Worsley Navigable Levels
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The Worsley Navigable Levels are an extensive series of
coal mine Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
s in
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 ...
in the
City of Salford The City of Salford () is a metropolitan borough within Greater Manchester, England. The borough is named after its main settlement, Salford. The borough covers the towns of Eccles, Swinton, Walkden and Pendlebury, as well as the villages ...
in
Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...
,
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 ...
. They were worked largely by the use of underground canals (the navigable levels) and boats called starvationers.


In the beginning

Coal extraction was known in the area from as early as 1376 but large-scale development was left until the tenure of
Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater (21 May 1736 – 8 March 1803), known as Lord Francis Egerton until 1748, was a British nobleman from the Egerton family. He was the youngest son of the 1st Duke. He did not marry, and the dukedom expired ...
. The first drainage
sough A sough (pronounced /saʊ/ or /sʌf/) is an underground channel for draining water out of a mine. Ideally the bottom of the mine would be higher than the outlet, but where the mine sump is lower, water must be pumped up to the sough. Derbyshire ...
was cut into the Earl of Bridgewater's estates in Worsley on the
Manchester Coalfield The Manchester Coalfield is part of the South Lancashire Coalfield, the coal seams of which were laid down in the Carboniferous Period. Some easily accessible seams were worked on a small scale from the Middle Ages, and extensively from the begi ...
in 1729 under the auspices of John Massey, the mines agent of Scroop Egerton, the 4th Earl and 1st Duke of Bridgewater. This sough was sited to provide drainage for as many mine works as possible in order to make its construction economic. The sough was long with underground. Water in the
coal measures In lithostratigraphy, the coal measures are the coal-bearing part of the Upper Carboniferous System. In the United Kingdom, the Coal Measures Group consists of the Upper Coal Measures Formation, the Middle Coal Measures Formation and the Lower Coal ...
worked above the sough drained into it and deeper coal seams benefited because water needed to be lifted only to the sough not to the surface. This solution to the water drainage problem was successful and extensions of proceeded to allow other coal seams to be drained.


The new Duke

The Dukedom passed to Scroop Egerton's fourth son
John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...
on Scroop's death in 1745 and subsequently, when John died in 1748, to Scroop's fifth son Francis, the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater. Francis Egerton gained full control of his estates in 1757 when he was 21 and hired John Gilbert as factor for his estates. It was clear to Francis Egerton and John Gilbert that the Duke of Bridgewater's coalmines would need to be much more efficient and productive in order to meet the rise in demand for coal in
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 ...
. One part of their plan was to dig a canal, the
Bridgewater Canal The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, Greater Manchester, Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. It was ...
, from Worsley to
Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...
on the
River Irwell The River Irwell ( ) is a tributary of the River Mersey in north west England. It rises at Irwell Springs on Deerplay Moor, approximately north of Bacup and flows southwards for to meet the Mersey near Irlam. The Irwell marks the boundary be ...
. This idea would improve the transport of coal but not the efficiency of mining. They then had the idea of extending the canal at Worsley underground to produce a navigable level within the coal measures for both drainage and coal transport. A consequence of this decision was that the water from the coalmines proved sufficient to keep the canal in water.


The Bridgewater Canal and the Navigable Level

The
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 ...
allowing the building of the Bridgewater Canal was passed in 1759. The construction of the canal had already started when
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 i ...
became involved. Brindley took charge of the canal's construction. Several changes were made to the canal's course under Brindley's control and the canal was completed in 1764. Before and during the construction of the Bridgewater Canal the navigable level was begun and tunnelling progressed. A tunnel high was cut northwards into the rock from the canal level at Worsley providing of headroom and of water. The first workable seam (the
Worsley Four Foot mine The Manchester Coalfield is part of the South Lancashire Coalfield, the coal seams of which were laid down in the Carboniferous Period. Some easily accessible seams were worked on a small scale from the Middle Ages, and extensively from the begin ...
) was reached in 1761, from the tunnel's portal. The tunnel was not straight; it changed course in order to avoid trespassing under the land of neighbouring landlords. As new coal seams were intercepted branch levels into the seams were dug and extended as the coals were mined. The branch level along the Four Feet seam itself reached a length of . Mine shafts were sunk and coal mined ahead of the intended line of the main navigable level, which was continually lengthened for many years reaching a length of . In order to ease the congestion resulting from the large number of boats using the level a second entrance tunnel was dug, long, and a one-way system introduced.


The Upper Navigable Level

In 1773 an upper navigable level was created by widening the original drainage sough with a finished length of and draining into the main navigable level. A sloped branch was driven from the upper level to the surface at a gradient of 1 in 4 to allow boats to be drawn up and lowered down. This incline was later continued downwards to the main level. Further navigable levels were dug below the main level to serve deeper seams; these were and deeper.


The Underground Incline

Coals were moved between levels using vertical shafts until 1797, when an underground
canal inclined plane An inclined plane is a type of cable railway used on some canals for raising boats between different water levels. Boats may be conveyed afloat, in caissons, or may be carried in cradles or slings. History Inclined planes have evolved over the ...
started in 1795 was completed. It was long and raised boats . There were two
locks Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...
at the upper level from which two railway tracks descended to the lower main level. Boats entered the upper locks and were seated on wagons. The water was drained from the locks and the boats would descend the incline counterbalanced by a second empty boat ascending the parallel railway line. This incline worked until 1822 and the levels were used for coal transport until 1887, by which time the total length of navigable levels was . The navigable levels continued to be used for drainage with regular inspections by boat until final closure in 1968.


Bibliography

In 1812 the Duke of Bridgewater's heir,
Francis Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater, (11 November 1756 – 11 February 1829), known as Francis Egerton until 1823, was a noted British eccentric from the Egerton family and supporter of natural theology. Egerton was a Church of Engl ...
, wrote a 47-page book on the underground canals entitled "Description du Plan Incliné Souterrain".Google eBook of ''Description du plan incliné souterrain''
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See also

*
Canals of Great Britain The canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a varied history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's ro ...
*
History of the British canal system History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
*
List of canal tunnels in Great Britain This is a list of canal tunnels in the United Kingdom. Listed by name Navigatable adits and mine levels An adit is a horizontal entrance to a mine: Listed by canal Grand Union Canal * Blisworth Tunnel, Northamptonshire * Braunston Tunnel, ...
*
Tub boat A tub boat was a type of unpowered cargo boat used on a number of the early English and German canals. The English boats were typically long and wide and generally carried to of cargo, though some extra deep ones could carry up to . They a ...


References


Further reading

* * * * * * * *


External links

*
Duke of Bridgewater Archive from the University of Salford site
* * * *
Diagram of the inclined plane connecting the navigable levels
* {{cite web, url=http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/neil.morris/The-Walkden-Adit.html , title=Boats Gate - The Walkden Adit , author=Neil Morris , date=March 2016 Canal tunnels in England Funicular railways in the United Kingdom Canals in Salford Irwell Valley Coal mines in Lancashire Mining in Lancashire Underground mines in England Canal inclined planes Tunnels in Greater Manchester