John Hore
| John Hore | |
|---|---|
| Born |
13 March 1680 (baptised) Thatcham, Berkshire, England |
| Died | 12 April 1763 (aged 83) Thatcham, Berkshire, England |
| Resting place | St Mary's Church, Thatcham |
| Nationality | English |
| Children | at least one son |
| Parent(s) |
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| Engineering career | |
| Discipline |
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| Projects | |
| Signature | |
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John Hore (baptised 13 March 1680 – 12 April 1763) was an English engineer, best known for making the River Kennet and River Avon navigable. Sir Alec Skempton wrote that Hore was "in the first rank among the navigation engineers". The Hutchinson Chronology of World History described his work on the Kennet navigation as "[setting] a new standard for inland waterways, and is an important forerunner of the canals of the Industrial Revolution".
Hore was baptised in Thatcham, Berkshire; his father, also named John, was possibly a yeoman in Thatcham who became a joint proprietor of the River Kennet, though the family were typically maltsters. Hore's mother was Frances. Hore married Hannah Hedges in Thatcham on 25 September 1701.
Hore was recorded as working as a millwright, possibly in relation to the family business. In 1718, however, he was appointed to survey and engineer the River Kennet to make it navigable from Reading to Newbury.
The 23-mile (37 km) section of river from Reading to Newbury has a gradient of 66 inches per mile (1.1 metres per kilometre), thus requiring locks to traverse the terrain. The Kennet Navigation Act (1715) had allowed construction to begin, although straight away the navigation proprietors saw huge expense in employing "unskillful person[s]"; ten locks were built at mills on the stretch of river but the severe lack of engineering experience meant the quality of the work undertaken was poor and it progressed at an unacceptable rate, thus Hore was appointed engineer and surveyor. It is likely that Hore's father, as a proprietor of the waterway, had a hand in arranging his son's employment on the project.
Hore recognised the inappropriate nature of this solution, proposing more locks and artificial cuttings to be dug. He was subsequently employed on a salary equivalent to £9,000 in 2015 plus expenses, with a responsibility of delivering 18.5 miles (29.8 km) of navigable waterways, 11 miles (18 km) of which would be new cuttings.
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