The western end of the Kennet and Avon canal since the early 19th century Essay Example for Free

The western end of the Kennet and Avon canal since the early 19th century Essay 1790 Prospectus: The 1790 prospectus was created to show the importance of the canal and its mandatory construction. The prospectus basically said that the journey from Bristol to London was slow and tedious and often required the same amount of time as a trip to the West Indies. There were also problems with the new French leader; Napoleon, who was using privateers in the channel to make sure that his continental system deprived Britain of trade and resources, by intercepting the British ships in hope of republicanism spreading to this part of Europe. The canal would therefore solve the problem of the long and dangerous journey. The authors of the prospectus produced it to show the importance of the canal and all of the problems that it would solve (i.e. advertising the canal). It was, maybe a chance to exaggerate the benefits of the canal and get different groups of people on their side. There were a few major groups that the prospectus was aimed at to convince and persuade them and was the main reason that the prospectus was drawn up. They said that it would speed up trade and make it quicker and cheaper to transport goods such as coal from the Somerset Coalfields, slate, corn and American goods e.g. tobacco, rum and cotton. These attractions would bring in traders and thus more trade for the canal and more money from toll payments for cargo. They used the prospectus to persuade shareholders to invest in it and use it as a business. Shareholders were enticed by the prospect of a revolutionary new idea that could give them a large dividend. This invested money would make sure that there was enough capital to build the canal and aid with other financial expenses such as labour (wages). This money would also ensure that parliament gave permission for the construction of the canal and this was important because many MPs were rich land owners at that time and the canal planners needed their permission so that the canal was able to pass through their land. Widcombe Flight: There is not a lot of evidence to support the justification for the canal as put forward in the prospectus at Wicombe Flight. In general there is more evidence to suggest trade within Britain being a major reason for the canals construction i.e. Bristol to London (Tilbury) rather than trade from America to London via Bristol e.g. barley from Bradford-on-Avon, used in the malt house on the side of the canal. The only evidence that suggests this American trade link is the Sydney Wharf warehouses which may have been used to store some American goods e.g. sugar cane and cotton, in transit to London. Its difficult to find any more good evidence because warehouses have been converted and used for different purposes such as residential homes. The atmosphere has also changed with much less trade going on and more tourists on a quiet holiday, making it harder to imagine the trade that went on in the 19th century. The canals uses have changed dramatically since the early 1800s mainly due to the introduction of new types of transport such as rail. Narrow boats are being used now for holidays and people are walking dogs along the tow-path suggesting that the canal is used less for trade and more for tourism. I saw evidence of horses being used to pull boats in the 1800s such as the tow-path, change line bridges and stables. These stables are now an architects house and show how horses are no longer Guillaume Wright 10C2 GCSE History Around Us Coursework C/W 12/5/01 used to pull boats and how businesses have profited from the spare, cheap land on the bank of the canal. The other architects house above Top lock had a large chimney and suggested that it used to be a maltsters and shows that agricultural (barley) and industrial (malt breweries) uses have declined. Warehouses have been converted into restaurants and houses showing the change from trade to leisure and residential uses. There were people fishing on the banks which suggested the canal is also directly involved with leisure and is used for tourism. This site was useful to a certain extent in understanding the 19th century canal uses because it gives evidence of old-fashioned trade and ways e.g. barley and the use of horses. It also has limitations as to its usefulness because the area gas changed so much. The whole atmosphere has changed and buildings have altered their uses. Thimble Mill is now a restaurant and wine bar and the Hilton Hotel used to be a pump house powered by steam, used to pump the 100,000 gallons of lost water flowing downhill at the locks. Its very hard to imagine all of this happening now. Sydney Gardens Print The Sydney Gardens print was made in 1812, only two years after the canal was built, and depicts a beautiful sunny day at the section of the canal that passes through Sydney Gardens in Bath. In the print, Cleveland House is not shown either because the owners of Sydney Gardens thought it degenerated the areas appeal, or because it was not relevant to the canal at the time, as it did not become the canals headquarters until 1825. There is an attractive oriental summer house included