Canal
Wey & Arun
There are not many similarities
between Lewes and
Pulborough, MWB’s “most
westerly outpost”. Lewes
is the county town of East
Sussex, with a population
of some 17,000, whereas
the West Sussex village of
Pulborough has a “meagre”
5,000. But what is common to
both of them is that each has
a tidal river running through
it, the Ouse and the Arun
respectively.
If one travels a mile or so west
of Pulborough, the Arun is
crossed by the old Stopham
Bridge, originally constructed
in the 15th Century. In 1822,
the central arch of the bridge
was raised by five feet to
allow the passage of larger
barges travelling to and from
a canal by which goods
could be carried up to London
and beyond.
At Pallingham, not far north of the
Stopham bridge, the Arun links up with the
vestiges of what is now known as the Wey
and Arun Canal. The first 4½ miles was
originally known as the Arun Navigation,
opened in 1787 and giving vessels access
as far as Newbridge, on the A272 west of
Billingshurst. An extension of the waterway
from there to Shalford, near Guildford in
Surrey – then known as the Wey & Arun
Junction Canal and 18½ miles long – was
opened in 1816.
There were 26 locks and three aqueducts
on the Wey & Arun Canal. Commercial
trade, including corn, chalk, coal, timber,
gunpower and even gold bullion, peaked
in 1839 but thereafter competition from the
railways proved too great. The Wey & Arun
Junction Canal was closed in 1871 and
the Arun Navigation in 1897.
As in other parts of the UK, waterways
enthusiasts got together in the late 1960s/
early 1970s to form a plan to restore the
canal. Subsequently, what is now known
as the Wey & Arun Canal Trust Ltd, a
registered charity, was formed. Its main
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