Page:Rivers, Canals, Railways of Great Britain.djvu/374



IVELCHESTER AND LANGPORT CANAL.
35 George III. Cap. 105, Royal Assent 22nd June, 1795.

THE act for commencing this canal is entitled, An Act for improving and supporting the Navigation of the River Ivel, otherwise Yeo, from the town of Ivelchester to Bicknell Bridge, in the parish of Huish Episcopi, in the county of Somerset; and for making a navigable Cut from thence into a certain Drain called Portlake Rhine, in the parish of Langport, in the same county; and for making the said Drain navigable from thence to the River Parrett, below Great Bow Bridge, in the town of Langport.

The length of this navigation is nearly seven miles from its commencement in the River Parrett, below the town of Langport, to Ivelchester or Ilchester, both in Somersetshire; its direction is nearly due east for the whole distance, with very little elevation throughout. By the act the proprietors are authorized to raise £6,000 in shares of £50 each; and, in case this should not prove sufficient, a further sum of £2,000.

TONNAGE AND WHARFAGE RATES.
And so on in Proportion for a greater or less Distance than a Mile, and for a greater or less Quantity than a Ton.

Fifty Cubic Feet of Round, and Forty Cubic Feet of Square Oak, Ash, Elm, or Beech Timber, and Fifty Cubic Feet of Fir, Deal, Balk, Poplar, or Birch not cut into Scantlings, and Sixty Cubic Feet of Light Goods, to be deemed and rated as One Ton Weight.

The principal object for which this canal was undertaken, was the introducing into the different places on its line, coal and other articles of home consumption, and the return of corn and other agricultural produce.