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English canal in Hampshire and Surrey

The Basingstoke Canal is an English canal, completed in 1794, built to connect Basingstoke with the River Thames at Weybridge via the Wey Navigation. From Basingstoke, the canal passes through or near Greywell, North Warnborough, Odiham, Dogmersfield, Fleet, Farnborough Airfield, Aldershot, Mytchett, Brookwood, Knaphill and Woking. Its eastern end is at Byfleet, where it connects to the Wey Navigation. This, in turn, leads to the River Thames at Weybridge. Its intended purpose was to allow boats to travel from the docks in East London to Basingstoke. It was never a commercial success and, starting in 1950, a lack of maintenance allowed the canal to become increasingly derelict. After many years of neglect, restoration commenced in 1977 and on 10 May 1991 the canal was reopened as a fully navigable waterway from the River Wey to almost as far as the Greywell Tunnel. However its usage is currently still limited by low water supply and conservation issues.

The canal was originally conceived as a way to stimulate agricultural development in Hampshire. It was authorised by the Basingstoke Canal Act 1778, the company being allowed to raise (86000.0 in 1778 is equivalent to about <calculated amount> in recent years) by issuing shares, and an additional (40000.0 in 1778 is equivalent to about <calculated amount> in recent years) if required. The original proposed route was about 44 mile (71 km) long, running from Basingstoke to join the Wey and Godalming Navigations near Weybridge, with a large loop running to the north to pass around Greywell Hill. The loop cut through the grounds of Tylney Hall, owned by Earl Tylney, and he objected to the route. Due to this objection, difficulties in raising capital funding, and the American Revolutionary War being in progress, no construction took place for some time. Nearly ten years later, a favourable forecast of expected traffic was published in 1787, and the canal committee took action. John Smeaton was appointed engineer, together with Benjamin Henry Latrobe, and William Jessop was appointed as assistant engineer and made a survey. To avoid Tylney Hall the route was changed, with the original long contour following route which had been surveyed around Greywell Hill being replaced by a tunnel through it, shortening the canal by nearly 7 mile (11 km). The contract for construction was awarded to John Pinkerton, part of a family of contractors who had often worked with Jessop, in August 1788. Construction started in October 1788. The canal was opened on 4 September 1794, but two sections of the bank collapsed shortly afterwards, and parts of it were closed until the summer of 1795. One of the main cargoes carried from Basingstoke was timber, along with agricultural products destined for London. A significant amount of traffic took place in the 1850s, carrying materials for the building of Aldershot Garrison, but this ended within a few years. The Up Nately brickworks, to which a long arm of the canal was built for access, opened in 1898 and in the following year produced 2 million bricks which were mostly transported on the canal. However, there were problems with the quality of the bricks and the brickworks went into liquidation in 1901 and closed in 1908. Otherwise, trade on the canal was never as intensive as had been predicted, and several companies attempted to run it, but each ended up bankrupt. The canal had started to fall into disuse even before the construction of the London and South Western Railway, which runs parallel to the canal along much of its length. In 1831, when plans for the railway were being developed, the canal company suggested instead that a link be built between the canal and the Itchen Navigation. The suggestion was rejected and the canal company agreed not to oppose the construction of the railway. Commercial traffic on the canal mostly ended in 1910, although a low level of use would continue until the last cargo of timber to Woking in 1949. During World War I the Royal Engineers took over the running of the canal and used it to transport supplies from Woolwich to the barracks at Aldershot, Crookham and Deepcut. Harmsworth, the last trader working on the canal, purchased the canal in 1923, but only used the lower section (from the Wey as far as Woking) for limited commercial carrying and pleasure cruising. After part of the Greywell Tunnel collapsed in 1932, the canal to the west of that, including Basingstoke Wharf, was sold. The canal was not nationalised when the British Transport Commission was formed by the Transport Act 1947. After Harmsworth's death in the same year the canal was offered for sale again, and some interested enthusiasts and Inland Waterways Association members attempted to form a Basingstoke Canal Committee. At the auction in 1949 they were under the impression that Joan Marshall of Fleet, who had offered to bid on their behalf, had secured the canal for them. However, it turned out that she had instead bought the canal for (10000.0 in 1949 is equivalent to about <calculated amount> in recent years) on behalf of the New Basingstoke Canal Company, with the purchase having been financed by Mr S. E. Cooke, inventor of the Duracast fishing reel. This company (with Cooke as Managing Director and Joan Marshall as General Manager) attempted to continue maintaining the canal, including keeping the locks in working order. They tried to raise extra income from fishing and houseboat moorings

