Portsmouth & Arundel Canal and the Chichester Ship Canal
Introduction
The Wey and Arun Junction Canal was opened in 1816, joining those two rivers and completing a navigable link between London and the English Channel. The Portsmouth and Arundel Canal was promoted to link London and Portsmouth. Although it was possible to sail between those two ports via the English Channel and the Thames Estuary, the passage was not without dangers to the sailing vessels of the time. In addition, France and England had been at war on and off for two decades and English ships were liable to be captured by French privateers.
Before the construction of the canal, Chichester’s port was Dell Quay - about 2.5 miles (4.0km) from the city centre.
The Portsmouth and Arundel Canal was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1817 to make a canal from the River Arun near Ford to Chichester Harbour at Salterns near Birdham with a branch from Hunston Common to Chichester. Powers were also granted to make and dredge channels (or ‘bargeways’) through the tidal areas of Chichester, Langstone and Portsmouth Harbours. From Langstone Harbour at Milton on Portsea Island, a further canal was to be dug towards Portsmouth.
Joseph Priestley in his book “Priestley’s Navigable Rivers and Canals” published in 1831 gives an account of the canal. Whilst not error free, this has been extracted and may be seen (as a PDF file) here.
Three further Acts of Parliament made changes to the navigable route to the north of Portsea Island to Portsmouth Harbour. The company was also empowered to make those parts of the canal between Chichester Harbour and Chichester, and Langstone Harbour and Portsea, with depths sufficient to take ships of 100 tons and 150 tons respectively. The channel north of Thorney Island was never made navigable but instead boats passed to the south and west of the island [the above map is in error].
The Birdham to Chichester section (the Ship Canal) was opened on 9 April 1822 and the Portsea Canal section on 19 September 1822. The Sussex section from Hunston to Ford (the “Barge Canal”) opened on 26 May 1823.
Intended as a key link in a through route to London via the River Arun Navigation, Wey & Arun Junction Canal, Godalming Navigation, River Wey Navigation and River Thames, it was not a success. By the time it was built, there was no real need for an inland route as larger and better ships, coupled with an end to hostilities with France, meant that the coastal route was an easier and cheaper option. One of the few regular through cargoes carried inland was gold bullion from Portsmouth to the Bank of England, with armed redcoat guards on the barges.
Water levels in both of the canal sections were maintained by steam powered pumps at Ford and Milton. Within a few years, there were complaints on Portsea Island that water supplies were being contaminated by salt water pumped into the canal. Drained in 1827, the Portsea Canal was abandoned by 1830 when the canal company turned to making Portsbridge Creek navigable to gain access to Portsmouth Harbour. In turn, the Creek was abandoned in 1838 when regular traffic to London ceased.
The Sussex section from Hunston to Ford saw little traffic and was effectively abandoned by 1847 when the canal had ceased to be used commercially and the railway from Shoreham to Portsmouth was fully opened. It is thought that the last boat passed through in 1856. Only the canal from Birdham to Chichester Basin remained in use.
In 1892, as part of the winding up of the Portsmouth & Arundel Canal company, the section between Birdham and Chichester was transferred to the Chichester Corporation. The last recorded traffic on the canal was in 1906. The Chichester Corporation resolved to close and abandon their canal undertaking in 1928.
What is known today as the Chichester Ship Canal (or just Chichester Canal) is in fact the part of the former Portsmouth & Arundel Canal between Birdham and Chichester. It was sold to West Sussex County Council in 1957. In the late 1970s the Portsmouth & Arundel Canal Society was formed with the aim of restoring the canal. They intended to concentrate on the length from Chichester to Salterns, and later changed their name to Chichester Canal Society (and more recently to Chichester Ship Canal Trust) to reflect this.
Apart from a number of breaks caused by the wartime airfield at Ford, housing development in the village of Yapton and some breaks in the two miles (3.2km) east of Hunston Junction, it is possible to follow the course of the canal on foot.