Arches Branch at Leeds

[Heartland]

 

A lesser known branch of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at Leeds is the extension of the Canal Basin near the 1st lock through a new lock onto the River Aire above the Weir. I believe this branch gave access to some

three quarters of a mile new navigation opening up wharf space for coal merchants, a soap works and later

Leeds Electric Lighting Works. Has much been documented on this waterway?

 

Ray Shill

[magpie patrick]

I know of it, by going up the lock from the river and then through Arches Lock (also known as Monk's Pit Lock I think) boats could get back onto the River Aire above the wier. I assume the branch pre-dated the railway arch that gave the lock it's name but without checking I don't know. I have seen a picture in a book many years ago but I can't remember which book. Pluto will be along soon with Chapter and Verse no doubt.

 

Somewhat to my surprise, Bradshaw 1904, the only source I have checked, makes no mention of it

[Timleech]

The lock under the arches was still intact, with gates, when I was in Leeds in the late 1960s

 

Tim

[davidb]

When we were there in 2011, we walked through those "Dark Arches" many times and I always thought what a frightning place they would have been before electric lighting.

 

 

 

 

 

[Pluto]

The lock was originally part of the Leeds & Armley Navigation, proposed in 1839. This would have made the river navigable as far as Armley Mills, a large factory owned by the Gott family, who owned several large woollen mills in the area. The river here is very straight and is on a definite flood plain - there are several plaques giving flood levels in the 1880s IIRC - on Kirkstall Road. I have always thought this section of the river was man made, and it would pre-date the L&LC, opened here in 1777.

 

The lock was built in 1844 to get the maximum compensation from the Leeds & Bradford Railway, whose station was built on the arches over the canal company's land. The arches were extended when the joint station was built, the canal company using them as warehousing. There is some more information in my L&LC book which I am hoping to re-write and extend for the canal's 200th anniversary in 2016. Beware of poorly researched history about the waterways in Leeds, and elsewhere. Too many local historians do not understand the wider context when it comes to transport history.

[magpie patrick]

The lock was originally part of the Leeds & Armley Navigation, proposed in 1839. This would have made the river navigable as far as Armley Mills, a large factory owned by the Gott family, who owned several large woollen mills in the area. The river here is very straight and is on a definite flood plain - there are several plaques giving flood levels in the 1880s IIRC - on Kirkstall Road. I have always thought this section of the river was man made, and it would pre-date the L&LC, opened here in 1777.

 

The lock was built in 1844 to get the maximum compensation from the Leeds & Bradford Railway, whose station was built on the arches over the canal company's land. The arches were extended when the joint station was built, the canal company using them as warehousing. There is some more information in my L&LC book which I am hoping to re-write and extend for the canal's 200th anniversary in 2016. Beware of poorly researched history about the waterways in Leeds, and elsewhere. Too many local historians do not understand the wider context when it comes to transport history.

 

Thanks Mike, I thought you'd be along. The problem you identify isn't limited to Leeds!

[David Mack]

When we were there in 2011, we walked through those "Dark Arches" many times and I always thought what a frightning place they would have been before electric lighting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thats the bit that carries the river under the station. The lock was further west (to the right in the photo). On the other side of the railway the first section of the branch remains as a basin. The lock itself was under the flat-topped arches seen bricked up in the view here. This section of the arches is now used as parking for Candle House (the circular apartment block).

[davidb]

The lock under the arches was still intact, with gates, when I was in Leeds in the late 1960s

 

Tim

 

So, is the structure still there, or just filled in and now part of the carpark? And are some of the arches still flat-topped?

 

Strangely the Candle house isn't in the Bing photo.

 

( I can feel another visit to Leeds coming on ) cheers, David

[Pluto]

This is a plan for extending the station in 1891 which shows the various arms and the lock which were under the arches. The water level of the canal basin was above that of the river's normal level above the weir, and a steam pump was used for some years to keep the level up because of the number of boats coming from the lower part of the river to unload in the basin. The warehouses and basin here were flooded on several occasions due to the river flooding, particularly after the water mills on the other side of the river closed and their mill races filled in.

 

[Heartland]

Thanks Mike, that is a very useful explanation. Man made alterations to river courses often related to improvement for mills, it might be mentioned in State Papers and related documents, which some Libraries stock.

 

Best Regards

 

Ray Shill

[davidb]

Thanks Mike for the copy of the drawing. Is it North up? I can't just work out why it shows the River Aire on the right, it shows a road bridge over the river is this leading to space under the arches?

 

David

[magpie patrick]

Thanks Mike for the copy of the drawing. Is it North up? I can't just work out why it shows the River Aire on the right, it shows a road bridge over the river is this leading to space under the arches?

 

David

 

It is north up: the lock is Arches lock, not River Lock, and the river bends south from north of Arches Lock to end up on the east of the plan

[Heartland]

It is North to the top, I have a copies of 1850 and 1893 maps that confirm this. At the top the bridge across on the 1850 map was south of the original Leeds & Bradford Railway Viaduct. It was described as a turn bridge, a swing bridge I suppose.

