Page:Rivers, Canals, Railways of Great Britain.djvu/694



The length of this railway is about fifteen miles, with a rise of 522 feet; the Silver Mines Branch is four miles and seven chains in length, with a rise of 410 feet; and the Balbardie Branch is four miles and four chains, with a rise of 69 feet.

WESTERN SHIP CANAL
(SEE GRAND WESTERN CANAL.)

WEY RIVER.
23 Charles II. Cap. 26, Royal Assent 22nd April, 1671.

33 George II. Cap. 45, Royal Assent 15th April, 1760.

THIS river has its source near Alton, in Hampshire, from whence it runs in a north-easterly course to Farnham; it there turns to a south-easterly direction, passing Waverley Abbey, not far from which it is joined by another branch which rises near Selbourne, and passes by Pierpoint Lodge; thence continuing its course easterly, it reaches Godalming, where it becomes navigable; and thence continuing in a direction a little to the east-ward of north, it is joined by the Wey and Arun Canal near Shalford Powder Mills; it afterwards passes by Guildford, Stoke Place, Sutton Place, Wisley, Byfleet and Woburn Park, to its termination in the River Thames; the greater part of the distance from Sutton Place to Byfleet, near which town it is joined by the Basingstoke Canal, is an artificial navigation.

The first act of parliament respecting this river was passed in 1671, and is entitled,  'An Act for settling and preserving the Navigation of the River Wey, in the county of Surrey.'  In 1760 another act was passed, entitled,  'An Act for extending and continuing the Navigation of the River Wey, otherwise Wye, in the county of Surrey, to the town of Godalming, in the said county,' which states that the River Wey is already navigable as far as the town of Guildford, and that great advantages will accrue from its being made navigable as far up as the town of Godalming, and the act appoints commissioners for extending the navigation from the Town-Wharf, below Guildford Bridge, to the said town of Godalming, and authorizes their taking the following tonnage rates.