Grand Western Canal, Devon

Historical Description

Grand Western Canal, a canal chiefly in Devonshire owned by the Great Western Railway Company, and forming part of the waterway extending from the docks at Bridg-water to the Tiverton. The northern portion of the canal, called the Bridgwater and Tiverton, is also owned by the G.W.R. Company, and follows pretty nearly the line of the railway, passing through North Petherton, Darston, and Creech St Michael, to Firepool on the river Tone, a distance of 14¼ miles. The Grand Western continues through Bar-lescombe, Lampford, Pnrrell, and Holbriton, to Tiverton. The canal was originally intended to extend thence to the tidal part of the river Exe at Topham, but the plan was never completed. There are no locks in the Grand Western Canal, which is 10½ miles long.

Maps

Online maps of Grand Western Canal are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)