History of the Basingstoke Canal

Though the people of Basingstoke had clamoured for a canal for many years, the project was delayed by the debilitating effects of the American Civil War on finance and business confidence.

The 37-mile Basingstoke Canal was eventually opened in 1794, essentially for the transport of agricultural goods. The rivers Wey and Thames gave it access to London, but proposals for links to the South Coast and the Kennet & Avon Canal were never fulfilled. The resulting absence of through traffic meant that no dividends were ever paid, and ownership changed hands many times before it drifted into inevitable dereliction.

In the 1970s, Surrey and Hampshire county councils jointly acquired the canal by compulsory purchase order as a public amenity. Slowly, volunteers brought it back to life, excavating the silted channel with the distinctive steam dredger Perseverance.

The first 31 miles of the canal, to Greywell, were reopened in 1991. In 1995, a dramatic new aqueduct was constructed to carry the waterway over a new bypass. The westernmost section, from Greywell to Basingstoke, is likely to remain unnavigable: the M3 blocks the waterway and Greywell Tunnel has collapsed, subsequently being colonised by many rare species of bats.