Making of the Neath Canal

by Roy Bowen | Industry, Neath and Tenant Canal

**Drawing of the Lock at Ynys y Allor by David Williams**

Neath and (Tennant) Canal:

Introduction:

Many of the inhabitants of the village would have at some time or other gone for walk along the canal. They would have passed Pugh’s Farm, dropped down the steep hill on the right of the farm, gone under the Railway bridge, or now the Dual Carriageway Bridge, crossed the river at the Red Bridge to come out upon the canal at Maes Gwyn lock. But how many of us know the history of the canal; why was it built, who decided to build it, when was it built and why did it decline after such a relatively short time of being in use..

This article will look at the main events of the canals history, from the canals conception, the development of the canal in the first few years, and finally the ultimate decline of the canal.

For those requiring further information I have included at the bottom of the article, references to history books, and links to web sites on the canal where more detailed information can be found.

The building of the Neath Canal:

The building of the Neath canal can be directly linked to the Industrial Revolution. Before the Industrial Revolution Wales was a very agricultural nation. The wars of the 18th Century (the Seven Years’ War, the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars) brought about the introduction of Heavy Industry to supply this war machine. This in turn lead to some of the main industries being located in Wales, the Copper works of Swansea, the Iron works of Merthyr and the Coal industry of the South Wales valley’s. Due to the use of steam in driving these processes, these industries were sited in and around the coal areas of South Wales.

Back at the tail end of the 18th Century when these fledgling industries were still quite small enterprises, there was a recognition that in order to get their goods to market, the coal and Iron industries needed a more efficient and economical method of transporting their goods and raw materials. The existing road systems were basically unpaved tracks, with packhorses being used to transport goods, and along with the heavy rainfall in the Neath valley these conditions where not conducive to the transportation of these goods and raw materials.

A meeting to improve this situation was brought about by the passing of the Glamorgan Canal Act on the 9th June 1790. A meeting on 12th July 1790, chaired by Sir Herbert Mackworth and attended by George Venables-Vernon (1735 -1813) and a large number of important citizens of Neath. took place at the Ship and Castle in Neath (now called the Castle Hotel) and agreed that a canal was required that would run from Pontneddfechan (PNV) to Neath.

A second meeting a few weeks later on the 13th September, agreed to form a company called “The Company of Proprietors of Neath Canal Navigation”., to push this proposal forward. Shares in this newly formed company could be purchased at the time for £100. By 1793 only 191 of the share issue of 250 shares had been sold, the remaining shares were allotted pro-rata to existing shareholders with 3 shares being retained by the Canal Company

Elizabeths F. Belcham fantastic book “About Aperpergwm” mentions the Stewart of Aberpergwm Manor House a Mr Aubrey. The book states: “Mr Aubury’s personal estate also included shares in both the Neath and Swansea Canals. It was Mr Aubrey who sold land at Maesgwyn for the Neath Canal on 2nd November 1794”. [1]

This newly formed company then met the following week on the 22nd September to agree the alignment of the canal and to apply to the government for a Canal Act to build the canal.

The original design of the canal was to be terminated at PNV and run down the West side of the river to Clyne and then use the river to navigate to Neath. A second canal was also proposed to run from the end of the Neath canal to Giants Grave, “sufficient to carry ships of burthen will be of equal benefit and utility” and Thomas Dadford should be asked to make a survey. (British Chronicle & Herefords Journal 26th July 1790.)

Thomas Dadford supported by his father Thomas Dadford Snr. duly carried out the survey for a canal from Pontneddfechan to Neath and the cost was estimated at £25,716 which was approved in the October of 1790.

This original design was subsequently modified to terminate at the Abernant Canal Head in Glynneath, travel down the west side of the river, cross the river by means on a stone built six arch aqueduct at Ynysbwllog in Clyne, (classed as a clay lined, rubble stone masonry trough aqueduct) then travel onto Neath on the East side of the river to terminate at Neath at a place called Brickfield, near Melincryddan Pill.

The “Neath Canal Act” was passed on the 6th June 1791, and 2 months later the engineer Thomas Dadford was instructed on the 18th August to “make out the middle line of the canal” working northwards from Neath. By the following year, 1792, he had reached the river at Ynysbwllog Clyne where he terminated his appointment with the company to work on the Monmouth Canal.

His successor was Thomas Sheasby who was contracted to finish the canal by 1st November 1793. Unfortunately due to the slow construction of the canal and cash shortages he had failed to finish in the specified time, he was subsequently dismissed by the company. In 1794 he was arrested and imprisoned in Fleet prison for refusing to carry out a repair a breach of the Glamorganshire Canal, where he was employed as a contractor. He was later released and absolved of any wrong doings.The rest of the canal was finished by the Neath Canal Navigation Company using direct labour and was completed by 1795.

