Early proposals

A canal connecting the River Witham to Horncastle was proposed towards the close of the 18th century to aid the development of communications and trade for the town and surrounding villages.  Farmers needed a reliable way to transport their products – largely wool and corn – to more distant markets, as well as the ability to bring heavy goods like fertiliser to Horncastle.

The local roads could be difficult in winter, with muddy conditions often hindering horse-drawn carts.  River transport was even more unattractive, with water levels in the winding River Bain often being very low.  Although a short canal had been constructed from Tattershall to the Witham in 1786, it was of little help to farmers around Horncastle and the southern Wolds.

A number of local landowners, with Sir Joseph Banks as the driving force, formed a company in 1792 to promote the construction and operation of a canal to Horncastle.  Having obtained Parliamentary approval, work started in 1793.  Initially, it was planned to cut an entirely new canal across country to Kirkstead, but as many locks and bridges would have been needed, thoughts turned instead to adapting the River Bain and following its course down to Tattershall.  That was the course that was finally chosen.

But there were so many delays caused by a wide range of factors, including poor quality work and materials, lack of finance and bad manangement that the eminent engineer John Rennie had to be called in to advise on completion.  Further capital had to be raised and a new contractor appointed, so that the canal was not completed until 1802, nearly ten years after work had started.

Opening and operation

The canal was opened with great ceremony on Friday 17 September 1802, with a public holiday granted in Horncastle.  Three vessels – the Betsy, the Martha and the British Queen – entered the north and south canal basins around one o’clock, pulled by ropes, displaying flags and bunting, cheered on by about 2,000 spectators and a band.

A lunch was held at the Greyhound inn on West Street for the shareholders later that day, and a dinner took place at the Bull on 9 November, followed two days later by a ball “for the ladies of the town and neighbourhood”.

The canal was 11 miles in length with a fall of 84ft, had a total of 12 locks and cost the enormous sum of £45,000 to build.

Tolls were charged on canal traffic from the outset.  For goods travelling the full length of the canal, a charge of three shillings and three pence per ton was levied, although limestone, lime, manure and road materials were charged at half those rates.  Goods only running part of the way along the canal were alos charged less.

The canal proved highly valuable to Horncastle, attracting wool, corn and coal mercahnts to the town.  Some of the warehouses they built can still be seen along Wharf Road and West Street.  It also enabled local people to reach Lincoln and Boston much more easily.

Closure and afterwards

The coming of the railways at first actually helped the canal.  The Great Northern Railway’s main line from Lincoln via Boston to Peterborough and then London was built along the Witham in 1848.  The GNR built a coal yard at Dogdyke near the canal’s junction with the river which brough additional toll revenue to the canal as it was used to convey coal on to Horncastle.

In 1855 a railway was opened from Kirkstead to Horncastle which would eventually ruin the canal.  The bad winter of 1855 saw the canal frozen over, and some of the traffic which was therefore forced to use the railway never returned.

Nonetheless the canal company managed to struggle on for three decades.  In several cases it was cheaper to move goods along the canal than the railway.  However by the mid 1880s extensive renovation works were needed to many of the locks, and much dredging was required.  It was beyond the canal company’s financial resources to meet these costs.

Boats were still just about able to reach Horncastle up to 1889, but the canal company was wound up later that year.  The lower reaches of the canal as far as Coningsby remained navigable for several years, possibly up to around 1910.

Over the last 40 years or so, there have been a number of feasibility studies investigating whether all or part of the canal could be re-opened for pleasure traffic, with largely positive recommendations, but no firm proposals have appeared.