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Portsmouth to Arundel

At the beginning of the 19th century Southern England relied heavily on the transport of goods by sea along the coast.   England was at the time at war with France which threatened vital supplies.  Britain had a growing empire with limited resources to defend cargo vessels.  In addition coastal freight relied heavily on the weather limiting speed and increasing costs.  Although a road network did exist it was in a terrible state of repair.  John Rennie had proposed a scheme in 1803 to link Portsmouth to London but had failed to get  authorisation from Parliament in 1803 and 1810.
    The building of the Arun and Wey junction canal provided a new possibility.  In 1815 Rennie commissioned an investigation to explore the London to Portsmouth route.  The report by Netlam and Francis Giles (Cuthbert) recommended linking the Arun to Chichester Harbour.  Portsmouth Harbour could then be accessed through a channel at the top of Thorney Island.  Rennie suggested linking Portsmouth Harbour by building a canal across Portsea Island beginning at Milton.  In addition a cut later to be known as the Cosham cut would link Portsmouth and Langstone Harbours.
 


The route from Ford on the Arun to the Salterns of Chichester Harbour would be:
                Ford
                Yapton
                Barnham
                Colworth
                Mundhm
                Salterns Birdham
The canal would pass north of Thorney Island and Hayling Island to enter the Portsmouth section in Milton.  

To begin construction parliamentry approval had to be sought.  The Earl of  Egremont was a key figure in seeking parliamentry permission and finance.  In 1817 a bill was passed for the construction of the Portsmouth Arundel Navigation.  In accordance with the bill a company was formed led by the Committee of Management to manage the affairs of the proprietors.  By the first meeting of the Committee of Management £101,250 had been subscribed, with  £2000 from the people of Portsmouth (Cuthbert).  Earl Egremont continued to support the venture by becoming the principal shareholder.  Before construction could begin land had to be bought and surveyed as well as contractors hired.
The building of the canal in Portsmouth required contractors to:

• Increase depth of channels at Langstone and Thorney.
• Build a bridge to the mainland from Hayling Island
• Create a channel from Eastney Lake to Milton Locks
• Dig three miles of canal
• Build two sets of locks.
• Construct six bridges - later desgined as iron swing type to allow sea going vessels.
• Construct a basin for offloading.
• Build offices, a pump house and toll houses.

The location of the basin was determined by the military's insistance that no building should be built within 1200 yards of the fortified walls (Cuthbert).  Also the Annual General Meeting of 1819 called for the canal to be deepened to a depth of 12 feet (Cuthbert).  
By 1818 the contractors Dyson and Thornton where able to begin construction (Cuthbert).  



The bridges shown on the map above would be situated at the current locations of Milton Road, Winter Road, Fratton Bridge, Somers Road, Upper Arundel Street and Church Path.  The location of the basin was determined by the military's insistance that no building should be built within 1200 yards of the fortified walls (Cuthbert).  

By May 1820 over a quarter of a mile of canal was completed and the basin at Halfway Houses was progressing steadily (Cuthbert).  Also a cut from Eastney Lake to Milton Common was being constructed.  This had to be dug by hand at low tide and was almost 500 yards in length (Cuthbert). At the land edge of the cut  a series of two locks before a large basin was built.  This allowed boats to await high tide and enough water to enter Langstone Harbour.  To supply the canal with water a pump house was built in Milton close to the basin.  A well had been sunk connecting a pipe from the sea to the pump house.  The canal west of Milton Locks was being built with raised banks to increase depth.  Excavation had also started in the Green Lane area as well as Fratton Bridge.  East of the Halway House one third of a mile of canal had been completed.

 In 1821 the Committee of Management decided to dispense with the original plan to create a cut above Thorney Island.  Barges would therefore have to be towed by tug south of Thorney Island.  
   
 By 1822 Milton Locks where completed with the exception of a few minor details.    The bridge to Hayling Island was under construction.  On September 19th 1822 the Portsmouth section of the canal was opened.  The day of opening had a very festive air with as many as twenty thousand people lining the banks (Cuthbert).

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