Editing Wyrley and Essington Canal (section)

===Operation===
In one sense, the Wyrley and Essington Canal was built ahead of its time, as it ran through rural countryside, and its full potential was only realised with the opening of the Cannock Chase coalfield, towards the end of the nineteenth century. However, it enabled people in Lichfield to obtain cheap coal, and there was a regular service from Lichfield to [[Derby]] and [[Burton upon Trent]], while a service from Wolverhampton to London called at Lichfield three times each week. The canal fueled the development of collieries and limestone quarries near [[Bloxwich]], and an ironworks at Goscote. The brick making industry flourished at Sneyd, using coal that arrived by canal, with the bricks being used for new housing development at Walsall. Other local industries that made use of the canal included bit-making, lock-smithing and tack-making.{{sfn |Hadfield |1985 |p=97}}

The Daw End Branch ran from Catshill Junction to limestone quarries and limeworks at [[Hay Head]]. It was around {{convert|5.4|mi|km}} long with no locks, and opened in 1800. Prior to its opening, the limestone quarries had been described as "inexhaustible as quantity, and of a very superior quality" in 1795. By 1809, they were disused, and the construction of a railway to serve them had been abandoned. Boats only travelled as far as Daw End wharf at that time, but by 1822 they had reopened, as they were advertised as supplying the ingredients for Brindley's British Cement.{{sfn|Hadfield |1985 |pp=97-98}}

The canal to Essington also suffered from mixed fortunes. The water supply was never really adequate for the number of locks, and in 1798 Henry Vernon, who owned most of the collieries and who had for a time been chairman of the canal company, was paid to pump water from his mines into the canal. He then laid a bill before Parliament for a railway, to run from his collieries to the [[Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal]] at Little Sandon, which would enable him to stop using the Essington Branch. The bill was opposed by both canals, with the Wyrley and Essington arguing that Vernon had become bankrupt in 1789, and that the management of his collieries had since been entrusted to Hordern, who was the canal company's treasurer. The branch had only ben built on the promise of the coal traffic from Vernon's mines. Disagreement carried on for years, and the canal company proposed to open proceedings against him in 1812 and 1813, to recover money that he still owed them.{{sfn |Broadbridge |1974 |pp=66,69}} Attempts to resolve the issues included an agreement to extend the Wyrley branch for {{convert|1.5|mi|km}} towards Wyrley Bank, and to construct a railway to his collieries. The new canal was closed by 1829, but was later reopened and extended.{{sfn|Hadfield |1985 |p=97}} The Essington Branch, which was only {{convert|0.75|mi|km|1}} long,{{sfn|Hadfield |1985 |p=328}} rose to a height of {{convert|530|ft|m}} above [[ordnance datum]]. It was the highest point on the Wyrley and Essington, but the branch was the first part of the canal to close, in the 1830s.{{sfn|Cumberlidge |2009 |pp=74-75}}

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Wyrley and Essington Canal Navigation Act 1840
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for consolidating the Wyrley and Essington Canal Navigation with the Birmingham Canal Navigations, and for granting further Powers to the Company of Proprietors of the Birmingham Canal Navigations.
| year                  = 1840
| citation              = [[3 & 4 Vict.]] c. xxiv
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 14 April 1840
| 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/Vict/3-4/24/pdfs/ukla_18400024_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
The idea of amalgamation was first raised by the Birmingham Canal Navigations in 1820, but the Wyrley and Essington had rejected the idea. In 1822 they considered whether trade could be improved by building links to neighbouring canals. A number of mine owners suggested a link between the two systems at Walsall in 1825, and surveys for links to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal and to the Birmingham system were made in 1826 and 1827. There was more pressure for a link at Walsall from a group of industrialists in 1829, which resulted in the Wyrley and Essington proposing amalgamation. This time, the Birmingham company were not interested, and in 1835 they dismissed the idea of a junction at Walsall. In 1838, the Walsall contingent suggested the Birmingham company could build the link, and the Wyrley and Essington could supply the water. Still the Birmingham company were not interested, and so the Wyrley and Essington decided to submit a bill to Parliament to build the link themselves. Almost overnight, the Birmingham company's attitude changed, and an agreement to amalgamate was signed on 9 February 1840, which was ratified by an act of Parliament, the '''{{visible anchor|Wyrley and Essington Canal Navigation Act 1840}}''' ([[3 & 4 Vict.]] c. xxiv) obtained in April.{{sfn |Hadfield |1985 |pp=98-99}}