in this version, that is not there any more, so the area could gain credibility and attract the wealthier people to somewhere where they could sit in the shade so as to keep their skin white (the fashion and a necessity for people in a high-class society). A small decorative pleasure boat which would have been very rare in those days, is travelling along the canal whereas you were more likely to see coal-barges and narrow boats due to the trade industrys heavy use of the canal. There are also other small differences like the tow-path that ends at the bridge and wealthy stylish people walking along the tow-path instead of horses (to tow the boats) so as to attract people to Sydney Gardens and use the canal leisure activities. Other changes include subtle alterations in the decoration of the bridge, less foliage around the canal to give a more open atmosphere and the fact that its a sunny day to give the overall effect of a perfect venue for a visit or day-out. The print is probably bot very accurate as it changes and alters some of the main features and distorts reality for the Sydney Gardens owners profit and gain. This is and artistic impression of the area and so is only the artists portrayal of it so details may have been altered, maybe so that the artist could impress the Sydney Gardens owners and earn more money and respect. Overall, you cannot trust rely on a picture that has been changed so much and had a motive to be changed. This interpretation was probably produced because it was specially commissioned by the owners of Sydney Gardens to increase profit from tourism because Sydney Gardens was privately run and needed to make a healthy profit to keep people such as the shareholders contented. Because of this and as they didnt want the canal to be seen as an eyesore they applied conditions for the canal builders such as four ornamental bridge (costing 2,200 pounds) and the canal to be sunken down into a ditch and these features are predominant in the print so as to advertise the best parts of the canal. It was produced to show a picturesque scene, set on a calm, sunny day with a beautiful canal which was a comparison to other fashionable cities such as Venice, which improved the areas credibility, especially for the more wealthy as these would bring more money to the area. In the 1700s Bath had built up a reputation of a beautiful Georgian town for the wealthy and offered luxurious attractions such as the Guillaume Wright 10C2 GCSE History Around Us Coursework C/W 12/5/01 Roman Baths, and so Sydney Gardens wanted to attract these wealthier people to their park for a larger profit and an excellent and maintained reputation. Dundas Aqueduct The Dundas Aqueduct funded by Charles Dundas, was one of John Rennies greatest architectural achievements when he built the canal. There was a crane and a few warehouses along the canal which suggests the lifting and storing of goods such as cotton and rum from Britains West Indian trade, rather than coal because this was often transported loosely. There is very little other evidence to suggest trade from the West Indies apart from these warehouses (storing goods in transit to London) to Britain and Dundas Aqueduct mainly consists of evidence of home-based trade such as the bulge (Dundas Marina) in the canal which shows the anticipated build up of traffic along the canal as though they were expecting a lot of trade from around the area. The major piece of evidence is the entrance to the Somerset Coal canal at Dundas, which suggests that trade and goods were regularly coming in from the coalfields and transported to other areas such as London (home trade). The Kennet and Avon canal is wider than the coal canal which suggests that they expected a lot more coal and other goods from other areas to be transported along the canal as well as the Somerset coalfields produce. This 1864 print of the Dundas Aqueduct was produced from the Illustrated London News, and was probably made to show London the thriving business and beauty of the area and to impress wealthy Londoners, who provided trade for this part of the canal with trade from the West Indies (Stonegate at Dundas shows that there were toll collections for cargo). It was also to show off John Rennies architecture, maybe for his personal career in the opportunistic city of London or maybe just to impress people. It showed off its leisure qualities (fishermen), despite a the heavy industry and gave the impression that its a pleasant place to visit and so would be good for the areas economy. It may also have been to impress venture capitalists in London who might invest much-needed money into the canal for repairs and maintenance. There are reasons to believe the pictures accuracy because nothing seems to have been left out, added in or changed dramatically (unlike the Sydney Gardens print) and unattractive features such as the railway and the railway arch are included as well as industrial features such as coal barges and horses. There is a boat going into the coal canal which suggests that it was still involved in business and trade and this is accurate as the canal made a profit until 1890 (print made in 1864). There also seems to be no major motive for any deviations from reality (unlike Sydney