Page:Rivers, Canals, Railways of Great Britain.djvu/275



By the 34th George III. cap. 95, for improving the Trent Navigation, it is enacted, that the Annual Rent of £5, paid by the Erewash Canal Company, shall cease, and in Lieu of it, every Boat laden, and crossing the River between the Loughborough Navigation and the Erewash Canal, shall pay Sixpence.

This canal was designed and executed chiefly by the owners of the extensive collieries and other mines situate on its line and at its northern extremity, with a view of obtaining a more certain mode of transporting their heavy produce to distant markets; but it has, subsequently, by its connection with the Derby, Cromford and Nottingham Canals, and by the great improvements which have taken place in the Trent Navigation, become a part of the line of communication for general commercial purposes; and when the Cromford and Peak Forest Railway is completed, it will derive some additional revenue incident to a position on the line of communication between London and the northern manufacturing districts.

EXE RIVER AND EXETER CANAL.
31 Henry VIII Cap. 4, Royal Assent - - - - 1539.

10 Geo. IV. Cap. 47, Royal Assent 14th May, 1829.

THIS river has its source on Exmoor, at the westwardly termination of the Dunkerry Hills, in the county of Somerset, whence it pursues a south-eastwardly course, to within a mile of the town of Dulverton, and by Pixton Park, the seat of the Earl of Caernarvon, near which place it enters Devonshire. Its course, hence, is by Stuckbridge to Tiverton, to which place a branch of the intended Grand Western Canal extends; it then follows a southerly course, by Thorverton and Pynes, to the city of Exeter, near which place it is joined by the Creedy. From Exeter, the ancient course of the river is by Countess Wear Bridge, to the town of Topsham, where the river navigation commences. From the last-mentioned town to the sea, (into which it falls at Exmouth,) it is a considerable estuary, being in some places a mile and a half in width; and its length, by the low water channel, is nearly eight miles.

From the west side of the river, a little above the town of Topsham, a canal, above three miles in length, and running