Shared description
The Ulverston Canal
Prior to the construction of the Furness Railway, the Furness peninsula was cut off by the mountainous Lake District on its only landward side; the region was accessed only by crossing the sands of Morecambe Bay. The Ulverston Canal was completed in 1796, in order to provide the town of Ulverston with a port. The canal is 1¼ miles long and runs from Ulverston town centre to the coast of Morecambe Bay. It is entirely straight and on a single level. It is an isolated canal and does not connect to the main canal network. At 15 feet deep and 66 feet wide, it was intended to take very large ships.
The Ulverston Canal was once the starting-point for steamers to Liverpool, passenger ships to Scotland and London, and cargoes of local slates that made their way to coastal towns around Britain. The opening of the Furness Railway in 1846 seriously damaged the profitability of the canal, which was eventually bought by the railway company. It was used commercially until the First World War and was officially abandoned in 1945. It has since been maintained by Ulverston town council. There is a public footpath on its eastern side, but the western side is industrialized, being the location of a large GlaxoSmithKline factory.
The Ulverston Canal was once the starting-point for steamers to Liverpool, passenger ships to Scotland and London, and cargoes of local slates that made their way to coastal towns around Britain. The opening of the Furness Railway in 1846 seriously damaged the profitability of the canal, which was eventually bought by the railway company. It was used commercially until the First World War and was officially abandoned in 1945. It has since been maintained by Ulverston town council. There is a public footpath on its eastern side, but the western side is industrialized, being the location of a large GlaxoSmithKline factory.
by David Dixon
Created: Mon, 31 Aug 2020, Updated: Mon, 31 Aug 2020
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