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Photo of the Portsmouth and Arundel Navigation Company logo.

BRITISH CANALS

From the late 18th century, large gangs of workmen moved around the country, digging canals with picks, shovels and wheelbarrows.
Canals were called "inland navigations", and so these builders came to be called "navigators", shortened by the public to "navvies" (often used as a term of abuse).

PORTSMOUTH - ARUNDEL - LONDON CANAL

During the early 19th century large amounts of goods were transported between London and the South Coast ports by coasters, as England was at war with France it was feared that these trade routes could be easily disrupted by the French attacking from the sea.
The road system at this time was poor so an inland waterway, linking London to Portsmouth was proposed.

The southern section of this waterway linked Portsmouth to Arundel via the Arun Navigation, Wey and Arun Canal, Wey Navigation, and River Thames. Barges passed through a channel at the north of Thorney Island, passed north of Hayling Island into Langstone Harbour and then entered the Portsea Canal at its entrance at Milton.

A bill was passed in Parliament in 1817 allowing the Portsmouth Arundel Navigation to be built and as laid down in the terms of the bill a company was formed, this raised £101,250 for the construction work, the principal shareholder being Earl Egremont.
In 1818 Dyson and Thornton the principal contractors began construction, the route of the canal across Portsea Island is shown on the satelitte view below. At Milton two sets of locks and a basin were constructed allowing access from the canal from Langstone Harbour when the tide was high and the basin allowed boats to moor until the tide was high and the locks could be opened.



Located at the inland end of the canal, roughly in the area where Arundel Street is today, at the Halfway Houses, a basin was built to allow the loading and unloading of boats, maybe this is how Arundel Street got its name.

The Portsea section of canal opened on the 19th of September 1822 and was able to carry vessels of up to 150 tons and the whole canal opened May 1823.

To supply the water for the canal, a pump house was built at Milton which pumped water via well and pipe from the sea into the canal. This building can still be seen just off of Locksway Road today, it is labelled on the satelitte view and is now a private house. The canal scheme in Portsmouth had many problems and trade never matched the levels predicted, limiting the income of the canal company. Sea water leaked from the canal contaminating local wells and water sources that Portsmouth's residents relied on, there was no other reliable water source at this time. The contamination problem became so bad that the Portsea section of the canal had to be filled in and by 1855 only the Chichester to Chichester Harbour section was still open.

The canal bed was later used to lay the railway track in and other parts became Goldsmith Avenue, part of the sea locks can still be seen at Milton, just east of the Thatced House pub and many other reminders can be seen along the route, new housing known as Towpath Mead in Milton, the Old Canal Inn a pub in Milton, the railway section west of Fratton Station and running alongside this the street is called Canal Walk.