The Grand Western Canal ran between Taunton in Somerset and Tiverton in Devon in the United Kingdom.

An additional purpose of the canal was the supply of limestone and coal to lime kilns along with the removal of the resulting quicklime, which was used as a fertiliser and for building houses.

The Somerset section, suitable for tub boats (which were about 20 feet (6 m) long and capable of carrying eight tons) opened in 1839.

The 11 miles of Devon section remains open, despite various threats to its future, and is now a designated country park and local nature reserve, and allows navigation.

[6] The canal company was also authorised to improve the River Tone near Taunton, and to raise £220,000, plus an additional £110,000 if required.

[24] At a total cost of £244,505, the canal was opened on 25 August 1814, when the first boat travelled from Lowdwells to Tiverton, laden with coal.

[28][29] Traffic on the opened section was much lower than anticipated, and the prospects of building the rest of the canal dwindled, as profits were minimal.

He had been the architect of the Bude Canal, which was built for tub-boats and used inclined planes to change levels, and proposed a similar solution here.

This was built in 1834, leaving the Tone below French Weir, and heading north-west to Frieze Hill, where there was a right-angled connection to the line of the canal.

Teething problems with the design of the lifts gradually came to light, and although the cost of rectifying these was borne by Green, the canal could not be opened.

[46] Some remedial work was instigated, following the report, including the provision of a steam engine to power the Wellisford incline.

The idea was not new, as he acknowledged in an article describing the lifts which he published in Transactions[48] in 1838, having been suggested in principle by James Anderson of Edinburgh in 1796.

Robert Weldon had tried to build one at Combe Hay on the Somersetshire Coal Canal in 1798, which was replaced by a lock flight after persistent failures.

The caisson at the bottom was jacked against the front wall of the lift to seal it, and a door or gate was opened to allow the boat to float in.

The small amount of energy was created by ensuring that the ascending caisson was a little too low by the time the descending one reached the bottom.

These were filled with water from the upper level, so that the boat could float out, and it then descended the final 3 feet (0.9 m) as it would in a conventional lock.

[54] Download coordinates as: [55] The Somerset section of the canal was suitable for tub-boats, which were about 20 feet (6.1 m) long and capable of carrying eight tons.

A branch to Tiverton was opened in 1848, and although the canal company received £1,200 for loss of trade while an aqueduct was constructed over the line of the railway, deficits started to mount up almost immediately.

[70] Only two boats were working the canal by 1904, and the last commercial traffic was roadstone from Whipcott quarry to Tiverton, where there were lime kilns and a crushing plant.

By 1969, BWB had stated that they were prepared to hand over the canal to Devon County Council, together with some money for maintenance.

Around 400 walkers set off, with the local member of Parliament firing a starting gun, and by the time Tiverton was reached, the party totalled about 1200 people.

[77] By April 1970, the British Waterways Board had agreed to give the canal to Devon County Council, with £30,000 for maintenance.

[78] The actual contract was signed on 5 May 1971 at Tiverton Town Hall, when General Sir Hugh Stockwell of the BWB also handed over a cheque for £38,750 to Colonel Eric Palmer, chairman of Devon County Council.

The Somerset section is largely dry and is gradually disappearing into the landscape, as a result of roads improvements and ploughing, but a footpath has been established along much of its route, and archaeological excavations of the lift at Nynehead, the only one where there are still substantial remains,[37][38] were carried out between 1998 and 2003 by the Somerset Industrial Archaeological Society.

This would see a replica of one of Green's boat lifts constructed near the Silk Mills park and ride car park, and a new canal built across empty public land to join the Tone below French Weir, roughly following the link constructed by the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal in 1834.

[85] Exceptionally heavy rainfall in November 2012 caused a major break in the Grand Western Canal's banks, near Halberton, necessitating nearby homes to be evacuated.

[86] Two temporary dams were installed which allowed the rest of the canal to remain open[87] and meant the horse drawn barge at Tiverton was able to run throughout the summer of 2013.

The repairs included rebuilding the failed embankment and raising the level to reduce the risk of overtopping in the future, and further improvements to water management.

This system has sensors in Tiverton and Burlescombe and alerts the canal rangers and Devon County Council if the levels become exceptionally high.

Six narrow boats, led by Chairman of Halberton Parish Council, Councillor Ken Browse, were the first to travel on the repaired section.