History of the Exeter Ship Canal
The first canal was only 1.75 miles long from just outside the city to below Countess Wear. Following an Act of Parliament in 1539, work began in 1563 by John Trew; three locks and three years later, it was completed.
It wasn't until 1676 when it was felt that the canal should be extended as far as Topsham (and from there into the River Exe), and due to increased prosperity in and around the City of Exeter further work was carried out to straighten the canal and replace the rather complicated trio of locks with the well-known Double Locks.
By the beginning of the 19th century improvements were made to make the canal straighter, deeper and wider, to take larger vessels up to 350 tons in fact, by 1844. This was precipitated by a new lock entrance at Turf, a further 2 miles away, built some 23 years earlier.
However, the arrival of the railway, as with so many of the canals in Britain, saw a rapid decline in commercial trade until by 1972, it had stopped altogether.
