Towpath Treks: Canal Architecture

Canals developed their own architecture. The canals themselves have their own structures: bridges, locks, aqueducts, lifts, inclined planes. The canal companies had their operational buildings like toll houses, offices, lock and bridge keepers houses, stables and their warehouses and wharves. The canals attracted industry to their banks, there are still remains of lime kilns, coke ovens and brick works.

Canal
Bridges
Locks
Buildings
Industry
Symbols

Canals themselves have their own structure and architecture: the channel, the towpath, embankments, weirs etc


An empty canal showing the profile of a canal is saucer-shaped with a bank at the sides.	Quayside stones, even when the canal is filled in the large stones at the edge of the basin are easy to see.

The towpath is usually on the downhill side of the canal as it runs along the contour. The towpath makes the downslope bank of the canal stronger. A hedge or fence is alongside the towpath.	On wharves and by some locks and bridges you will find cobbles.

The canal crosses roads on aqueducts like this, sometimes called culverts.	Stop planks like these are used to block off the canal when there is a breach.	Bollards are used to tie boats to or to slow boats down as they enter locks. This bollard has been worn by ropes.

At bends in the canal or near railway bridges you can find these slopes. They are designed to allow horses to get out of the canal after falling in.	Another horse escape slope. Horses could be pulled in if a barge suddenly stopped in shallows or horses bolted, frightened by trains etc

Bridges had to be built either for roads and track to cross the new canal or to allow landowners access to land divided by the canal. On the Leeds & Liverpool Canal there were a standard design for the early stone bridges from the time the canal was first built. Some of the stone bridges built on later sections of canal near Johnsons Hillock look to be based on a design by John Rennie.

Wooden swing bridges were a cheaper option for the canal builders, these have mostly been replaced by metal swing bridges or removed all together. In recent times swing bridges have been modernised and are now electric.

When railways were built they often had to cross the canals at acute angles giving rise to some interesting bridges.

Modern roads cross on large stone and steel bridges which still have some style tha the concrete bridges of the 1960s onwards lack. Motorways stride over the canal on high viaducts.


A typical Leeds & Liverpool Canal bridge circ 1770's	A later Leeds & Liverpool Canal bridge, a bit chunckier than the older ones.	A bridge on a hillside

One of the distinctive Liverpool blue bridges	A metal and stone road bridge

Makers Name	Makers Name	Makers Name

Burnley Coat of Arms	Blackburn Coat of Arms	Leeds Coat of Arms

Rope worn marks on a bridge	A replacement wooden roller	A metal roller

A roller spike	Roller Holders

Locks were first invented in China.

There are many types of buildings directly associated with the canals and canal companies. Warehouses and wharves are common. Locks and bridges often had houses built next to them for the canal workers.


Canal Offices Leeds	Toll House Johnsons Hillock	Toll House Burnley

	Lock Keepers House	Basin Managers House

Canal Depot	Canal Depot

Covered Warehouse Burnley	Covered Warehouse Blackburn	Railway Style Warehouse

Wigan Pier	Shipley

Loading Arm	Covered Loading Arm	Road Access to Canal Warehouse