The Bute Docks Feeder is a canal in Cardiff, Wales, constructed to provide a water source for the Bute East Dock.[1]
Background edit
In July 1830 an Act was passed by King William IV allowing the Marquis of Bute to construct the Bute Ship Canal, a mile-long body of water connecting the sea to the Glamorganshire Canal. The Ship Canal was to be supplied with water via a feeder canal diverted from the River Taff, half a mile north of Cardiff Castle and running through the town.[2] The feeder canal took about five years to complete, in the run up to the completion of the new dock in 1839[3] (in 1835 it was reported to have already been extended past Cardiff Castle and into the Crockherbtown area of town).[4]
The Bute East Dock was completed in 1859,[5] with the dock feeder extended in the 1850s to provide water for the new dock.
Description edit
The feeder canal is diverted from the River Taff at Blackweir and follows a three and half mile route from this point to its destination at the Cardiff docks.[3]
The canal provides approximately 50 million gallons of water each day to keep the docks full.[3]
Churchill Way Canal Quarter edit
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Plans were underway in 2022 to create a 'Canal Quarter' in the east of Cardiff city centre, with work was carried out to uncover the feeder canal in Churchill Way.[6] Sixty-nine of the concrete beams were removed from above the canal, creating a new leisure area around the stretch of canal, which was officially opened in November 2023.[7]
References edit
- ^ "Bute Docks Feeder, Cardiff". Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
- ^ Priestley, Joseph (1831). Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals and Railways, of Great Britain. London. pp. 115–116.
- ^ a b c "We explore the Victorian canal that feeds Cardiff's port". ITV News. 19 May 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
- ^ "Cardiff". The Cambrian. 28 March 1835. p. 3.
Our Cardiff Correspondent informs us that the New Bute Ship Canal feeder is proceeding rapidly, that great progress is making at the back of the Castle Moat, and that the new line by Crockherbtown is fully laid open.
- ^ "Bute East Dock, Cardiff". Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
- ^ Summer, Ben (7 September 2022). "Canal that ran through Cardiff city centre opened up after almost 80 years". Wales Online. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
- ^ Summer, Ben (24 November 2023). "First look as Cardiff's historic dock feeder canal is officially opened to public after years underground". Wales Online. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
Category:1830s establishments in Wales Category:Bodies of water of Cardiff Category:Canals in Wales