A original share
certificate from 1793
1791 an Act was passed...
In April the enabling Act of Parliament was passed
without amendment.
1792 ...and money was found...
The capital was fully subscribed by the summer and
Hugh Henshall, (James Brindley’s brother-in-law), was
asked to re-survey the route: Henshall advised taking
the canal by way of Newent, necessitating the
construction of a third tunnel on the line of the canal, at Oxenhall.
1793 The construction had started...
The enabling Act for the revised route was approved and by the autumn the first three and a half miles of canal from the Severn at Over, near Gloucester, was completed.
1795 ...and continued to Newent.
The canal was opened to Newent, but construction was falling
behind schedule. During the 1795-96 winter, exceptionally
severe storms caused flooding and swept away a number
of bridges in the Severn valley.
