The Bute Docks Feeder is a

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, Wales, constructed to provide a water source for the Cardiff docks.

Background

In July 1830 the ( 11 Geo. 4 & 1 Will. 4. c. cxxxiii) was passed 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 Cardiff Castle () is a medieval castle and Victorian Gothic revival mansion located in the city centre of Cardiff, Wales. The original motte and bailey castle was built in the late 11th century by Norman invaders on top of a 3rd-century Roma ...

and running through the town. The feeder canal took about five years to complete, in the run up to the completion of the new dock in 1839 (in 1835 it was reported to have already been extended past Cardiff Castle and into the

Crockherbtown Cardiff city centre () is the city centre and central business district of Cardiff, Wales. The area is tightly bound by the River Taff to the west, the Civic Centre to the north and railway lines and two railway stations – Central an ...

area of town). The Bute East Dock was completed in 1859, with the dock feeder extended in the 1850s to provide water for the new dock. The Corporation Baths were built on Guildford Crescent in 1862, whose swimming pools drew 1 million gallons of water from the dock feeder, which ran alongside it. In 1945, Cardiff Corporation applied for permission to culvert over the dock feeder between Queen Street and Bute Terrace, which would create a wide new road - named Churchill Way in 1949 after the work had been completed.

Description

The feeder canal is diverted from the

River Taff The River Taff () is a river in Wales. It rises in the Brecon Beacons as two rivers, the Taf Fechan ("little Taff") and the Taf Fawr ("great Taff") before becoming one just north of Merthyr Tydfil. At Cardiff, it empties into the Bristol Chan ...

at Blackweir and follows a three and half mile route from this point to its destination at the Cardiff docks. The canal provides approximately 50 million gallons of water each day to keep the docks full.

Churchill Way Canal Quarter

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. 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.

References

{{coord, 51.47277, -3.16417, format=dms, type:river_region:GB, display=title 1830s establishments in Wales Bodies of water of Cardiff Canals in Wales Canals opened in 1839