Page:Rivers, Canals, Railways of Great Britain.djvu/688



The rights of the Lord Bishop of Durham to the beacon and anchorage dues of the port and haven of Sunderland, are protected by a clause at the end of the act.

The importance of this navigation arises from the export of coal, which abounds in its neighbourhood, and is conveyed to it by numerous railways, laid down by the proprietors of the different coal-works; the port of London and many large towns situate upon the Thames, as well as all the Eastern Coast, receiving a considerable portion of their supplies from the port of Sunderland.

WEAVER NAVIGATION.
7 Geo. I. C. 10, R. A. 23rd March, 1720.

7 Geo. II. C. 28, R. A. 16th April, 1734.

33 Geo. II. C. 49, R. A. 22nd May, 1760.

47 Geo. III. C. 82, R. A. 8th Aug. 1807.

6 Geo. IV. C. 29, R. A. 2nd May, 1825.

10 Geo. IV. C. 70, R. A. 22nd May, 1829.

THE first act for making this river navigable, passed in the 7th George I. entitled,  'An Act for making the River Weaver navigable from Frodsham Bridge to Winsford Bridge, in the county of Chester,' empowering certain undertakers and trustees, and their successors, to execute the works; and when made, to take and receive 1s. 3d. per ton until the charges and expenses of making the same are satisfied, and afterwards only 1s. per ton. Forty bushels of rock salt or white salt, or eight barrels of sugar, each not being more than three hundred pounds weight, or two hogsheads of sugar of not more than one thousand two hundred pounds each, or three hogsheads of tobacco of not more than eight hundred pounds weight each; and that four tierces, each not being more than eight hundred pounds weight, shall be deemed a ton. Sixty-three cubic feet of coal, cannel coal, charcoal, coke and cinders, shall be a ton; that one hundred and twenty pounds weight of clay and flint, shall be taken for one hundred weight, and twenty of such hundred weights of clay to be a ton, and twenty-one of such hundred weights of flint shall be a ton. Fifty feet of round, and 40 feet of square oak, and 50 feet of fir, balk, poplar or other wood, shall be a ton; and one hundred and twenty pounds is rated to the hundred weight.

This act also directs, that after the works are finished and all the expenses paid, the clear produce of the rates shall be employed