WOKING'S HERITAGE IN DETAIL
The Basingstoke Canal
A ‘nature reserve’ with rare plants and animals, a waterway for fisherman and boaters, and a conservation area with a special history worth preserving - the Basingstoke Canal is all of these, and more!
One of the Goldsworth flight of locks at the turn of the 20th centuryBuilt in the 1780s and 90s, in decay by the 1890s, and finally restored 200 years after it all began - the canal has had a long and varied history. The original idea was simply to provide a barge route from the Hampshire market town of Basingstoke to the Thames (and so to the outside world). The originators could not possibly have foreseen the effect that their waterway would have on the areas through which it passed.
In our area the waterway enters the district at BROOKWOOD, having just descended the long flight of locks at Deepcut. At Brookwood the canal drops through four more locks before reaching the ‘ST JOHNS’ level below Stumps Bridge. From here until Kiln Bridge, the waterway skirts around Hermitage Hill and St Johns Lye before descending the GOLDSWORTH flight of locks below Kiln Bridge. The Woking ‘pound’ then carries the waterway between the ancient village of HORSELL and the modern WOKING TOWN CENTRE, before meandering between the estates of Woodham Hall and SHEERWATER. At Sheerwater Lock the canal begins its final journey down to join the Wey Navigation at New Haw through a series of six locks between the villages of Woodham and WEST BYFLEET.
Postcard of Wheatsheaf Bridge, Woking showing the old Victoria Hospital in the background
Postcard of the Canal at Scotland Lock, West ByfleetThe original idea was for a canal from Basingstoke to the Thames near Reading, but this was soon abandoned in favour of a route across the less well populated (and consequently cheaper) heathlands of Hampshire and Surrey to join the Wey Navigation at Ham Haw Common. That was in the 1770s, but it was not until 1788 that work began at Woodham, and 1791 before the first stretch of the waterway was opened as far as Horsell. Estimates in the beginning reckoned that 6,500 tons of coal would be carried per annum, with 6,300 tons of flour and 5,500 of timber. Tolls were later set at 12d a ton on goods carried from Basingstoke to London, with 4/8, being the rate from Horsell to the capital (or back). Annually they hoped to carry 30,700 tons, bringing in a revenue of £7,783 8s 4d, but in the first year of operation just 28 tons were carried between the Wey Navigation and Horsell! Things were not much better the following year, and even when the canal was finally opened to Basingstoke in 1794, just under 6,000 tons were carried. It should be mentioned that in only three years during the waterway’s entire history was the estimated tonnage ever met - once in 1836-7 when the canal was being used to carry goods for the construction of its near neighbour (and arch rival), the London & Southampton Railway, and again in 1935 and 1936 when large quantities of timber and coal were being carried to the wharves at MAYBURY for the timber and gas works.
Restoration work on one of the Locks at St JohnsIn recent times the canal has been restored by a dedicated band of volunteers formed in 1966 as ‘The Surrey & Hampshire Canal Society’. They persuaded the two County Councils to purchase the waterway, with their jointly owned ‘Basingstoke Canal Authority’ managing the waterway today.
Plans for the future include a back-pumping scheme at West Byfleet so that in years when the water supply is not plentiful, the water can be re-used on the locks up to Sheerwater Lock and the level in the Woking Pound maintained.
The page on 17th and 18th Century Woking contains more information about the canal and surrounding area during that period.
Booklets.
The Woking Community Play Association’s book ‘Changing Woking - 1900-1929’ contains a wealth of information on the area - including the Basingstoke Canal.
The Basingstoke Canal also features in the ‘Heritage Notes’ booklets on Brookwood, St Johns, Horsell (Village), Horsell (Common) and West Byfleet - please see the list of publication on the HERITAGE WALKS page.
