Monday 29th June, 2009
The Construction of the Douglas Navigation
The construction of the Douglas Navigation was a huge undertaking. It was to stretch from the bottom of Miry Lane in Wigan to the River Ribble near Tarleton, from where the goods (mostly coal) could be taken around the coast to Liverpool and other more distant destinations.
Work included:
- the construction of locks and dams,
- straightening, deepening and widening the river,
- laying a tow path,
- altering bridges.
Another problem encountered was the weakness of the river banks, especially in the area around Crooke. Money was needed to strengthen these in order to prevent erosion.
There was also a problem with water supply. This was solved by diverting two streams into the river near its source in the Rivington area.
One of the first major decisions to be made by the constructors concerned Martin Mere. In the 18th century this was a large stretch of dangerous marshy land surrounding a lake which had been formed at the end of the last ice age.
In 1733 it was proposed that the navigation should be constructed across this marshy area as part of a drainage scheme which would have made the land suitable for arable farming. It was eventually decided not to implement this plan and the mere was not drained until 1774.
The navigation was operating fully by 1742. The cost at that point had been £9,866-8s-6d. In 1768 figures were calculated which put the total cost of the navigation, by that year, at £32,226-5s-1.5d – a large sum of money.
The exact number of locks and their location is open to debate. Mike Clarke suggests that there were probably 13 locks.
He names them as:
“Wigan/Harrison Platt; Ell Meadow; Crooke?; Gathurst; Upholland; Appley; Gillibrands; Douglas Chapel; Newburgh/Parbold; Paddock/Bispham; Waines Blades; Rufford/Holland; Croston Finney”
Donald Anderson lists the locks thus:
"Wigan, Harison Platt, near Adam Bridge (Wigan), Hell Meadow (Douglas Bank) Crooke, Gathurst, Dean, UpHolland, Appley Bridge, Gillibrand, Chapel House, Newburgh, Bispham, Wanes Blades, Croston Finney, Rufford, Ellerbrook and Tarleton."
Clarke also states that there were four sections of “canalised river avoiding bends”.
The completion of the Douglas Navigation opened the Wigan coal field to a much wider market. Coal owners constructed “railed ways” to transport their produce to the new water way and from there to the River Ribble and valuable markets in Liverpool and Ireland.
In particular, mines from Orrell, and the Bradshaw's estate at Haigh, benefited most from the vastly increased market. Both locations produced cannel, (a coal which burned well and produced little ash).
There were at least 13 “railed ways” serving the Orrell coal field between Wigan and Appley Bridge - a distance of about 5-6 miles.
Coal boats did not always return empty. Some were loaded with limestone and slate which had been transported to the Ribble from North Lancashire and Westmoreland. There was also a local trade around Roby Mill in grey slate, flags and paving stones.
The Navigation was not particularly profitable. It was the coal owners of the Wigan district who gained most from the project as the waterway provided a gateway to vast new markets.
Ell Meadow (images)