The Burslem Branch Canal was a 3/8-mile stretch built in 1805.
The first-known idea to build a canal between the rivers Mersey and Trent had come in 1755. By 1761 Josiah Wedgwood had become interested in a route to the Mersey to allow him to safely deliver his wares to market. The first detailed plan for the Trent & Mersey Canal, as it is now known, came from James Brindley. It was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1766 and the the first sod was cut by Josiah Wedgwood in July that year at Middleport. The canal was a huge success and wharves were soon being built along the entire length through Stoke-on-Trent.
The Burslem Branch Canal greatly increased the capacity to handle freight in and out of the town and helped to cement Burslem’s reputation as the home of pottery manufacturing within Stoke-on-Trent. Clay and raw materials were brought by boat to the Burslem potteries, carried up the hill to their final destination on a horse-drawn tramway up Navigation Road. Finished ceramics took the reverse jourmey, travelling along the Trent and Mersey to meet with ships at the many docks on the Mersey estuary near Runcorn and were then exported across the world.
Find out more on our history pages
This 2018 video, presented by Roger Savage from Burslem Port Trust, describes the line of the canal and the propsals for restoration.
