History of the Huddersfield Water Supplies
By T. W. Woodhead

CHAPTER II - EARLY WATER SUPPLIES

THE SIR JOHN RAMSDEN AND HUDDERSFIELD CANAL

Another important scheme initiated by the Ramsdens was the construction of a canal from Cooper Bridge to King’s Mill. On the 9th March, 1774, Royal assent was given to "An Act for enabling Sir John Ramsden, Baronet, to make and maintain a navigable canal from the River Calder, between a bridge called Cooper's Bridge and the mouth of the River Colne to the King's Mill near the town of Huddersfield, in the West Riding of the county of York."

This canal, fed by a goit from the Colne near King's Mill, is about three and three quarter miles in length, has a rise of ninety-three feet, and was opened in 1780 (See Figure 13 below). It not only proved a valuable asset to the town by providing a direct waterway to Hull and the Continent, but suggested and eventually provided a link between the Aire and Calder, and Lancashire systems, and so gave a direct line of communication between the east and west coasts. This very ambitious scheme was undertaken by the Huddersfield Canal Company who on the 4th April, 1794, obtained "An Act for making and maintaining a navigable canal from and out of the Canal of Sir John Ramsden, Bart., at or near the town of Huddersfield, in the West Riding of the County of York, to join and communicate with the Canal Navigation from Manchester to or near Ashton-under-Lyne aforesaid, in the county Palatine of Lancaster."

Figure 13. Sir John Ramsden Canal. The Wharf, Aspley

The company was required to make reservoirs for supplying the canal, sufficient to contain not less than twenty thousand locks of water, each lock containing one hundred and eighty cubic yards; but none of this water except in times of flood was to be taken from the rivers of the line.

Figure 14. Huddersfield Canal in the Colne Valley.
(From a banner worked by Mrs. Josiah Lockwood)

The canal is thus described by Priestley:-
|"This canal which is fitted for small craft of 7.ft wide, …is capable of passing boats with twenty four tons burthen;…..it commences on the south of the town of Huddersfield, and pursues a south-west direction (See Figure 14 above), winding its course past Slaithwaite, nearly parallel with one of the branches of the River Colne, for the distance of seven miles and a half, which river it crosses in three places* by appropriate aqueducts (See Figure 15 below); and by an ascent of 436 feet, distributed among forty-two locks, it arrives near Marsden, at the summit level, which is higher than that of any other canal in the kingdom, being at an elevation of 656 feet above the level of the sea; the summit level is thence continued for nearly half a mile, where the canal enters that extensive chain of mountains well known to travelers going from Manchester to Huddersfield (through which it passes under the designated Pule Hill and Brann Top, generally called Stanedge), for the distance of 5,451 yards, and emerges therefrom into the valley of Diggle in Saddleworth, continuing to near Wrigley Mill, making the whole summit level four miles; it then glides across the valley, alternately on the north and south sides of the river Tame, past Dobcross, Scout, and Stayley Bridge, to its junction with the Manchester, Ashton-under-Lyne and Oldham Canal, near Duckinfield Bridge, having passed a further distance of eight miles and a quarter, and through a descent of 334 ¼ feet, which is equally divided among thirty-three locks; crossing the River Tame in four different places, and making the whole length of canal nineteen miles and three quarters."†

Figure 15. Huddersfield Canal. Aqueduct, Scarbottom, Golcar

The section between Huddersfield and Marsden (See Figure 16 below) was completed and opened in 1798, but the making of the Stanedge tunnel presented unexpected difficulties and the scheme proved much more costly than was originally estimated. In consequence, additional powers were obtained in the Act of May 30th, 1800, and a further act on March 31st, 1806. The original estimate was £184,000, but upwards of £300,000 was expended. The Stanedge tunnel which was opened for traffic on April 4th, 1811, cost £123,802.

Figure 16. Huddersfield Canal, Marsden. Loading Stone on L.M.S. Barge

"This canal was the chief means of raising Huddersfield to one of the principal markets for woolen goods in the County of York." It not only provided facilities for transport, but also an important water supply for industrial purposes.

In the London and North Western Railway Act of 1875, it is stated "And whereas by the Huddersfield and Manchester railway and Canal Act, 1845, the owners of lands adjoining the Canal are empowered to draw water from the Huddersfield Canal for the purposes of any engine within eighty yards of the said Canal, upon the terms and conditions and subject to the restrictions therein set forth, and the undertaking of Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal Company, including the Huddersfield Canal Navigation and the Canal called Sir John Ramsden's Canal (hereinafter collectively referred to and vested in the Company, and new forms part of their undertaking."

"And whereas there are in the neighbourhood of the Huddersfield Canal, and beyond the distance of eighty yards therefrom, many manufactories and other works using steam power, and the Company have, with great benefit and advantage to those manufactories and works, and at the request of the owners or occupiers thereof, supplied them with water from the said Canal, and it is expedient that further provision should be made in respect thereof."

"In the Waterworks Act 1890, it was laid down that the London and North Western Railway Company shall not supply water for manufacturing purposes from the Huddersfield Canal within the limits of the Corporation for the supply of water except to such an extent as they can supply such water therefrom by means of their existing reservoirs and works without any enlargement or extension thereof or addition thereto and without preventing or impeding the navigation of the said canal or the conduct of the traffic thereon."

* At two places not three, (1) West side of Paddock viaduct, where a lock raises the boat to the level of the aqueduct; (2) The Scarbottom aqueduct, Golcar
† When the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Bill was first before Parliament it was met with strong opposition by prominent Churchmen, especially to the making of aqueducts. This was based on religious grounds; it wasd argued that if God had ever intended rivers to flow over one another, He would have made them do so, and that it was infamy for man to endeavour to bring such a thing about. The Bill was rejected, but was later passed in 1770.

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