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Grand Western Canal
The Grand Western Canal ran between Taunton in Somerset and Tiverton in Devon in the United Kingdom. The canal had its origins in various plans, going back to 1796, to link the Bristol Channel and the English Channel by a canal, bypassing Lands End. An additional purpose of the canal was the supply of limestone and coal to lime kilns along with the removal of the resulting quicklime, which was used as a fertiliser and for building houses. This intended canal-link was never completed as planned, as the coming of the railways removed the need for its existence. Construction was in two phases. A level section, from Tiverton to Lowdwells on the Devon/Somerset border, opened in 1814, and was capable of carrying broad-beam barges, carrying up to 40 tons. The Somerset section, suitable for tub boats (which were about long and capable of carrying eight tons) opened in 1839. It included an inclined plane and seven boat lifts, the earliest lifts to see commercial service in the UK ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Tone
The River Tone is a river in the English county of Somerset. The river is about long. Its source is at Beverton Pond near Huish Champflower in the Brendon Hills, and is dammed at Clatworthy Reservoir. The reservoir outfall continues through Taunton and Curry and Hay Moors, which are designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Finally, it flows into the River Parrett at Burrowbridge. An act of Parliament granted in 1699 authorised work that made the river navigable as far as Taunton. The act specified that profits should be used to benefit the poor of Taunton, but the Proprietors succeeded in avoiding their obligation until 1843, when they used the proceeds from the sale of the navigation to fund a wing of the Taunton and Somerset Hospital, and to aid the Taunton Market Trust. The Bridgwater and Taunton Canal opened in 1827, which provided an easier route than the river, and protracted legal battles followed over ownership of the river and water rights for the can ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taunton
Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the Bishops of Winchester. Parts of the inner ward house were turned into the Museum of Somerset and Somerset Military Museum. For the Second Cornish uprising of 1497, Perkin Warbeck brought an army of 6,000; most surrendered to Henry VII on 4 October 1497. On 20 June 1685 the Duke of Monmouth crowned himself King of England here in a rebellion, defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor. Judge Jeffreys led the Bloody Assizes in the Castle's Great Hall. The Grand Western Canal reached Taunton in 1839 and the Bristol and Exeter Railway in 1842. Today it hosts Musgrove Park Hospital, Somerset County Cricket Club, is the base of 40 Commando, Royal Marines, and is home to the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office on Admiralty Way. The popular Taunton flow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Country Park
A country park is a natural area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment. United Kingdom History In the United Kingdom, the term ''country park'' has a special meaning. There are around 250 recognised country parks in England and Wales attracting some 57 million visitors a year, and another 40 or so in Scotland. Most country parks were designated in the 1970s, under the Countryside Act 1968, with the support of the former Countryside Commission. In more recent times there has been no specific financial support for country parks directly and fewer have been designated. Most parks are managed by local authorities, although other organisations and private individuals can also run them. The 1968 Countryside Act empowered the Countryside Commission to recognize country parks. Although the Act established country parks and gave guidance on the core facilities and services they should provide it did not empower the designation of sites as country ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wells, Somerset
Wells () is a cathedral city and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, located on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills, south-east of Weston-super-Mare, south-west of Bath and south of Bristol. Although the population recorded in the 2011 census was only 10,536, (increased to 12,000 by 2018) and with a built-up area of just , Wells has had city status since medieval times, because of the presence of Wells Cathedral. Often described as England's smallest city, it is actually second smallest to the City of London in area and population, but unlike London it is not part of a larger urban agglomeration. Wells takes its name from three wells dedicated to Saint Andrew, one in the market place and two within the grounds of the Bishop's Palace and cathedral. A small Roman settlement surrounded them, which grew in importance and size under the Anglo-Saxons when King Ine of Wessex founded a minster church there in 704. The community became a trading centre based on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glastonbury
Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River Brue from Street, which is now larger than Glastonbury. Evidence from timber trackways such as the Sweet Track show that the town has been inhabited since Neolithic times. Glastonbury Lake Village was an Iron Age village, close to the old course of the River Brue and Sharpham Park approximately west of Glastonbury, that dates back to the Bronze Age. Centwine was the first Saxon patron of Glastonbury Abbey, which dominated the town for the next 700 years. One of the most important abbeys in England, it was the site of Edmund Ironside's coronation as King of England in 1016. Many of the oldest surviving buildings in the town, including the Tribunal, George Hotel and Pilgrims' Inn and the Somerset Rural Lif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bridgwater
Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies along both sides of the River Parrett; it has been a major inland port and trading centre since the industrial revolution. Most of its industrial bases still stand today. Its larger neighbour, Taunton, is linked to Bridgwater via a canal, the M5 motorway and the GWR railway line. Historically, the town had a politically radical tendency. The Battle of Sedgemoor, where the Monmouth Rebellion was finally crushed in 1685, was fought nearby. Notable buildings include the Church of St Mary and Blake Museum, which is a largely restored house in Blake Street and was the birthplace of Admiral Blake in 1598. The town has an arts centre and plays host to the annual Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival. Etymology It is thought that the town was original ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burrow Bridge
Burrowbridge is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the River Parrett and A361 road in the Somerset West and Taunton district, on the edge of the Somerset Levels. It is located south east of Bridgwater, and has a population of 508. History The name probably comes from the Old English ''buruh'' (fortified hill) and brycg (bridge). In the village is Burrow Mump, an ancient earthwork now owned by the National Trust, presented by Major A.C. Barrett in 1946 as a war memorial. Burrow Mump is also known as St Michael's Borough or Tutteyate. It is a natural hill of Triassic sandstone capped by Keuper marl. Excavations showed evidence of a 12th-century masonry building on the top of the hill. The first recorded writing mentioning this site is from William of Worcestre about 1480 when he referred to it as Myghell-borough. A medieval church dedicated to St Michael from at least the mid 15th century formed a sanctuary for royalist troops in 1645. The ruins visible ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Topsham, Devon
Topsham (, also ) is a town in Devon, England, located on the east side of the River Exe, immediately north of its confluence with the River Clyst and the former's estuary, between Exeter and Exmouth. Topsham is a historic port and was designated a town by a 1300 royal charter granted by Edward I; it was formally amalgamated into the City of Exeter in 1966. The town is served by Topsham railway station, about midway on the branch line from Exeter Central to Exmouth, now called the Avocet Line; 2011 saw the 150th anniversary of the railway coming to Topsham. The electoral ward of Topsham had a population recorded at 5,519 in the 2011 census, though this ward extends further northwest and includes the east half of Countess Wear as well as the new suburb of Newcourt. History The native Celtic settlement of Topsham became the port of the Roman city of Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter) in the first century AD, and continued to serve it until the Roman occupation of southern Britain cea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exeter To Uphill Canal
Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal command of Vespasian. Exeter became a religious centre in the Middle Ages. Exeter Cathedral, founded in the mid 11th century, became Anglican in the 16th-century English Reformation. Exeter became an affluent centre for the wool trade, although by the First World War the city was in decline. After the Second World War, much of the city centre was rebuilt and is now a centre for education, business and tourism in Devon and Cornwall. It is home to two of the constituent campuses of the University of Exeter: Streatham and St Luke's. The administrative area of Exeter has the status of a non-metropolitan district under the administration of the County Council. It is the county town of Devon and home to the headquarters of Devon County Council. A p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Whitworth
Robert Whitworth (1734 – 30 March 1799) was an English land surveyor and engineer, who learnt his trade under John Smeaton and James Brindley, and went on to become one of the leading canal engineers of his generation. Biography Whitworth was born in Sowerby, West Riding of Yorkshire to Henry and Mary Whitworth. He was baptised on 15 November 1734, and was their sixth child of seven. His father worked as a combsmith, and the family lived in a house called Waterside or Wheatleyroyd, where he probably lived until he married Sarah Irwin on 26 December 1765. After a brief period in Norton in the Moors around 1772, Whitworth and his family, which by now included two sons, returned to Sowerby, and stayed there until the 1790s. During the latter part of this period he lived in Waterside, but moved to Burnley for the final years of his life, to be closer to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, on which he was working. He died on 30 March 1799 at the White Lion Inn in Halifax, aged 64. Ear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Brindley
James Brindley (1716 – 27 September 1772) was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century. Early life Born into a well-to-do family of yeoman farmers and craftsmen in the Peak District, which in those days was extremely isolated, Brindley received little formal education, but was educated at home by his mother. At age 17, encouraged by his mother, he was apprenticed to a millwright in Sutton, Macclesfield, and soon showed exceptional skill and ability. Having completed his apprenticeship he set up business for himself as a wheelwright in Leek, Staffordshire. In 1750 he expanded his business by renting a millwright's shop in Burslem from the Wedgwoods who became his lifelong friends. He soon established a reputation for ingenuity and skill at repairing many different kinds of machinery. In 1752 he designed and built an engine for draining a coal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exeter
Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal command of Vespasian. Exeter became a religious centre in the Middle Ages. Exeter Cathedral, founded in the mid 11th century, became Anglican in the 16th-century English Reformation. Exeter became an affluent centre for the wool trade, although by the First World War the city was in decline. After the Second World War, much of the city centre was rebuilt and is now a centre for education, business and tourism in Devon and Cornwall. It is home to two of the constituent campuses of the University of Exeter: Streatham and St Luke's. The administrative area of Exeter has the status of a non-metropolitan district under the administration of the County Council. It is the county town of Devon and home to the headquarters of Devon County Council. A p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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