56 minutes ago
Monday, 16 December 2013
Tame Aqueduct: what is the tunnel nearby?
As Fergus steered us over the Tame Aqueduct approaching Fazeley on the Coventry Canal in April I took a photo.
Here is a closer view of Fergus.
But to the right in the original photo is an opening in the wing wall of the aqueduct.
I cannot work out what this is for. Maps.google.com sheds no light, neither does the OS map. It is obviously possible to get to the entrance as there is a youth sitting by it. Perhaps I shall investigate the next time I pass that way.
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Using old-maps.co.uk doesn't find a clear answer. There was an Aqueduct Cottage shown in that location (as near as can be determined on a 1:2,500 scale map). It existed on the 1884 - 1885 map, which I believe shows the tunnel entrance. The space behind the cottage is just fields.
The cottage, and the fields, stay on the maps until 1971, but has gone by 1977, when for the first time there are the buildings, also shown on modern maps, backing on to the River.
It might be interesting to judge if the tunnel entrance wall is the same brickwork style as any viaduct brickwork. If so, perhaps a search of any surviving paperwork relating to the build of the canal may prove rewarding.
Alternatively, what is the history of boat traffic on that section of the river?
HTH
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