Gardens print) and features such as the stone work, decorations and style are very much the same as they are today. Having said this, there are still doubts as to its accuracy such as the exaggeration of the beauty of the area with the impressive cliffs and forests in the background. There is a cobbled bridge (entrance to Somerset coal canal) which has now been replaced by a metal swing bridge, and it is a matter of opinion whether the cobbled bridge ever existed. It is most likely to be very accurate as the cobbles are accurate when cross-checked with other tow paths in Bath for horses that look similar. Taking into account all of these factors, in my opinion, the photograph is accurate. Devizes Museum The Devizes museum holds artefacts and displays from the working days of the Kennet and Avon canal, and it is important for historians to check the authenticity of the artefacts so that the museum can paint a realistic picture of canal life in the 19th century. Cross referencing can be useful for checking artefacts, as dates and material use can be verified with any dates on the artefact e.g. the loading gauge rods may have a date imprinted on the artefact that can be checked with the dates of when they were used and when the technology was available. Horse equipment could be checked with similar equipment from the time to check for any obvious differences or fake parts. The material that the artefact is made from could be scientifically tested and dated using a method such as carbon dating on objects such as the narrow boat rudder, although this is not a particularly accurate method. Letters and prints can be checked (e.g. photos showing scenes from the late 19th century) by verifying the scene where the photo was alleged to have been taken. They could also check the type of photograph and whether the technology existed at that time. For items such as the mock up of the canal cabin or the model of the crane, there is the possibility of verification with people who have used and experienced these artefacts or cross-check with diaries or letters from canal workers or Victorian travellers. This is the most accurate method, as long as the source is reliable. Finally, they could check the mechanics of something like the pulley to see if it works like it should do (taking into consideration the possible damage and weakening of the artefact). There are limitations to these artefacts usefulness in determining what it was like in the 19th century. For useful objects such as the narrow boat rudder and the pulley, there is likely to be a fair amount of damage, or it will be repaired or altered in order to put it on display in the museum and so its hard to imagine how it worked. Because culture and technology has changed so much, its difficult to imagine how objects such as the crane and the pulley would have been used, as the canals uses have changed so dramatically from the 19th century. Again, there are limitations for the model of the cabin as, although it shows the visual side it gives no sense of the noises, smells, cramped conditions, and the general atmosphere of trade and travel. It is also hard to obtain realism in the working models (e.g. crane and pulley) as they are likely to work too smoothly and its hard to imagine the scale and size of it. With letters such as the one from John Ward, warning about navvies, its left up to the imagination as to what it was like and sections may be exaggerated leading to a misrepresentation of the area in the 19th century. Conclusion Hypothesis: The Kennet and Avon canal was only built in order to benefit the Somerset Coal canal. For the purpose of contradicting this statement, I can say that, no where in the prospectus is the Somerset Coal canal mentioned and it suggests that the main purpose of the canal was to create an inland navigation system from Bristol to London to benefit trade from the West Indies as well as home trade, by by-passing the long, tedious and dangerous journey across the channel. In fact the prospectus was drawn up in 1790; before the Somerset Coal canal was even built (1804-5), suggesting that the Somerset Coal canal just wanted to benefit from the Kennet and Avon canal rather than the Kennet and Avon being built purposefully for the coal canal. There is no specific mention of coal among the home trade section of the prospectus and there is also the fact that we saw evidence of other types of home trade around the canal such as Hugh Bairds maltsters who used barley from places such as Bradford on Avon to make alcohol. There was also plenty of information at the Devizes museum explaining the canals use as a method of transit for West Indian goods. There are no reasons that can support this statement fully, but there is evidence of coal being transported along the canal such as the warehouses at Dundas and Sydney Gardens. This isnt true but a major result of the construction of the Kennet and Avon canal was that it was beneficial to the Somerset Coal canal, shown by the entrance at Dundas which links the canals together. Again coal is mentioned as information in the Devizes museum as a good associated with the Kennet and Avon. Overall, I think each site we visited was good at helping us understand the old uses of the Kennet and Avon canal.