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Carlisle Canal
Carlisle Navigation Canal
Solway Canal
civil parish:-   Bowness (formerly Cumberland)
civil parish:-   Burgh by Sands (formerly Cumberland)
civil parish:-   Beaumont (formerly Cumberland)
civil parish:-   Carlisle (formerly Cumberland)
county:-   Cumbria
locality type:-   canal
1Km square:-   NY2462 (etc) 
10Km square:-   NY26
10Km square:-   NY25
10Km square:-   NY35

photograph
BMB13.jpg  The sea lock end of the canal, at Port Carlisle.
(taken 5.5.2006)  
photograph
BMB14.jpg  The sea lock end of the canal, at Port Carlisle.
(taken 5.5.2006)  
evidence:-   old map:- OS County Series (Cmd 16 13) 
source data:-   Maps, County Series maps of Great Britain, scales 6 and 25 inches to 1 mile, published by the Ordnance Survey, Southampton, Hampshire, from about 1863 to 1948.
"Old Canal (Remains of)"
evidence:-   descriptive text:- Ford 1839 (3rd edn 1843) 
item:-  fly boat
source data:-   Guide book, A Description of Scenery in the Lake District, by Rev William Ford, published by Charles Thurnam, Carlisle, by W Edwards, 12 Ave Maria Lane, Charles Tilt, Fleet Street, William Smith, 113 Fleet Street, London, by Currie and Bowman, Newcastle, by Bancks and Co, Manchester, by Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, and by Sinclair, Dumfries, 1839.
image FD01P107, button  goto source
Page 107:-  "... from the canal basin [Carlisle], a swift fly-boat conveys passengers to Bowness on the Solway, whence they can be comfortably and safely conveyed to Liverpool either by the Royal Victoria or Newcastle steam-packets, in a single tide."
evidence:-   old map:- Ford 1839 map
source data:-   Map, uncoloured engraving, Map of the Lake District of Cumberland, Westmoreland and Lancashire, scale about 3.5 miles to 1 inch, published by Charles Thurnam, Carlisle, and by R Groombridge, 5 Paternoster Row, London, 3rd edn 1843.
image
FD02NY26.jpg
image
FD02NY25.jpg
image
FD02NY35.jpg
item:-  JandMN : 100.1
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old text:- Gents Mag
source data:-   Magazine, The Gentleman's Magazine or Monthly Intelligencer or Historical Chronicle, published by Edward Cave under the pseudonym Sylvanus Urban, and by other publishers, London, monthly from 1731 to 1922.
image G839A518, button  goto source
Gentleman's Magazine 1839 part 1 p.518 
From a review of The History and Antiquities of Carlisle:-  ""The Ship Canal, extending from Carlisle to the Solway Frith near Bowness, was commenced in 1819, and completed in 1823, at the cost of about"
evidence:-   old text:- Gents Mag 1839
source data:-   image G839A519, button  goto source
Gentleman's Magazine 1839 part 1 p.519  "90,000l. It is eleven miles and a half in length, has eight locks, and is navigable by vessels of less than a hundred tons burden. The warehouses have been bonded since 1832, and at present contains goods to the value of upwards of 40,000l."
evidence:-   old text:- Harper 1907
source data:-   Guidebook, The Manchester and Glasgow Road, by Charles G Harper, published by Chapman and Hall Ltd, London, 1907.
HP01p146.txt
Page 146:-  "..."
"With the coming of the nineteenth century, some steps were taken to make Carlisle a port. It was thought that a ship-canal from a place called Fisher's Cross, on the Solway, to Carlisle, a distance of twelve miles, would make the ancient city a place of commercial importance; and accordingly the canal was cut, 1819-23, at a cost of ~90,000, and Fisher's Cross was dignified by the new name of "Port Carlisle." The enterprise never paid its way, any steps that might in after years have been taken to improve the position being rendered impossible by the coming of railways; while the irony of fate long ago overtook the canal, in its conversion into a railway."
"..."
evidence:-   old painting:- 
item:-  ship; canal lock
source data:-   Painting, watercolour, Early Morning, Carlisle from the Canal, Cumberland, by William Henry Nutter, about 1842?
image  click to enlarge
PR0979.jpg
Sunrise over a distant view of Carlisle with the canal basin in the foreground. Boats are moored beside the right bank, the masts of many more vessels being visible beyond the biuldings and chimneys associated with the canal. To left, three horses pass by, one being ridden and another being led. Beyond the fields in the midground lies Carlisle with its castle to left and cathedral in the centre. 
The Carlisle Journal 18.1.1867 mentions a number of watercolours by W H Nutter and in particular 'Carlisle from the Canal, a large picture painted from a sketch of 1840, when the scene depicted of a lighter being towed along the canal, might be witnessed at early morning any day ...' 
signed &dated at bottom left:-  "W H Nutter 1866"
item:-  Tullie House Museum : 1959.121
Image © Tullie House Museum
evidence:-   old drawing:- 
source data:-   Drawing, Carlisle from the Canal, Cumberland, by Matthew Ellis Nutter, 1841.
image  click to enlarge
PR1228.jpg
Distant view of Carlisle from the canal basin. Tiny sketch of a factory above main composition. 
preliminary sketch for watercolour Carlisle Canal Basin, 1865? 
inscribed &dated at bottom right:-  "Carlisle from the Canal 1841"
item:-  Tullie House Museum : 1978.108.75.21
Image © Tullie House Museum
evidence:-   old painting:- 
item:-  boat; horse
source data:-   Painting, watercolour, Carlisle from the Canal, Carlisle, Cumberland, by Matthew Ellis Nutter, about 1835.
image  click to enlarge
PR0932.jpg
A large boat, its sail furled, is drawn up the canal by two carthorses. Beyond lies Carlisle with distant hills beyond. 
item:-  Tullie House Museum : 1939.33
Image © Tullie House Museum

Ramshaw, David: 1997: Carlisle Navigation Canal, The: P3 Publications (Carlisle, Cumbria):: ISBN 0 9522098 5 3
date:-   1818
period:-   19th century, early
period:-   1810s
Planned 1818, opened 1823. 11.5 miles from Carlisle to Fisher's Cross, which was renamed Port Carlisle. The depth of water was 8.5 feet; the locks were 78 feet long, the gates clearing 18 feet 4 inches.
By 1850s it was drained, filled in and converted to a railway.
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