Canal Mania was the period of intense

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

building in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

between the 1790s and 1810s, and the speculative frenzy that ensued in the early 1790s.British Canals. The Standard History. Joseph Boughey and Charles Hadfield.

Background

The earliest canal building was undertaken as a local enterprise, usually by a merchant, manufacturer or mine owner needing to ship goods, such as the Duke of Bridgewater's canal built to ship his coal from

Worsley Worsley () is a village in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, which in 2014 had a population of 10,090. It lies along Worsley Brook, west of Manchester. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. Despite the high cost of construction, the price of coal in Manchester fell by 50% shortly after it opened, and the financial success was attractive to investors. The

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

ended in 1783. A long run of good harvests resulted in an increase in disposable income and an increase in the number of people looking to invest capital for a profit with little personal interest in the business. This resulted in an increase in less cautious speculation. There was a dramatic rise in the number of schemes promoted. Only one canal was authorised by

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

in 1790, but by 1793 it was twenty. The capital authorised in 1790 was £90,000 (£ in 2015), but this had risen to £2,824,700 (£ in 2015) by 1793. Some of the canals authorized during this period went on to be profitable. However, there were a number, including the

Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal The Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal (sometimes known as the Hereford and Gloucester Canal) is a canal in the west of England, which ran from Hereford to Gloucester, where it linked to the River Severn. It was opened in two phases in 1798 ...

, which never paid a dividend. Others, such as the

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 Land ...

, were never completed.

References

{{Financial bubbles * Economic bubbles Canals in Wales Mania 1790s in transport 1790s in England

Background

See also

References