Donnington Wood to Lilleshall Canal

In 1761 the Duke of Bridgewater built a canal to link the mines of Worsley with Manchester, and the canal boom took off. His brother-in-law was a Lord Gower, who owned coal mines and limestone quarries in East Shropshire. He and two brothers, John and Thomas Gilbert, both land agents, joined forces in 1764 to form the Earl Gower & Company, later to become The Lilleshall Company. They recognised the ease which canals would give to transporting heavy goods, over the poorly roaded countryside.

They planned a private canal to link the coal pits of Donnington Wood in the west, with the Wolverhampton to Newport Turnpike Road, at a wharf called Pave Lane. The boats were tub boats, 20 ft long by 6 ft 4 in wide, drawing 1 ft 6 ins. Work started in 1765, and was completed by 1767, at a length of five and a half miles.
The canal skirted around the south of the Augustinian Abbey at Lilleshall, seen here with the monk's fishpond.

Lilleshall Abbey frontage 

and  the canal passes behind Lilleshall Abbey

Canal frontage towards Hugh's Bridge.

And finally to the wharfage at Pave Lane, now a privately owned farm. This area is fascinating, as it is relatively unchanged since the canal was built 200 years ago. It must reflect the buildings that would have been at the other canal end in Donnington Wood, and as such is a living museum.  Pave Lane warehousing above.

The red 2CV stands in the bed of the canal, now filled in.

A substantial property, possibly the wharf superintendent's house.

The coaching inn, now a restaurant.

A Pave Lane warehouse.

Stabling for barge ponies
 

Halfway along the canal, at Hugh's Bridge, a branch line met the main line, running in from the limestone quarries in Lilleshall to the north. There was only one problem. Due to the nature of the contours, the branch line ended up 42 ft 8 in lower than the main line. The way around this inconvenience was to run the branch line into the hill, directly under the main canal. Two shafts were then sunk by the main canal, and pictured above is one of the capped tops. Coal from the main line was heavier than the limestone from the branch line, and they were exchanged in crates via a pulley system. The coal was used in the limekilns making agricultural lime.

The Boatwright's Buildings at Hugh's Bridge.

  

The stabling for the horses.

The entrance of the branch line, into the side of the hill, to the gallery for exchanging cargoes.

Twenty years later, an incline plane was built to bypass the shafts, the engine house has now disappeared.

The branch canal at the bottom of the incline plane.

Lilleshall from Lilleshall Abbey.

From this branch, another branch joined at Willmore Bridge, and ran through seven descending locks to Lilleshall Ironworks, 35 ft below. This section was last used in 1873.

Wrought Iron chain still in service 200 years on.

18th century quarry house at the Lilleshall limestone quarries..

Steven's Water Engine Pit, Donnington Wood, pumping water from surrounding mines into the canal system until 1928