Page:Rivers, Canals, Railways of Great Britain.djvu/317



EXEMPTIONS.
Stone, Gravel or Sand to be used in the repair of any Road in any Township through which this Canal shall pass, and which shall pass from one part of the Canal to another; also all Dung, Soil, Marl, Ashes of Coal and Turf and Lime for Manure, for the Improvement of Lands only within Three Miles of the Canal; but should any of the above Articles pass through either of the Locks at the two Extremities of this Canal, Rates shall be paid as above.

Among the many advantages derived from the execution of this magnificent canal, the avoiding of the dangerous and very difficult navigation of a circuitous part of the Severn, is not the least. The distance, by the river, from Sharpness Point to Gloucester, is twenty-eight miles, while by the canal it is only sixteen miles and a half, consequently there is a saving of more than eleven miles.

The difference in time cannot exactly be calculated; one is subject to all the inconveniences of the worst part of the Severn, the other is easy, smooth and certain. The completion of this canal is likely to make Gloucester a powerful rival of the port of Bristol; and its further important uses will be much better developed by an inspection of the accompanying map, than by any observations we can add.

GLOUCESTER AND CHELTENHAM RAILWAY.
49 George III. Cap. 23, Royal Assent 28th April, 1809.

55 George III. Cap. 41, Royal Assent 12th May, 1815.

THIS railway commences at the basin of the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal, within the city of Gloucester; from whence, skirting the south side of the town, it passes the village of Wotton, and thence, in a north-easterly direction, by the side of the Mail-Road between Gloucester and Cheltenham, and terminates at the Knapp Toll Gate, at the latter place. A branch is proposed to be extended to the Limestone Quarries at Leckhampton Hill; but this is not yet executed. The length of the main line from the basin is rather more than eight miles and three quarters; but, including the length of the quay, it is nine miles.

The proposed branch is two miles and three quarters. The estimates for this railway and branch were made by Mr. John Hodgkinson, which amounted to £25,261, 14s. viz, for the