This explore took me to what remains of a section of the long forgotten Thames and Severn canal in Gloucestershire near a village called Sapperton.
The main reason for the visit is the Sapperton tunnel, To the south you have the Coates portal and to the north the Daneway portal.
An extract from wikipedia about the tunnel:
The Sapperton Canal Tunnel is a tunnel on the Thames and Severn Canal near Cirencester in Gloucestershire, England. With a length of 3,817 yards (3,490 m), it was the longest tunnel of any kind in England from 1789 to 1811.
Construction, following an Act of Parliament, began in 1784. Twenty-six shafts were dug along the line of the tunnel and workfaces dug in each direction eventually joining up before the diameter of the tunnel was expanded. Difficulties were encountered related to strata of Great Oolite (solid limestone) and Fuller's Earth clay. These caused roof falls and narrowing of the channel which continued after the tunnel opened in 1789 and required frequent maintenance. The stone portals at either end are listed buildings.
Boats passed through by legging until 1911. The canal was abandoned by 1933 and subsequent roof falls mean that it is no longer navigable.
Full details can be found following this link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapperton_Canal_Tunnel
Navigation to the south portal is very easy and a brief search on Google maps located me a parking spot in a nearby layby.
After parking the car I walked down the path and soon found the dry canal bed and tow path.
It was very bizarre to be standing where deep water should be as just to the north of here water is still present although held back by a dam.
I preceded north to locate the Coates portal and was in sight of it within 10 minutes.
It always astounds me that years ago a lot of effort was put into celebrating an achievement.
they could quite easily gone with very boring and plain entrances but no, They made an effort because they were proud of what they did. Nowadays very little effort is made in this way.
I really like the design of this portal, it is however starting to show signs of serious decay in places.
Next on my agenda was to head south passed where I had started and onwards to an abandoned round house by what used to be a lock.
This took about 20 minutes or so but was worth it.
This round house sits on the bank just off the towpath and you can still see the garden wall.
The gothic windows are a great feature and you can still see the indent of the stairs where the handrails remain
I have found a photo of a restored round house in a similar setting as below which gives a hint of how this one would have looked like in its day.
After a brief stop for lunch it was time to set off to locate the Daneway portal to the north.
This only took 10 minutes in the car but parking in the village of Sapperton (near where the northern portal is located) is tricky as the roads are very narrow.
Thankfully I drive a small car but this still took about 10 minutes to get sorted and find the access point for the path that leads to the portal.
Once you start on the path it heads out into a field where you have to descend quite a long way, care has to be taken when it is wet as the path is just worn out in the mud. The views however were impressive.
Once you get to the bottom of the field and pass through the gate the portal is right in front of you
This portal is very different in its style than the southern one and is in more of a gothic style.
It is also showing signs of decay especially on the internals. One thing I did notice is that the fence that is meant to deter people from exploring the tunnel has fallen apart, As I was a lone explorer and had no wellington boots I decided not to enter, a decision I was later pleased about after reading about all the roof collapses this tunnel suffers from.
I hope you have enjoyed my post, please feel free to leave me a comment.
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