Overview

In 1760 the British Parliament approved construction of a canal to carry coal half a dozen miles (approximately 9.6 km) from the mines at Worsley to the city of Manchester. Until the eighteenth century, European canals were generally financed by the aristocracy and built for social or political reasons. But the agent who described the plans in the House of Commons argued that the new canal would make transporting goods easier and less expensive. The so-called Bridgewater Canal was the work of a self-taught engineer named James Brindley (1716-1772) whose name is synonymous with the early years of canal building. The success of Brindley's canal stimulated a new wave of construction that revolutionized Britain's transport system and contributed to the country's wealth over the next 50 years. Between 1760 and 1790, 25 new...