Itchen Navigation
The disused Stoke lock, which now functions as a weir and sluice
Specifications
Locks	15 + 2 single gates
Status	Limited restoration
History
Original owner	Itchen Navigation Company
Date of act	1665
Date of first use	1710
Date closed	1869
Geography
Start point	Winchester
End point	Northam Quay

v t e Itchen Navigation
Legend
From source Wharf Mill College Street Bridge College Mill River Itchen Blackbridge Wharf 1 St Catherines mill and lock Hockley Railway Viaduct  M3  culvert Hockley Mill 2 Twyford Lane End lock Twyford Drain 3 Compton lock River Itchen Shawford Mill Shawford and Norris's bridge 4 Shawford single gates 5 Malm lock 6 College Mead lock Otterbourne Water Works intake Relief channel 7 Brambridge lock 8 Brambridge single gates 9 Allbrook lock  B3335  bridges South West Main Line 10 Withymead lock Barton River 11 Stoke lock 11 Shears Mill turbines  B3037  bridges 12 Conegar lock Eastleigh Eastleigh–Fareham line 13 Lock House lock 14 Decoy Pond lock 15 Sandy lock  M27  embankment 16 Mansbridge lock Gaters Mill  A27  Mans Bridge Woodmill Lane 17 Wood mill + Woodmill tide lock  A3035  Cobden Bridge West Coastway Line  A3024  Northam Bridge Northam Wharf  A3025  Itchen Bridge Southampton Water

The Itchen Navigation is a 10.4-mile (16.7 km) disused canal system in Hampshire, England, that provided an important trading route from Winchester to the sea at Southampton for about 150 years. Improvements to the River Itchen were authorised by Act of Parliament in 1665, but progress was slow, and the navigation was not declared complete until 1710. It was known as a navigation because it was essentially an improved river, with the main river channel being used for some sections, and cuts with locks used to bypass the difficult sections. Its waters are fed from the River Itchen. It provided an important method of moving goods, particularly agricultural produce and coal, between the two cities and the intervening villages.

On its completion it was capable of taking shallow barges of around 13 feet (4.0 m) in width and 70 feet (21 m) in length, but traffic was fairly modest. 18,310 tons of freight were carried in 1802, one of the better years, and there were never more than six boats in use on the waterway. Following the opening of the London and Southampton Railway in 1840, traffic declined sharply, and the navigation ceased to operate in 1869. There were various attempts to revitalise it, but none were successful. There had also been several proposals to link it to the Basingstoke Canal to form an inland route from London to Southampton during its life, which likewise did not come to fruition.

The revival of interest in inland waterways following the end of the Second World War has resulted in the tow path alongside the canal becoming part of the Itchen Way long-distance footpath, and is a popular route for walkers. The Itchen Navigation Preservation Society was formed in the 1970s, but progress was slow. A joint venture between the Environment Agency and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust in 2005 led to the formation of the Itchen Navigation Trust, and two years later, they obtained a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, funding the creation of the Itchen Navigation Heritage Trail Project, which has sought to conserve and interpret the remains. The route provides habitat for a diverse flora and fauna, which has resulted in it being designated as a European Special Area of Conservation and a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

History

The River Itchen had been commercially important since before Norman times, with a staithe for unloading boats recorded at Bishopstoke in 960, and stone for Winchester Cathedral, built when Winchester was the capital city of England, was probably transported by water from the quarries of Caen in France.^[1] The first recorded improvements to the river were made by Godfrey de Lucy, who was Bishop of Winchester between 1189 and 1204. He funded the works himself, and as a consequence, was granted the right to levy tolls on goods transported on the river by King John. There was considerable trade in wool and leather, but the centres for this moved to Calais and Melcombe Regis in 1353, and as the trade declined, so did the navigable parts of the river. It was noted to be in poor condition in 1452, and a report for the Commissioners of Sewers in 1617 suggested that much of it was obstructed by mills which had been built on the banks.^[2]

Construction of the canal was authorised by an Act of Parliament passed in 1665. The Act allowed a number of rivers to be made navigable, and in each case, undertakers were appointed, to carry out the work, as were commissioners, chosen from the local justices, who were responsible for confirming the tolls. The undertakers made very slow progress, and it was not until 1710 that the work was completed. They had built locks and some artificial cuts to bypass difficult sections of the river, and created a towing path for horses. The route was 10.4 miles (16.7 km) long, of which 2.75 miles (4.43 km) were new cuts, and although some of the rest used the course of the river, much of it followed secondary streams. New undertakers were not appointed as old ones died, and by 1767, the navigation was effectively owned by one man, a Mr Edward Pyott. Local people felt that he was exceeding his powers, and they obtained a second Act of Parliament in 1767, which noted that Pyott had created a trading and carrying monopoly, as he would refuse to carry coal and other goods which interfered with his own activities. The preamble to the Act claimed that this was harming the poor and the inhabitants of Winchester.^[3]

