Liskeard And Looe Union Canal |
| Hob Uid: 435134 | |
Location :
Cornwall
Morval, Liskeard, Dobwalls and Trewidland, Duloe, St. Keyne
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| Grid Ref : SX2376064000 |
| Summary : The Liskeard and Looe was projected to carry lime and sea-sand inland as a manure. First considered in 1777, nothing was done until 1823, when James Green made a survey for a tub-boat canal with inclined planes from Sandplace, which would be linked to the sea by a barge cut. Another survey was made by John Edgcumbe and others for a locked canal, which was adopted, the Act of Parliament passing in 1825 with the line fully open in 1828. From the start the canal did well, costing little more than the estimate. By 1836 traffic in fertilizer was declining, but the canal was saved by the new Caradon copper mines opened in 1837 and 1840. From the mid-1840s the mines and the Cheesewring granite quarries were joined to the canal head by a tramroad, and traffic became such that it could not cope. So a railway was built by the canal company between Liskeard and Looe and opened in 1860. The canal quickly became disused, although the lower section from Terras Pill to Sandplace, which could take bigger boats, lasted until about 1910. |
More information : Approximately SX 23766400) to SX 25005552). The Liskeard
and Looe Union Canal, opened 1828, runs from Moorswater to Terras
Pill where it enters the River Looe.
It was designed to carry agricultural produce and stone down from
Liskeard with coal, iron, timber and limestone going up the canal;
later it became an important link with the copper mining industry.
With the building of the Liskeard and Caradon Railway in 1859-60
it declined but had some use up to 1909.
Derelict locks, cuts and bridges are still visible, particularly
the section alongside the railway at St. Keyne (SX 25106103). (1-2)
Mostly extant, the locks have now rotted away and for much of its
length the course is utilized by a river. (3)
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