River Weaver
The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1721 and the work, which included eleven locks, was completed in 1732. An unusual clause in the enabling act of Parliament, the River Weaver Navigation Act 1720, stipulated that profits should be given to the County of Cheshire for the improvement of roads and bridges, but the navigation was not initially profitable, and it was 1775 before the first payments were made. Trade continued to rise, and by 1845, over £500,000 had been given to the county.
The major trade was salt. The arrival of the Trent and Mersey Canal at Anderton in 1773 was detrimental to the salt trade at first, but ultimately beneficial, as salt was tipped down chutes from the canal into barges on the river navigation. Access to the river was improved in 1810 by the Weston Canal, which provided a link to Weston Point, where boats could reach the River Mersey at most states of the tide, as the water was deeper. The navigation was completely reconstructed between 1870 and 1900, with the original locks being replaced by five much larger locks, capable of handling 1000-tonne coasters. With the opening of the Manchester Ship Canal, a new lock was constructed at Weston Marsh, which gave direct access to the ship canal without having to pass through the docks at Weston Point. All water from the river entered the canal nearby, and any surplus was released into the Mersey through the Weaver sluices, which were located just upstream of the junction.
A notable feature is the Anderton Boat Lift, which is near Northwich, and links the Weaver with the Trent and Mersey Canal some above. It was opened in 1875, to allow canal boats to reach the Weaver, and although closed on safety grounds in 1983, it was refurbished and reopened in 2002. Many of the structures of the navigation are of historical importance, and are grade II listed. They include the Hayhurst swing bridge and Northwich Town bridge, which are believed to be the earliest swing bridges powered by electricity. Both have a sectional pontoon, which is immersed in the river and carries about 80 per cent of the weight of the bridge. Dutton Horse Bridge, which carries the towpath over the weir stream at Dutton, is one of the earliest surviving laminated timber structures. Dutton railway viaduct, which was built by Joseph Locke and George Stephenson for the Grand Junction Railway, is grade II* listed, and a civic celebration was held on its completion, as there had been no deaths and no serious injuries to the workers during its construction.
Route
The River Weaver is around long. From its source in the hills of west Cheshire just south of Peckforton Castle, and within a few hundred metres of the source of the River Gowy it initially flows in a south-easterly direction towards the border with Shropshire, fed by tributaries some of which rise in north Shropshire. The first of three canal crossings occurs just before the village of Wrenbury, when the Llangollen Canal crosses its course. After flowing through the village, it passes to the west of the Cheshire village of Audlem, where it starts to flow approximately northwards across the Cheshire Plain. Shortly afterwards, the Shropshire Union Canal is carried over it on Moss Hall aqueduct. The first significant town on the river is the market town of Nantwich, where a watermill was a feature from the 13th century; 100m further north, an early 19th-century stone bridge, with a single span, crosses the river. Continuing northwards, it passes under the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal before the village of Church Minshull. The aqueduct carrying the canal was designed by Thomas Telford and was built of brick with stone bands between 1827 and 1833. The river flows through a central arch, and there are flood relief arches on each side of the channel. The two waterways run roughly parallel for several miles. They diverge near Winsford, the current head of navigation, and at Northwich the river turns to flow north-west across north Cheshire.Below Winsford, the course of the river has been altered several times, by the construction of cuts and locks, to enable small ships to trade on it. The river formerly joined the River Mersey at Weston Marsh, but since the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal, begun in 1887, it has flowed into the canal, from where surplus water enters the Mersey by the Weaver sluices, just upstream of the junction. The tidal river section below Frodsham has been bypassed by the Weston Canal since 1810, and is no longer navigable, as Frodsham Lock is derelict.