The completed Neath canal runs for 10.5 miles, had a width of 9.1m (30ft), a depth of 1.2m (4ft), the locks are 18.3m (60ft) long and 2.7m (9ft) wide and should take vessels up to 25 ton’s. In Bradshaw’s book on canals of England and Wales is states, the average load carried on the canal was 20 tons on a 2 ft 6 inch draught.

Before the canal was completed, advertisements appeared in national newspapers for entrepreneurs interested in investing and developing coal and mineral mining in the Vale of Neath, utilising the canal system to transport their goods. As there there were not many entrepreneurs rich enough living in the area, most of the early coal and iron owners were of English origin.

The introduction of the Neath canal would prove vital in the early industrial development of the Vale of Neath, before the introduction of the Vale of Neath Railway took over the transport of coal and iron Ore from the canal.

Further Development of the Canal:

After it’s successful opening and profitable first few years, on the 26th May 1798 a second Canal Act was passed to extend the canal from Neath to Giant’s Grave where there were better facilities to transfer goods to seagoing vessels. This new section of canal was opened on the 29th July 1799 and took the canal to a final length of 13.5 miles in total and was served by 19 locks.

Further development of the canal came about in 1824 when George Tennant, a son of a Lancashire solicitor, built a privately owned branch of the canal from Aberdulias through to Port Tenant which incorporated a number of existing smaller canals into the scheme. The advent of this branch of the canal meant that over 50% of the business traveling down the valley on the Neath canal was diverted away from Giants Grave and instead went to the purpose built docks at Port Tennant.

As well as the Tennant canal branch, a further three short privately owned canal branches were built to connect mines and quarries to the canal.

Maesmachog branch:

The branch at Maesmachog was built in 1800, and connected by tramway to the Penrose owned collieries and quarries in the Banwen Prythyn area.

Cwrt Sart branch:

A second branch in Cwrt Sart was built in 1812, and connected by tramway to the Eskyn owned Eaglesbush collieries.

Cnel Bach branch:

A third branch, just below Cwmgwrach called Cnel Bach was built in 1817, it connected by tramway the Protheroe owned collieries at Forch – Coch to the canal. The Blaengwrach tramroad and Cnel Bach were built by Protheroe and Walters, Cwmgwrach coal owners, to transport their stone coal and culm down to the Neath canal. In 1824 10 barges were loaded at Cnel Bach with Protheroe coal and were part of the opening procession of the Tennant canal.

Here is a link to the memories of W. J. Benjamin who lived on the banks of Cnel Bach with his parents when he was a boy.
https://gwrachtimeline.co.uk/w-j-benjamin-memories-of-living-at-cnel-bach

With all these direct links from the industrial works of the valley, by means of the tramway’s, via the branch canals to the main canal, then onto the docks at Neath, Giant Grave and Port Tennant. It meant that goods and raw materials could be cost effectively and efficiently transported to their customer.

In 1820 200,000 ton’s of coal were being transported per annum from the collieries at the head of the valley to the dock’s. This meant that by 1845 the share value had tripled in value from an initial cost of £100 to a value of £340, a good return on the shareholders initial investment.

Decline of the Neath Canal:

After the first successful 50 years, the writing was on the wall for the Neath Canal Company, the challenge coming from the opening of the Vale of Neath Railway line on the 24th September 1851.

The collieries on the East side of the valley had already moved their business away from the canal to the railway line.

To protect it’s business interests the Neath Canal Company had refused permission for the collieries on the West side of the valley to build tramways over the canal which would then have enabled them to link up with the main railway line, as this would have had a disastrous effect on the canal’s business.

In 1875 a court case between Ynysarwed colliery and the Neath canal company successfully tested the right to build tramways over the canal. Once this right was established the Ynysarwed colliery built a bridge over the canal with the remaining collieries in the valley quickly following suit. In 1888 the last major coal producer, Morgan Stuart Williams of Aberpergwm built a bridge over the canal to link to The Great Western Railway at Cwmgwrach. This was the final death knell for the canal.

The effect on the canal company of all the collieries transporting their coal by rail was to prove disastrous for the long term success of the canal. From this date on the canal went into inevitable decline with only the business from the Gunpowder works and the Silca company continuing. The only other business was the supply of water from the canal at the bottom of the valley, for cooling and other processes at the BP (British Petroleum) Company Llandarcy, which it continued to do throughout World War One.

By 1921 all trade had virtually ceased on the Neath canal, the last barge carried market garden produce to Glynneath and returned Neath empty. After this both the Neath and Tennant canals gradually silted up, and became unnavigable about the same time, and the last toll for the canal being recorded in 1934.