In 1966 the Surrey and Hampshire Canal Society (now renamed the Basingstoke Canal Society) was formed by a group of local enthusiasts, with a view to reopening the derelict canal. They particularly campaigned to oppose proposals from the canal company in 1967 which would have retained only those sections of the canal useful for amenity and conservation purposes, culverting the water between them so that the land could be used for development. This would therefore have ended any possibility of through
navigation. After about 18 years of restoration, 32 mile (51 km) of the canal were formally re opened on 10 May 1991. The western section from North Warnborough to Basingstoke remains un navigable from the point at which it enters the Greywell Tunnel. The tunnel partially collapsed in 1932 where it passes from chalk into clay geology, and is now inhabited by a protected bat colony making it unlikely that the tunnel will ever be restored. Some of the former canal basin at the western end has also been lost to modern development in and around Basingstoke. The canal is now managed by the Basingstoke Canal Authority and is open to navigation throughout the year. Lock opening times are restricted due to the very limited water supply in an attempt to postpone summer closures which have plagued the canal since construction. Boat numbers are also limited to 1,300 per year due to the fact that most of the canal has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Two sections of the canal totalling are a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Nature Conservation Review site. These are the main length between Greywell and Brookwood Lye, and a short stretch between Monument Bridge and Scotland Bridge in Woking. It is the most botanically rich aquatic area in England and flora include the nationally scarce hairlike pondweed and the nationally scarce tasteless water pepper. The site is also nationally important for its invertebrates. There are 24 species of dragonfly and other species include two nationally rare Red Data Book insects. Eastwards from the mid point of the canal, it is surrounded by large areas of heathland. These are habitats for reptilian species, such as vipers and lizards, and birds such as nightjars, woodlarks and Dartford warblers. Much of this heath survives today due to its use since the late 19th century as military training areas.

The canal is owned by both Hampshire County Council and Surrey County Council, with each authority owning the land within their jurisdiction. Until 1990, both councils managed their own sections separately. It was decided that a central body should manage the entire waterway and the Basingstoke Canal Authority was formed. In 1993, the canal visitor centre at Mytchett was opened which now also acts as the central offices of the canal authority. The canal authority staff are employed, administered and supported by Hampshire County Council; however, the centre belongs to Surrey County Council. Each county council allocates revenue money to the canal authority, as well as the six riparian district/borough authorities through which the canal passes. The canal authority partnership is governed by the Basingstoke Canal Joint Management Committee – a joint committee of Surrey County Council formed of council members from each of the local authority partners. The structure of the canal authority was last reviewed in 2011, with the two county councils allocating client officers from their Countryside teams to lead the strategic direction for the canal, taking on part of the former Canal Director's role. The canal authority is now formed of one canal manager, a senior administration officer and assistant, visitor services manager and visitor services officer. The canal is maintained by a team of five canal rangers and one senior ranger, supported by a part time seasonal lock keeper.

A notable feature of the canal is the large number of concrete bunkers known as pillboxes still visible along its length; these were built during World War II as part of the GHQ Line to defend against an expected German invasion. Odiham Castle is situated at the Greywell (Basingstoke) end of the canal. The canal runs through part of the castle's bailey. The Greywell Tunnel (now disused), at long, was the 12th longest canal tunnel in Great Britain.