History
The river runs through the Cheshire salt-producing area, but was not deep enough to allow boats to reach the salt mines. It was tidal for around to Pickering's wharf, and salt from the mines was carried by pack horse to the wharf, where it was loaded into barges. These used the ebbing tide to carry them back down the river. By the early 17th century, coal was being transported into the area so that it could be used to evaporate the brine, and as the industry expanded, there were calls to improve the river to simplify this trade. There was opposition to the initial schemes, however, from landowners who feared flooding and from carriers who feared a loss of trade, which resulted in Bills laid before Parliament in 1711, 1715, 1718 and 1720 being defeated.Construction
In 1721 the first act of Parliament, the ' to authorise improvements to the river was obtained by three gentlemen of Cheshire. The act was dated 23 March 1721 and authorised work between Frodsham bridge and Winsford bridge. Rates for tolls were set, which were to be reduced by 20 per cent once the cost of construction had been met, and profits were then to be used to maintain bridges and highways within Cheshire. Each year the justices of the peace were to meet to decide which structures should benefit from this source of revenue. The act included powers to improve the Witton Brook from the Weaver to Witton Bridge. Following a plea by the owner of brine workings near Middlewich, who felt they would be disadvantaged by the new navigation, the River Dane Navigation Act 1720 was obtained on 7 June 1721 to authorise improvements to the River Dane, but did not result in any work being undertaken.Progress was slow, as only Richard Vernon of the original three undertakers was actively engaged on the project, and he could not reach agreement with the commissioners. The stalemate was broken when Vernon died in 1726, and new undertakers were appointed. The work on the Weaver was completed by 1732, at a cost of £15,885. Eleven timber locks and weirs had been constructed, but no work had been carried out on the Witton Brook. The river had been improved by dredging and the construction of a series of cuts, with locks and weirs to manage the drop of around over the between Winsford and the River Mersey. Barges of up to 40 tons could reach Winsford, and boats called Weaver flats were the predominant vessels. These either sailed up the river, or were bow-hauled by teams of men.
The navigation was not initially profitable, and the amount of money owing to the undertakers gradually rose to a peak of £19,659 by 1740. Toll receipts improved, and by 1757, the debts had been reduced to £9,809. In September 1757, merchants from Liverpool complained about the run-down state of the navigation to Liverpool Corporation, who offered to pay for a survey. The merchants then offered to take over the navigation, but the commissioners wanted to keep control of it, and paid £17,000 to the undertakers, which repaid the outstanding debt and bought the navigation rights. The deal was completed on 11 October 1758. The commissioners largely ignored the survey which had been carried out by Henry Berry, and decided to enlarge the locks to wide. Work began on a new cut, lock and weir at Pickerings, but in 1759, the navigation was cut in half by the collapse of a salt pit at Northwich. The commissioners discovered that they could not sue for damages, as the provisions of the 1721 act no longer covered the way in which they were operating, and so a further act of Parliament, the ' was obtained on 22 May 1760. This changed the way in which the debts were managed, and gave the commissioners powers to sue and to appoint a management committee. It also stipulated that all locks should be with a draught of, but the actual depth exceeded.
Debts continued to increase, as the commissioners borrowed more money to fund the improvements. The new weir and lock at Pickerings failed in 1761 and both had to be rebuilt. Work had started on Witton Brook in 1756, but the plans were revised in 1764 to increase the navigable depth to, and this work was completed in 1765.
Development
The proposed Trent and Mersey Canal was seen as a threat by the trustees of the navigation, for it ran parallel to the River Weaver for some distance near Anderton. However, the commissioners pressed on with upgrading the river, completing new locks at Barnton in 1771 and at Acton Bridge in 1778. They also set about repaying their debts, which were liquidated in July 1775, resulting in some of the profits being given to the County of Cheshire, as stated in the original act of Parliament.The Trent and Mersey was completed in May 1777, and had an immediate effect on trade, which dropped by 25 per cent, particularly in the Winsford area. The downturn was short lived, as the salt trade developed, figures reaching their former levels by 1783, and climbing another 40 per cent to 171,719 tons by 1790. Ultimately, the Trent and Mersey generated significant trade for the navigation, for in 1793 a system of chutes was constructed at Anderton, to enable salt from narrow boats on the canal to be tipped into Weaver flats moored in a dock some below the level of the canal.
The steady increase in traffic encouraged the trustees to press on with improvements. Witton Brook was widened in 1788, and the lock was raised, but subsidence caused by the salt mining resulted in a new lock being needed in 1826. A longer-term solution was provided by the decision to move Northwich lock to a new site below the town. When the work was finished in 1829, Witton Brook lock was no longer necessary, and was removed. New cuts and locks were built through the 1790s at Vale Royal, Newbridge, Hartford and Hunts, and Butty Meadow lock was removed. In response to petitions, the construction of a towing path suitable for horses was started in 1792, and was completed as far as Anderton by mid-1793. It was later extended to Winsford, and bow-hauling of boats by men was ended.