Route planning The formal proposal for the canal was launched at a meeting in
Ellesmere in 1791 for a canal from Netherpool (now
Ellesmere Port) on the
River Mersey to the
River Dee at
Chester. It would then go in a south easterly direction via
Overton (south of
Wrexham) to the
River Severn at
Shrewsbury. Branches would then be cut to the iron making and coal mining areas at
Bersham between
Wrexham and
Ruabon and to the
copper mines at
Llanymynech. By 1793 an
act of Parliament, the '''''' (
33 Geo. 3. c. 91), had been passed allowing the Ellesmere Canal company to build the canal. However this route of the canal beyond Chester was not to the liking of all backers. They wanted the canal's course to follow a more westerly route from the Dee to the Severn passing directly through the Welsh mining areas. Eventually this proposal was the one that canal engineer John Duncombe followed when he eventually surveyed the route. Notable civil engineer
William Jessop was called into advise; he too recommended the route surveyed by Duncombe. Jessop was eventually appointed the project's engineer while
Thomas Telford was appointed as
General Agent. The northernmost section, a
contour canal, from the Mersey to the Dee was completed in 1797. This allowed the company to generate revenue from tolls to help finance construction of the rest of the canal. However the westerly route posed formidable engineering obstacles. Close to the
Eglwyseg and Ruabon mountains, there were deep river valleys to be crossed and high ground to be tunnelled. Duncombe's survey involved a climb of from Chester to Wrexham, a tunnel at Ruabon, a high level crossing over the Dee at
Pontcysyllte, a further tunnel and
aqueduct near
Chirk, and a tunnel in Shropshire near
Weston Lullingfields. A plan of the canal, published in 1795, showed the route between
Netherpool in the north to
Shrewsbury to the south: :
River Mersey; Great Stanney;
Stoak;
Wervin; Caughall; Chester; Saltneyside; Lache Hall; Rough Hill; Cuckoos Nest;
Wrexham;
Ruabon;
Plas Madoc;
Chirk;
Hordley; Dandyford; Shade Oak;
Weston Lullingfields;
Eyton;
Walford; Hancott;
Shrewsbury;
River Severn. The canal plan would also have four branches: • A branch would run to
Holt. • A branch would run from near Wrexham to
Brymbo. • A branch would run from near Hordley to
Llanymynech, via
Maesbury, Morton and Crickheath. • A branch would run from near Tetchill to
Prees Heath, via
Welshampton,
Fenn's Moss and
Whitchurch. Originally Jessop had suggested that the cheaper solution was to use
locks on both sides of Vale of Llangollen to take the canal down to a more manageable height for the second, upstream crossing of the River Dee at
Froncysyllte. Rather than crossing at full height, the locks would reuse water by backpumping. But by 1795 Jessop and Telford had changed their decision. Instead they developed a proposal for a cast-iron
aqueduct to maintain the original level.
Construction on the Ellesmere Canal was completed in 1802. In 1796 the Llanymynech Branch was opened, linking the main line at
Frankton Junction with Llanymynech. This joined the Montgomeryshire Canal at Carreghofa Locks when the Montgomeryshire opened in 1797. In 1796,
Thomas Telford constructed a feeder reservoir lake in
Moss Valley, Wrexham to provide water to the length of canal between
Trevor Basin and
Chester. However, as the plan to build this section was cancelled in 1798, the isolated feeder and a stretch of navigation between Ffrwd and a basin in
Summerhill was abandoned. Remnants of the feeder channel are visible in
Gwersyllt. A street in the village is still named Heol Camlas (Canal Way). The
contour section from the
River Mersey to the
River Dee at Chester was joined to the
Chester Canal in 1797. On the main line section, the
Chirk Aqueduct was opened in 1801, and
Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in 1805. However, by this time the proposed line from the Dee at Chester to Ruabon had been abandoned as uneconomic. The canal was therefore terminated at
Trevor Basin, southwest of
Ruabon. Also abandoned was the plan to reach the Severn, as the
Shrewsbury Canal was already serving the town, and the poor navigational state of the Severn meant that additional traffic would not justify the cost of the building works. As the canal would now not reach its proposed main source of water
northwest of Wrexham, a feeder was constructed along the side of the Dee valley to
Horseshoe Falls at
Llantysilio. This narrow feeder branch was made navigable, allowing boats to reach
Llangollen. In the end the only parts of the main line of the canal to be built was the extreme northern line from the Mersey to Chester and the central section from Trevor Basin to Weston Lullingfields. As this left the middle part isolated from the rest of the UK waterways network, the planned
Whitchurch branch was re-routed. A link was built from Frankton via Ellesmere to the Chester Canal at
Hurleston Junction in sections between 1797 and 1806. Despite the circuitous route, it was considered to be the main line. The extension also included an arm to Whitchurch because the town had been by-passed by the new route. A branch was also originally intended to reach
Prees in Shropshire; however the line was only constructed as far as
Quina Brook, from the village. The section of waterway from Frankton Junction to Weston Lullingfields, which was originally intended to be the main line to Shrewsbury, became the Weston Branch. The uncompleted part between Weston Lullingfields and the River Severn would have been long, with of lockage and a tunnel at Weston Lullingfileds.
Working canal Due to the constraints placed on the canal by its incomplete design, the Ellesmere Canal struggled financially throughout its operating life as an industrial waterway. In 1813, the Ellesmere Canal company merged with the
Chester Canal to form the Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company under the
Ellesmere and Chester Canals Unification Act 1813 (
53 Geo. 3. c. lxxx). This business was then merged with the
Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal by the '''''' (
8 & 9 Vict. c. ii). A year later the canal was taken over again by the formation of the
Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company. By 1917 the Weston Branch had closed following a breach near Hordley Wharf. In 1939 traffic on the line from Hurleston to Llangollen had all but ceased. All remaining parts of the Ellesmere Canal network, other than the northern line from Ellesmere Port to Chester, were closed to navigation by the
London Midland and Scottish Railway (Canals) Act 1944 (
8 & 9 Geo. 6. c. ii). However, the canal from Hurleston to Llangollen was retained as a water feeder for the Shropshire Union Canal main line and for drinking water. In 1955 an agreement with the Mid & South East Cheshire Water Board secured the canal's future.
Present day Despite the formal closure, increasing popularity of the canal with pleasure boats led to its acceptance as an important amenity and rebranding as the Llangollen Canal. As the canal was never intended to go to Llangollen, this renaming is an ironic twist symbolic of the canal's convoluted development. The Ellesmere Canal south of Frankton Junction (the Llanymynech Branch), together with the Montgomeryshire Canal, today form the
Montgomery Canal. The isolated section from Chester to Ellesmere Port is considered part of the
Shropshire Union Canal main line. The Weston Branch is now infilled save for a very short section which has a
Canal & River Trust amenity block. ==Route==