A-Z of Services

Water on Tap

Llangollen Canal. ©Wrexham Archives

Every time a boat goes through a lock in a canal the water moves from the higher level to the lower level. The more locks in a canal the more water is moved. The summit level is the highest level of a canal. There needs to be a constant supply of water to the summit level or the canal will run dry.

Horse drawn passenger boat on the Llangollen Canal. ©Wrexham Archives

Supplying water to the Ellesmere Canal was, initially, a problem. Not building the canal from Trevor to Chester meant the company had to find an alternative water supply. The solution was to build a feeder canal connected to the River Dee at Llantysilio. A weir at Lake Bala and the Horseshoe Falls on the River Dee ensured the water supply was adequate. Work started on the feeder canal in 1804, though it was not completed until 1808, after the Aqueduct had opened. Only with the water supply guaranteed, could the Ellesmere canal finally join with the main canal network. The canal through the Vale of Llangollen was navigable and was used for moving slate and limestone; it also, very quickly, became a tourist attraction.

Crossing Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. ©Wrexham Archives

"The importance of this navigable feeder in relation to the prosperity of the whole canal requires that nothing be spared to render it effective as speedily as possible."

Report to the Proprietors of the Ellesmere Canal Co., 27th November 1805.

"That canal at Llangollen supplies all the water. Without it, the aqueduct would run dry and our boat would be stuck here."