, it would seem that the 'Royal Cornish Way' (today's A30) was little better than a muddy cart-track by the beginning of the 18th century. In places it may well have had no defined edge or surface at all, leaving travellers to struggle as best they could in mist or darkness.<ref name=smith>{{harvnb|Smith|2008}}</ref></blockquote>

To get to Liskeard above the navigable river, the means of transport was on the backs of horses: the first wheeled wagon was introduced into the Liskeard district in 1790.<ref>{{harvnb|Page|1906}} quoted in {{harvnb|Smith|2008|p=175}}</ref> As late as the 1830s, pack horses and mules were the general means of transport for goods throughout the county, once off the turnpike roads.<ref name=smith/> Approaching 10 tonnes (11 short tons) of limestone were required per acre annually (about 25 tonnes per hectare), so that its transport was a considerable undertaking.<ref group=note>From Messenger's figures, page 9: four to five tons of lime per acre annually; 14.5 tons of limestone required for 100 "double Winchester bushels" of 150 lbs of lime. One tonne is taken as close to one imperial ton.</ref>{{sfn|Messenger|2001|p=9}}

The idea for a canal to Liskeard was first investigated in 1777 when Edmund Leach and "a gentleman from Liskeard" proposed a canal which would run between Banka Mill, {{convert|1+3/4|mi|km}} west of Liskeard, and Sandplace, {{convert|2|mi|km}} to the north of Looe on the East Looe River. It would have been a contour canal, with three reaches connected by "machines"—evidently [[Canal inclined plane|inclined planes]]. At the time no canal inclined plane had been installed anywhere in the world: the first actually installed on a canal was on the [[Ketley Canal]] in 1788.<ref name=brussels>{{cite book |publisher=Permanent International Association of Navigation Congresses |last=InCom |first=Study Commission |title=Ship Lifts |location=Brussels |year=1989 |isbn=978-2-87223-006-8}}</ref> The project was estimated to cost £17,495, which would be recouped in seven years, based on expected income, but the scheme was not progressed.{{sfn|Hadfield|1967|p=168}}

After at least one other abortive proposal, a local solicitor Peter Glubb convened a meeting on 2 August 1823 in Liskeard to agree the way forward. After a second meeting at East Looe on 9 August, the engineer [[James Green (engineer)|James Green]] was asked to present proposals for a canal, a railway or a turnpike road to link Looe to Liskeard. He swiftly presented his views, on 30 August, recommending a [[tub-boat]] canal, suitable for four-ton boats in trains (i.e. connected groups). The rise of 180&nbsp;feet in {{convert|6.25|mi|m}} in 10&nbsp;km) threatened water supply difficulties if negotiated by locks, so Green repeated the earlier proposal for two inclined planes.{{sfn|Messenger|2001|p=10}}

A subscription list was quickly filled, but soon this proposal too stalled, due to strong opposition from interests in [[Lostwithiel]] and [[Fowey]], and "weakness of the proprietors in a pecuniary point of view and other insuperable obstacles".<ref>Report by John Buller, quoted in {{harvnb|Messenger|2001|p=11}}</ref> The following year the plan was revived, this time for a canal with locks. In order to appease John Buller, a substantial local landowner, the canal would have a "Towing Path of sufficient width for Gentlemen's Carriages". The committee needed Buller's support to aid the passage of the [[Bill (law)|bill]] through Parliament.{{sfn|Messenger|2001|p=11}}

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Liskeard and Looe Canal Act 1825
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Canal from Tarras Pill, in the Parish of Duloe, in the County of Cornwall, to or near Moors Water, in the Parish of Liskeard in the said County, and for making several Roads to communicate therewith.
| year                  = 1825
| citation              = [[6 Geo. 4]]. c. clxiii
| 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/Geo4/6/163/pdfs/ukla_18250163_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
Green prepared plans for a bill, and the necessary [[act of Parliament]], the '''{{visible anchor|Liskeard and Looe Canal Act 1825}}''' ([[6 Geo. 4]]. c. clxiii), was obtained on 22 June 1825, but after Green's departure, the proprietors asked Robert Coad to design the route in detail.{{sfn|Hadfield|1967|p=169}} The act created the Liskeard and Looe Union Canal Company, with an authorised capital of £13,000 in shares of £25, and authority to borrow a further £10,000 on mortgage if required. The act gave powers "for making and maintaining a navigable canal from Tarras Pill, in the parish of Duloe ... to or near Moorswater, in the parish of Liskeard, and for making several Roads to communicate therewith". It also allowed feed water to be taken from the River Looe and the "Crylla Rivulet"; but there were restrictions on the latter, so "that no injury may be done to the navigation of the Fowey, of which river the Crylla is a tributary stream". An engineer could be appointed by the Mayor of Lostwithiel to monitor compliance with this obligation.<ref name=priestley/>

Inclined planes may not have been ruled out, because Priestley says that "The company are also empowered to make rollers and inclined planes."<ref name=priestley/> However Priestley does not offer this as a direct quotation from the act, and he may have heard this reported from an earlier, unsuccessful bill, and mistakenly understood the plan to be still current.{{opinion|date=June 2014}}

[[File:Looe Canal at Plashford bridge.JPG|thumb|A view looking south at Plashford Bridge; the East Looe River is on the left; then the railway line to Looe; then the remains of the canal]]

Work on building the canal began on 6 September 1825, with Robert Coad as the engineer and Robert Retallick as Superintendent of Works.{{sfn|Popplewell|1977|p=23}} There was some internal tension in the committee of management, for there was a motion at the general meeting in February 1826 that a properly qualified civil engineer should be asked to assess the work done so far, and whether the two men should be allowed to proceed without further assistance, but the motion was defeated by 49 votes to 10,{{sfn|Hadfield|1967|p=170}} and four of the nine Committee members changed at the subsequent election.{{sfn|Messenger|2001|p=13}}

The canal had been planned to run on the west side of the river towards Looe, but a landowner, Mr Eliot, was holding out for excessive compensation for his land, and the construction was transferred to the east side over the affected length, in the lands of John Buller, to by-pass Eliot's land.{{sfn|Messenger|2001|p=13}} During the construction, the company operated a health insurance scheme for the labourers similar to that commonly in place in the Cornish mines, with each worker contributing 6 pence (2.5p) per month, which was used to pay Mr. Robert Rean, an [[apothecary]] and surgeon from East Looe, for his services.{{sfn|Hadfield|1967|pp=169–170}}