Delph Locks or the Delph Nine are a series of eight (originally nine) narrow
canal lock
A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water lev ...
Stourbridge Canal
The Stourbridge Canal is a canal in the West Midlands of England. It links the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal (at Stourton Junction, affording access to traffic from the River Severn) with the Dudley Canal, and hence, via the Birmingha ...
in a joint venture between the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Society and the British Waterways Board.
History
The Dudley Canal and the
Stourbridge Canal
The Stourbridge Canal is a canal in the West Midlands of England. It links the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal (at Stourton Junction, affording access to traffic from the River Severn) with the Dudley Canal, and hence, via the Birmingha ...
were originally planned as a single canal, for which a bill was submitted to Parliament in the spring of 1775. It was opposed by the Birmingham Canal Navigations, and so the project was split in two and resubmitted. Despite continued opposition by the Birmingham Canal, both canals were authorised by separate Acts of Parliament on 2 April 1776.
Engineer Thomas Dadford was responsible for the construction of the Dudley Canal, which terminated at a flight of nine locks at its southern end. Construction was finished in June 1779, but the locks saw little use until the opening of the Stourbridge Canal, which took place in December. Dadford's son, also called Thomas, was engineer for the Stourbridge Canal. In 1787, discussions took place about amalgamating the two companies, but they remained separate, although they always worked closely together.
The bottom lock at Black Delph Bridge is at the termination of the Dudley Canal and forms the boundary with the
Stourbridge Canal
The Stourbridge Canal is a canal in the West Midlands of England. It links the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal (at Stourton Junction, affording access to traffic from the River Severn) with the Dudley Canal, and hence, via the Birmingha ...
. The flight has distinctive waterfall overflow weirs, and rises from the Stourbridge level to the level of the Dudley No. 1 canal. The middle seven of the original 1779 locks were rebuilt in 1858 as six new locks, reducing the flight to eight. Some ruins of the old locks are visible to the side of the new.
The two canals ceased to carry commercial traffic, and by the early 1950s were unusable. The Inland Waterways Protection Society put forward a case for restoring the Dudley and Stourbridge Canals in 1959, but Dudley Tunnel to the north was officially closed in 1962. However, in 1964 the British Waterways Board and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Society agreed to work on restoring both canals, and this early example of co-operation resulted in the locks reopening in 1967.
Location
The Delph Locks and surrounding land form the ''Delph 'Nine' Locks Conservation Area'', Brierley Hill, Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. An iron roving bridge manufactured by Horsley Ironworks stands near the top lock, while the original lock-keeper's house, built in 1779 and modified in the nineteenth century, is a
grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
structure, as it is one of only a few surviving houses of its type.
From the top of the flight, the Dudley Canal is level for to Blowers Green Lock and the junction with the Dudley No. 2 Canal. From the bottom of the flight, the Stourbridge Canal is level for the same distance to Leys Junction, where the Fens Branch heads to the north east and the
Fens Pools
Fens Pools () is a 37.6 hectare (92.9 acre) biological site of Special Scientific Interest in the West Midlands. The site was notified in 1989.Canals of the United Kingdom
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History of the British canal system
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...