Blue Plaque 9 - The Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal

You will this blue plaque in the yard of the old wharf, now occupied by the Ashby Boat Company which offers facilities for boat owners and holidaymakers.

The proposal to build a wide, lock free canal allowing the navigation of craft with a beam of 14' from the Ashby Woulds Coalfield to a junction with the Coventry Canal at Marston got underway in 1794. Surveyed by Robert Whitworth, the canal followed the 300' contour resulting in a meandering 'river like waterway'.

Cutting began at the northern end late in 1794. It was open to Market Bosworth by 1798 and completely, to Marston Junction by 19th April 1804. Between these two dates, a new public house was opened in Stoke Golding to satisfy the needs of the 'navvies', and The White Swan in High Street is still today catering for the needs of the 'boaters' and holidaymakers.

From 1804 onwards, new collieries were sunk in the Moira area and it was the development of this coalfield which made the Ashby canal successful. Markets were found as far afield as London, even Oxford used it to heat the colleges. The main tonnage carried down the canal was coal and limestone, but bricks and salt glazed pipes were also carried. In 1815 a warehouse was obtained in Measham to build up a trade in cheese to be shipped by canal.

By 1819 it became evident that the Coventry Canal would not convert to the wide standard and the Marston ‘stop lock’ was reduced to the narrow 7’ width. Thus ended the dream of a grand, wide route to London.

The Midland Railway, to protect all of its interests in South Derbyshire and North West Leicestershire, purchased the canal in 1846.

Boats on the canal were horse drawn from the start, the Moira Coal Company owning a large fleet. However, in 1856, two steam tugboats made their appearance, hauling strings of boats from Moira onto the Coventry and Oxford canals. One of these the twin screw Pioneer, built by John Inshaw made history, when, in 1859 it was banned from
the Ashby by the Midland Railway Company on the grounds that the wash from the propellers was eroding the banks of the canal. The issue went to court. Tests were carried out and the court ruled that the steamboats should be allowed to work the Ashby so long as their speed was kept below 4 mph. This became the norm for all power.

Steam power did not last long on the Ashby. Horse drawn boats continued to be used until the introduction of internal combustion engines in the 1920’s and 30’s. The Canal became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway Company in 1923 and by 1948 it had been incorporated into British Waterways.

Subsidence occurred as the colliery workings developed on the northern end of the canal and sections were progressively closed in 1944, 1957 and 1966. The canal now terminates just north of Snarestone, 22 miles from Marston.

Commercial coal traffic from the Moira Pits lasted until 1960, when all regular traffic came to an end. However, trade was revived in a small way in 1965 by various companies and from 1966 coal was loaded at Bosworth and Gopsall wharves, the final load being loaded from Gopsall in 1982.

Today, as you approach Stoke Golding from bridge 23, which carries the Stoke Golding to Higham road, you see on your right a white complex of buildings, known as Mill House. Originally it was a mineral water manufacturing company known as Britannia Works. It then became a bone mill, producing agricultural fertiliser trading under the name of Starkey and Asbury and later as Bannister’s. After closure a large whale bone was found in the grounds which is now held by Nuneaton Museum. In later days the site was used as a dairy by Mr R.  Ward.

Between Mill House and Stoke Wharf you will see the site of bridge 24 which was removed in 1851. It was known locally as 'Broken down bridge’.

Stoke Wharf nestles at the foot of Crown Hill. The stables and weighbridge have long gone, but the original cottages remain. A maintenance shed stood by the north side of bridge 25, the site now marked by a clump of trees and shrubs. Opposite on the tow path side are the remains of a small brick building.

The canal continues on around the flanks of Crown Hill where it is said Henry Tudor was crowned after the Battle of Bosworth Field. Details of this historic event are more fully described under item 8 of this guide.

On your left beyond the new marina can be seen the large flat plain which many believe to be the true site of the battle. In 1994 English Heritage incorporated Crown Hill and the flatlands there into the overall site plan of the Battlefield.

The new 'Marina' was built on the left hand side of the canal in the early nineties and incorporates a slipway and servicing facilities.

Blue Plaque 10

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