Montgomery Canal Conservation Management Strategy (1.2MB PDF)

viii. The Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company
In 1847 and 1850, the Eastern and Western Branches amalgamated with the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal
Company (SURCC), which thereafter controlled them until 1922. The SURCC balanced its canal and railway interests in
such a way that the Montgomery Canal survived as a working waterway into the second quarter of the 20th century,
receiving the final additions to its buildings and character. A colourful commercial enterprise of this period was the shortlived
flyboat passenger service from Newtown to Rednal. It is claimed that the unique brick and timber warehouse at
Rednal was made use of for this service, but there is no proof of this. It is an example of a vernacular type of
construction found usually in the late 18th century, and it is possible that the warehouse predates the canal, like Heath
House on the opposite bank. Associated with the canal’s only turnover bridge, and the nearby 19th century railway
bridge, this building forms the centre of a particularly noteworthy waterside settlement, showing continuity with an earlier
period.
During the last quarter of the century, there seems to have been a swing to animal husbandry and dairying. The canal’s
management responded to this by providing new warehouses suitable for what were usually powders and grains in
sacks. Queen’s Head was the largest of these, with facilities for storing a variety of goods, and a basement tunnel linking
it with a nearby sandpit. This warehouse, along with that at Brynderwen and a smaller example at Tyddyn, have
corrugated roofs and cladding above a blue-brick basement. Other warehouses, like the recently restored example at
Brithdir, were simply sheds. They were built of wood and corrugated iron, in a typically railway style. Even the grandest
industrial buildings are normally built of expedient materials; in the late 19th century, they included corrugated iron.
Carreghofa aqueduct, built in 1866-1870, to accommodate the railway, has a slope-sided trough in wrought iron
supported on cast iron columns and bracing struts, and is one of the most advanced engineering structures on the canal.
Blue engineering brick was used extensively in the late 19th century, with little regard to local style. This is at its extreme
in Brithdir lock house that was rebuilt in the 1890s, entirely in blue brick.
ix. Welshpool Wharf
As the only town on the canal between Frankton and Newtown, Welshpool became the canal’s principal trading centre.
During the early 19th century Aqueduct warehouse was the principal building. By 1884 the building that now dominates
Town Wharf was fully developed. The new and substantial canal maintenance yard, now Travis Perkins, was also
established.
It is a particularly noteworthy survival, in view of its date and its completeness, and further study would be justifiable. The
lock mill wheelpit and buildings on Hollybush Wharf survived as late as 1981, but have now been lost, although some of
the small buildings, including the canal office and warehouses at the rear of the wharf, still survive. The remains of
another of the town’s wharves, associated with a bank of limekilns and including a dry dock, was recently uncovered
during excavations further north, although no visible structures now survive.
x. Limestone Economy
Carrying limestone, and the coal to burn it, was the canal’s main purpose for most of its history, with 98 limekilns along
its length in its heyday. The industrial heritage area complex at Llanymynech was the first destination of the canal, and
boasts numerous important archaeological and building remains, including incline tramways to the wharves and the
exceptional Hoffman limekiln, whose chimney dominates the area. The complex is arguably the most significant historic
site along the canal and is of national importance and a rare industrial survival, illustrating not only developments in the
lime industry, but also its impact on the wider landscape. Although many of the other canalside limekilns have now been
lost, the remains of around 35 kilns can still be readily identified, with particularly good examples at Llanymynech, Belan
and Pant. The limekilns are some of the most impressive features of the canal’s built heritage and they are of particular
importance where they are associated with other notable features, as at Belan, Garthmyl, and Brithdir, as well as
Llanymynech. One of the greatest concentrations of canalside limekilns in the United Kingdom was built on the very
extensive Newtown Wharves where some of the kilns survive.
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