Horncastle Canal

Horncastle Canal
The route of the canal near Horncastle
Specifications
Maximum boat length	72 ft 0 in (21.95 m)
Maximum boat beam	15 ft 0 in (4.57 m)
Locks	12
Status	Reverted to river
History
Original owner	Horncastle Canal Company
Principal engineer	William Jessop
Other engineer(s)	John Rennie
Date of act	1792, 1800
Date of first use	1795
Date completed	1802
Date closed	1889
Geography
Start point	Horncastle
End point	River Witham, Dogdyke

The Horncastle Canal was a broad canal which ran 11 miles from the River Witham to Horncastle in Lincolnshire, England, through twelve locks largely following the course of River Bain. The canal opened in 1802, and was abandoned for navigation in 1889.

By the 1790s, the Manor of Horncastle was leased by Sir Joseph Banks, a man of both local and national standing, with a keen interest in agriculture and trade. He had plans which included an Enclosure Act for Horncastle and drainage of the Wildmore Fen, and was also influential in plans for the canalisation of the River Bain from Horncastle to the River Witham near Tatteshall. Tattershall was already served by a short canal from the River Witham, which had been constructed in 1786 by John Gibson, a merchant from Tattershall, and John Dyson, who was from Bawtry. The canal was about 1 mile (1.6 km) long, and had an entrance lock near to where it joined the river.

Sir Joseph Banks canvassed the support of local merchants and the owners of the estates that bordered the river, and formed a steering committee, which instructed Sir Joseph's solicitor to draft a parliamentary bill for the proposed canal. This was ready by March 1792, and was considered by a public meeting held on 4 April. That meeting approved the bill, which became an Act of Parliament on 11 June 1792. In addition to local supporters, the bill was also supported by the Corporations of Boston and Lincoln, as it included a clause that would enable the channel beneath Lincoln High Bridge, a medieval structure which prevented navigation from the River Witham to the Brayford Pool, to be made deeper. The act also regularised the position of the Gibson Cut, which had been built without an act of parliament on land owned by Lord Fortescue, and ensured that he would be compensated when the cut was taken over by the new company.

The company was authorised to raise £15,000 by the issuing of shares, and another £10,000 if required. While the major shareholders were Sir Joseph and Lord Fortescue, 294 others, mostly from the local area, bought shares. At this stage, the engineer William Jessop was asked to review the plans, and suggested two routes, one from Horncastle to Kirkstead, and the other following the course of the River Bain to Tattershall and joining the River Witham at Dogdyke. It was this latter scheme that was adopted, although Jessop's plans to build the locks to take boats of 54 ft by 14.3 ft (16.5m x 4.4m) with a draught of 3.5 ft (1m) was overruled in favour of locks 72 ft by 15 ft (22m x 4.6m), which enabled the boats already plying the River Witham and Trent to use the canal.