Galton's Canal

Galton's Canal
The site of the lock according to Galton's map of 1845. The stonework is part of the road bridge.
Specifications
Locks	1
History
Original owner	Samuel Galton
Principal engineer	Richard Hammett
Date of act	1801
Date of first use	1822
Date closed	1850s
Geography
Start point	River Brue, Meare
End point	North Drain
Connects to	River Brue

[ ] Galton's Canal
North Drain Westhay Moor Drove Site of lock White's River River Brue

Galton's Canal was a 1-mile 3 furlong (2.2 km) canal with one lock, crossing Westhay Moor in Somerset, England, and connecting the River Brue to the North Drain. It was operational by 1822, and ceased to be used after the 1850s.

Few details of the canal have survived, and the main source of information about it comes from a paper submitted to the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England by Erasmus Galton, and published in 1845. The journal was chosen because the main purpose of the canal was the improvement of a peat bog, to provide agricultural land. In 1811, Samuel Galton, Jr., a financier from Duddeston, in Birmingham, owned 300 acres (120 ha) of peat bog in the parish of Meare, which formed part of Westhay Moor. The moor had been split up into tenements by an Act of Parliament in 1790, but most of it remained unimproved, and was only suitable for the cutting of turf, which was used as a fuel.

Samuel Galton set out to improve his holding, and the project was managed by his agent, a Mr. Richard Hammett, who came from the village of Street. Hammett would later provide the initial survey of the Glastonbury Canal, and it was his notes that Erasmus Galton used to prepare his article. Local opinion was that such land could not be improved, because any top dressing of soil would soon sink below the peat, and the effort expended would be wasted. However, Galton believed that if the land was drained properly before top dressing began, loss of the soil did not occur, and the land remained improved. His process consisted of dividing the land into ridges, which were 40 feet (12 m) wide, and cutting ditches at both sides. Peat was moved from the edges of the ridge to its centre, and over a period of 4 to 5 years, the peat compressed, and the surface sank by around 3 or 4 feet (0.9 or 1.2 m), but was firm enough to support cattle. The cost for this first stage was given as £4 2s 6d (£4.12) per acre (£10.30 per ha).

The River Brue provided a source of soil for top dressing, as rich soil was deposited on its banks after heavy rainfall. It is not known when construction of the canal began, as Galton makes no mention of it in his article, and costs for the whole project are shown starting in 1811. However, the first carriage of soil is shown in 1822, when 90 cubic yards (69 m³) passed along the canal, so it must have been finished by this time. The canal had been authorised by the Brue Drainage Act of 1801. It was about 1.4 miles (2.3 km) long and 16 feet (4.9 m) wide. The section which joined the River Brue was embanked on both sides, after which there was a small lock, which raised the level of the canal to allow it to cross the moor. It joined the North Drain at the far end, and continued a little further to service land being reclaimed on the north side of the drain.