The Act was unusual, as it was obtained without Pyott's consent, and created a new group of commissioners from local justices and dignitaries. They were empowered to set the rates for tolls, and the owner was obliged to transport all goods at the established rates. If there were not sufficient boats and the owner did not provide more, they could license others to provide carriage services. They could also order that locks, wharves and warehouses should be erected. The size of boats was specified, and were to be capable of carrying between 20 and 30 tons of cargo. The tolls set were quite moderate, and a group of merchants appear to have leased the river from Pyott for a period after 1767, but he eventually took control again.^[4]

Some additional locks were added, and by 1795, there were fifteen, three made of masonry blocks, and twelve with turf sides. There were also two single gates or half locks. The lowest lock was at Woodmill, where the navigation joined the estuary of the River Itchen, on its way to Southampton Water. The main wharves at the Southampton end were at Northam, about 2 miles (3.2 km) below the lock, and barges worked down to them on the tide or were punted if the tide was rising.^[5] As the river was tidal below Woodmill Lock, the structure was rebuilt in 1829 with a third set of gates facing downstream, to prevent high tides flooding the navigation.^[6]

The route map shows the navigation in deep blue, (or green for the drained section), to distinguish it from the river, shown in light blue. Deep blue is normally used to represent navigable waterways, but is used here for clarity.

Operation

Following the death of Pyott, ownership of the navigation was bought by James D'Arcy, by then married to the widow of one of Pyott's sons. There were still mortgages of £4,666 outstanding, all of them owned by members of Pyott's family, on which interest had to be paid. He appears to have leased the tolls to the proprietors, according to a local newspaper report of the time, and then to Edward Knapp, before taking over again in 1794. Around 1802, the navigation was carrying 18,310 long tons (18,600 t) of freight, of which 10,300 long tons (10,500 t) were coal and culm, 350 long tons (360 t) were salt, 1,710 long tons (1,740 t) tons were chalk, and the remaining 5,950 long tons (6,050 t) tons were made up of other goods. The average annual income was quoted as £3,735, but this probably included freight charges as well as tolls, since D'Arcy managed both. He operated four barges.^[7]

With the prospects of a link between the navigation and the Basingstoke Canal being constructed, the undertaking was valued at £24,000, and D'Arcy sold a half share in it to his agent, George Hollis. He then sold the other half to him, and moved to Ireland. Hollis became the sole proprietor from 1804, having bought out his sleeping partner. Throughout its life, the navigation had almost been a monopoly, but Hollis planned to end this, and obtained an Act of Parliament in 1802, to make it an open navigation, where anyone could use it on payment of the appropriate tolls. These were laid down in the Act, ending the setting of tolls by the Commissioners. The Act also specified that he had three years to put the river in order, which he appears to have achieved, since he then leased it to a group of merchants.^[8]

From 1808, a number of detractors argued that the navigation was in a poor condition, hoping to force Hollis to concede water rights to mills, and traffic declined. Another Act of 1811 allowed Hollis to raise the tolls, and eight years later, he held a meeting at the Winchester Guildhall, explaining why he needed to raise the tolls further. The meeting asked him to postpone his next Bill for a year, in return for which they would give him £1,200 for one year's tolls, wharfage and rent, he would spend £600 on repairs, and the remaining £600 would amount to 5 per cent interest on the estimated value of the navigation, which was then £12,000. He obtained his Act of Parliament a year later, which raised the tolls, but the Commissioners reduced freight charges at the same time, resulting in the operation being more profitable for Hollis and less so for the barge owners.^[9]

Decline

Hollis raised mortgages to pay for improvements, but receipts were down to £1,821 in 1839, the last full year of operation before the London and Southampton Railway opened. The receipts were obtained from tolls, as all freight was moved by independent carriers. At this point, Hollis gave control of the navigation to members of his family. His son managed it until 1841, when a banker called W. W. Bulpett, who was a mortgagee, took over. In 1847 he was given notice to quit by the Hollis family, despite having done a good job, but he refused. F. W. Hollis eventually obtained most of the shares from the other family members, and started legal action to remove Bulpett. Railway competition had caused a sharp drop in receipts, from £1,012 in 1843 to £430 in 1861, and payments to shareholders and mortgagees ceased in 1850 and 1857. In 1863, Bulpett was replaced by Mr Clarke, formerly the manager of the Andover Canal, but Bulpett returned when he won the action brought by Hollis.^[10]

However, his re-instatement was short lived, as the navigation ceased to operate in January 1869, the last month in which tolls were collected. Mortgages of £19,708 were outstanding, of which £2,607 dated from the original construction by Pyott. A plan to buy the waterway by J. R. Stebbings of Southampton in 1871 fell through. A further attempt to buy the navigation was made in 1909 by Patrick O'Carroll, an estate agent from Southsea. He created a company called the Itchen Navigation Ltd, with a capital of £20,000, but they were unable to establish who owned it, and so the company never traded.^[11]

Extensions

During the life of the canal, there were several proposals to link the canal to the Basingstoke Canal, to provide an inland route between London and Southampton. The first was in 1788, and was initiated by the Basingstoke Canal company, six months after they started work on their main line. A survey for a proposed route was made, but no further progress occurred. Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Itchen_Navigation
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