River Wey
The River Wey in
Surrey is one of the
Waterways in the United Kingdom and a tributary of the
River Thames. The source of the north branch is at
Alton, Hampshire and of the south branch at Liphook. The branches join at Tilford. The river is navigable for around 32 km from
Godalming to the Thames at Weybridge to the south-west of
London.
The improvements in the navigation of the river were undertaken by Sir Richard Weston, beginning in 1635. The 25 km to
Guildford were made navigable by an Act of 1651 , with work completed in 1653, to allow barges to transport goods to
London.
Encyclopedia
The
River Wey in
Surrey is one of the
Waterways in the United Kingdom and a tributary of the
River Thames. The source of the north branch is at
Alton, Hampshire and of the south branch at Liphook. The branches join at Tilford. The river is navigable for around 32 km from
Godalming to the Thames at Weybridge to the south-west of
London.
The improvements in the navigation of the river were undertaken by Sir Richard Weston, beginning in 1635. The 25 km to
Guildford were made navigable by an Act of 1651 , with work completed in 1653, to allow barges to transport goods to
London. Further improvements were made under another Act of 1671.
In 1760, another Act authorised the Godalming Navigation, taking navigation a further 7 km upstream to
Godalming.
The
Basingstoke Canal and
Wey and Arun Junction Canal were later dug to connect with the Wey navigation.
From 1900 to 1963, the Wey was owned by the Stevens family, who were commercial carriers on the canal. It was then donated to the
National Trust in 1964 which operates a visitor centre at Dapdune Wharf, a former boatyard in
Guildford. The Godalming Navigation was donated to the Trust in 1968. Commercial traffic ceased in 1983.
See also
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External links