 

It would be interesting to find how far boats travelled along the Aire.

 

Ray Shill

[Robbo]

 

This photo shows the L&L canal on the left is the canal that led to the river aire, you can see the brick is of different type to the other arches where the canal would have gone under.

 

If I get chance this weekend, I'll wander up with a camera.

Edited January 2, 2014 by Robbo

[steven wilkinson]

 

here is one I took earlier

[davidb]

Thanks a lot, its getting clearer. Magpie said

 

"The river bends south from north of Arches Lock to end up on the east of the plan"

 

so is the river in mike's 1891 plan the un -navigable bit, just below the weir, the start of it being in my original photo behind the concrete columns holding up the car park?

[Hugh]

Can't quite recall how to post pix but these two should turn out to be photos of the Lock in 1972 (to the best of my ability with 'Perutz' slide film at the time!)

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66143334@N05/11705588183/

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66143334@N05/11706112046/

 

 

Hugh

[Timleech]

I've been racking my few remaining brain cells trying to remember what the layout was of what remained in the late 1960s when I was there.

My feeling was more that the lock went into the N-S section of the river, perhaps at the end of the narrow arm on the plan.

Probably wrong, it was a long time ago, but could there have been a second lock at any time? From what I remember, the weir such as it was was just under the first arches, ie the part shown on the plan as Proposed.

 

Somewhere (might even have been in Waterways World?) I saw an article written by someone who had been in the University Canal Society, before my time (I was more involved with the Railway Soc when there, and the Middleton Railway), it concerned an ex-Co-op wooden barge and the lock - maybe they 'found' the boat under the arches?

 

 

Tim

[Pluto]

The plan is north facing, and shows part of the section of canal property covered by the railway arches. The lock was originally called Monk Pit Lock, though later became known as Arches Lock. It did have a swing bridge across the chamber at one time, though there have been several alterations to the roads under the railway. The first edition OS 6in map seems to show it in the wrong position (see below). Originally, access to this area was by a ford just below the weir on the right, and this was replaced by a fixed bridge almost over the weir. One of the drydocks is just on the plan near the lower right corner.

 

I don't have a date for the last boat to us the lock, but it was certainly in use in 1946 when palm oil was delivered to J Watson & Son's soap works. There was debris inn the river and the canal company stated that they had no authority to clean the river for navigation, so I am not sure if they had the right to build the lock in the first place, or at least to connect it to the river. There was even some argument about whether they could dredge the river between Leeds Bridge and River Lock, but it was decided that this was covered by the first L&LC Act.

 

The wooden boat mentioned by Tim and called Elvira was one of those used for carrying coal to Armley Power Station, and it was used as a base by the LUUWS (Leeds University Under Water Society?). Jack Parkinson took a couple of photos of the lock and boat in the 1960s.

 

This is the 1st edn OS map from c1850. The railway was subsequently extended further south, particularly after the joint station was created.

[Robbo]

Here's a good photo from above. You can't see the river from here but it run's between the buildings at the top right. The current lock to the River from the canal is just hidden by the building on the very right. The canal that went to the River is the one with the finger pontoons on it.

[Athy]

Can't quite recall how to post pix but these two should turn out to be photos of the Lock in 1972 (to the best of my ability with 'Perutz' slide film at the time!)

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66143334@N05/11705588183/

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66143334@N05/11706112046/

 

 

Hugh

Spooky! Thanks for posting those.

There used to be a similarly subterranean lock in Manchester, apparently under an office block and frequented by nocturnal undesirables. Not sure if it is still there. Any more underground locks?

[Hugh]

Spooky! Thanks for posting those.

There used to be a similarly subterranean lock in Manchester, apparently under an office block and frequented by nocturnal undesirables. Not sure if it is still there. Any more underground locks?

That'll be on the Rochdale '9'. It's only under'ground' cos they built Rodwell Tower on top of it. And it's still navigable - and still somewhat undesirable.

 

Hugh

[MoominPapa]

Any more underground locks?

One of the Northampton flight is half in a tunnel under the M1, but it's not very spooky, being high, wide, and well lit. There are at least a couple of the Farmer's Bridge flight in Birmingham which are underground.

 

MP.

[David Mack]

Can't quite recall how to post pix but these two should turn out to be photos of the Lock in 1972 (to the best of my ability with 'Perutz' slide film at the time!)

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66143334@N05/11705588183/

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66143334@N05/11706112046/

 

 

Hugh

So if it was intact in 1972, when did the branch actually get filled in?

[Robbo]

So if it was intact in 1972, when did the branch actually get filled in?

 

Can't directly display photo...

 

http://www.leodis.net/discovery/show.asp?ri=images/200422_725789369.jpg

 

Well it's filled in in 1999 - Source of photo: http://www.leodis.net/discovery/discovery.asp?page=200335_284221828&topic=200335_127834499

Edited January 2, 2014 by Robbo