CHASEWATER

Brownhills and the surrounding area's had the coal that was needed, under Brownhills Common, at Pauls Coppice Walsall Wood and Birch Coppice areas. The problem was, Transport, to get to the wider markets around the Country and abroad a improved form of transport was needed as haulage by road was slow and at times impossible.

  In 1794 a Canal had been built from Wyrley, near Cannock to join the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal at Wolverhampton. The Company who were responsible for the building it were,' The Company of Proprietors of the Wyrley & Essington Canal Navigation'. The purpose of the canal was to transport coal from the coal fields in Wyrley which were in what was a otherwise inaccessible area. The new Canal proved so popular that even before it was officially opened, plans were being made to extend it. Hence the Brownhills and Catshill Extension's were planned.

  In January 1794 a petition was presented to Parliament for an extension to the Wyrley to Essington Canal, the new extension would link the canal to the Coventry Canal at Huddlesford, near Lichfield and so give access to the ports of Hull and Liverpool. Riding high on their success an amendment was soon added to the petition for a further branch to run from Catshill to Hay Head Limeworks in Rushall. In March 1794 the bill was given the Royal Accent and it became law. This gave the, 'W & E Canal Co. powers to demolish any buildings and cut through and damage any land on it's proposed route. One proviso was that the canal did not take any water from any streams or brooks in the Parishes of Walsall, Rushall, Norton, Ogley Hay  or Aldridge as its supply for topping up the canal system.

This photo shows barges navigating the Catshill Junction in Brownhills. In the background the houses and gas holder have been replaced with Waine and Bayley and Humphries house blocks of flats.

The next 3 years saw gangs of, 'navigators' labour to cut the canal from, Birchhills, (North of Walsall), through Goscott, Pelsall, Catshill, Brownhills and Ogley Hay. It then went through a series of 8 locks which lower or raise craft along a gradient of 50 feet, and then on to Huddlesford Junction near Lichfield, where it joined the Coventry Canal System. In an article on 15th May 1797 the Aris's Birmingham Gazette announced, the canal had opened the previous week on 8th May 1797.

Brownhills coal could now be transported cheaply to the ports of Hull and Bristol,the Towns of Wolverhampton, Walsall and the Cities of Lichfield,Coventry and Oxford. Also with the branch being opened to the Hay Head Limeworks in Rushall the Canal system could provide the Ironworks with, Limestone, Coal and Iron ore and so became the main form of transporting minerals.

The Warley & Essington Canal Co. while constructing the canal system realised that due to the restrictions that were put into the Act of Parliament sanctioning the building of the canal, namely that no water could be taken from any Brook, Spring, Stream or Rivulet from any area the canal passed through the Company must provide a water source to keep the canal topped up. The fact that every time a boat passed up or down the Ogley lock system 25,000 gallons of water were lost downhill also made matters worse.

Shortly after the canal opened in 1797 the Company had no option but to close it again due to the fact the Canal System was getting too low and the Ogley Hay Locks had become dry. A reservoir of water was desperately needed as the local industries were getting very frustrated, hence Norton Pool (Chasewater) came into being.

PLAN OF THE WYRLEY & ESSINGTON CANAL EXTENSION C.1795

CHASEWATER

NORTON POOL (CHASEWATER). Showing the pool Dam and pumping engine house, for pumping canal water back into the reservoir.

In 1795 when the Warley & Essington Canal Extension was being cut through the area it was realised a reservoir of water would be needed to keep the system topped up. It was first suggested to create a reservoir by flooding the valley between Shireoaks and Muckley Corner. This was quickly dismissed because the Lichfield to Walsall Turnpike road ran through the area and also much of the land had been turned into farmland. An area between five ways in Norton and the Watling Street at Knaves Castle in Brownhills was finally chosen . The area was known as Norton Bog and much of the land, due to mining operations had started to sink and a pool starting to form.

An ancient road also ran through this area, The Coventry Road,. The road had been one of the main arterial routes for centuries, but traffic had almost deserted it in favour of the Chester road and town to town travelling.

Approaches were made to the Lords of the Manors for permission to use their lands, namely Henry William, Earl of Uxbridge, Baron Paget, Phineus Hussey and Richard Gilbert. Agreements were quickly reached as the Lords were offered 3/6p per acre rent per annum, which was very good for an area of barren, boggy wasteland. A total area of 156 acres was rented.

In 1796 work began on the reservoir, Running through the area was , the Crane brook which passed through here on its way to the Tame at Tamworth, this was diverted away from the area and a team of, 'Navies', dug out the floor of the reservoir and used the excavations to build earthen work dams at the eastern and western edges. The deepest part of the reservoir was 35 feet near to the eastern (Brownhills) end of the reservoir. A feeder channel was also cut through from the eastern dam to the top of the locks at Ogley Hay, passing through Knaves Castle.

As stated in the canals section, the canal had opened on 8th May 1797 but had to close shortly after due to lack of water, The Company was under extreme pressure to open the canal again and so the Crane Brook was re-diverted to fill the reservoir. The reservoir soon filled and the accumulated water was fed into the canal system, which re-opened again to keep all the Industries happy.

All went well until June 1799 when the eastern Dam burst, sending millions of gallons of water down the valley through Ogley Hay towards Shenstone. Roads, Bridges were washed away, fields were flooded and livestock drowned. The canal company acted quickly and paid generous sums as compensation to all who had suffered loses, and immediately set about rebuilding the dam.It was decided the new dam would be thicker and wider and the inner walls would be lined with limestone. 6 months after the dam burst, on the 2nd Jan 1800 the canal company recruited as many men as was needed to make sure the reservoir was opened as quickly as possible. It took only 3 months for the dam to be built and the reservoir refilled and once again filling the canal system. As a safeguard against further damage to the dam the company built a watch house and employed a full time watchman to inspect the dam and report any defects. The first watchman was William Wall who paid the company £2 per year to rent the house and gardens.

The reservoir became known as Norton Pool. Brownhills Urban District Council purchased Norton Pool in 1956 for £5,600 which was for a total area of 272 acres and 2 cottages, from the British Transport Commission and renamed it CHASEWATER. The lake has been used for water sports and sailing and is now the home of the Chasewater Light Railway. The railway preservation society has a splendid display of working steam engines and rolling stock and rides can be taken from the Station at the Norton end of the Lake.

After all the laws and legislation to bring about the link between the Warley Canal to the Coventry Canal, the main canal to Lichfield closed due to the railways taking much of the trade from the canals. In 1954 a mention was made in the Transport Act which said," to be closed to transport. The Ogley Locks in Brownhills District. It would be a difficult task to reopen this canal as most of the land has been built upon or returned to the plough. The Canal Preservation Societies however do not give up and look upon reopening the locks with optimism.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE WARLEY AND ESSINGTON CANAL HAVE A LOOK AT DAVE HODGKINSONS SITE AT: http://members.madasafish.com/~d_hodgkinson/brownhil.htm 

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