Restoration feature Not actually a plan to reopen the long-lost Portsmouth & Arundel Canal to boats, Burndell Bridge It does sometimes seem that just when you think there couldn’t possibly be any more new canal restoration schemes, up pops another new group with a plan. And Burndell Bridge, Yapton, is a case in point. Sure, they’re not actually proposing reopening the route to navigation, but a group in Sussex have found a rare surviving structure from the old Portsmouth & Arundel Canal, and are hoping to restore it. But before Andrew Saunders explains about their ambitions, let’s hear from Allen Misselbrook about the history and surviving heritage of the canal...
A very brief history of the Ford to Hunston Canal and its relationship to Yapton In June 1823, with great pomp and ceremony, the final section of the Portsmouth & Arundel canal, from Ford to Hunston, was
officially opened. It was the final link in a waterway route which would allow gold bullion to be transported from London to the Navy in Portsmouth Harbour without having to sail via the Channel, running the risk of the hazardous sea journey and of being intercepted by the French. It would also facilitate the transport of cargo between the capital and the south. The route had been surveyed by the experienced John Rennie with James Hollinsworth being appointed as the engineer. The main supply of water for the canal was provided by a large pumping station taking water from the River Arun at Ford near to the canal entrance. This was one of the last canals of its type to be built and was not a commercial success due, mainly, to the coming of the railways. The section from Ford to Hunston closed in 1847 and slowly fell into disrepair. There is very little to show in Yapton of this once important waterway linking London to
Portsmouth & Arundel Canal Opened in 1823, the canal linked the River Arun to Salterns, and from there via a dredged channel through the natural inlets to a short terminal length of canal leading into Portsmouth. It was abandoned in 1847 apart from the short length from Salterns to Hunston and the branch from there to Chichester, which had been built to a larger gauge, lasted until 1906, and much of which has been restored by the Chichester Ship Canal Trust. East of Hunston it has fared less well - but some remains survived - including Burndell Bridge, Yapton. Burndell Bridge, Yapton
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