Page "Shrewsbury Canal" Paragraph 1

From 1768 several small canals were built in the area of what is now Telford.

These canals carried tub boats.

The first of these was the Donnington Wood Canal which opened in 1768, to be followed by the Wombridge Canal and the Ketley Canal, both opened in 1788, and the Shropshire Canal, which opened in 1791.

The network linked Lilleshall and Pave Lane in the north to Coalbrookdale and Coalport in the south.

Following a survey of the route by George Young from Worcester in 1792, an Act of Parliament was obtained in 1793 which authorised the creation of a canal to link the town of Shrewsbury with the east Shropshire canal network serving coal mines and ironworks around Oakengates, Ketley, Donnington Wood and Trench, nowadays part of the new town of Telford.

The act authorised the raising of £ 50, 000 in shares, and an additional £ 20, 000 if necessary.

This canal became the Shrewsbury Canal, and incorporated one mile and 88 yards ( 1. 69 km ) of the Wombridge Canal, which were purchased for £ 840 from William Reynolds to provide access to the Donnington Wood Canal and the Shropshire Canal.