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| HER Number | MWB17896 |
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| Record Type | Monument |
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| Name | Coal Yard Canal Basin, Newbury Wharf |
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Summary
Southerly narrow branch off larger basin, probably used as a dock for unloading coal barges; infilled by 1930s
Associated Legal Designations or Protected Status
- Conservation Area: Newbury Town Centre
Monument Type(s):
- CANAL BASIN (Victorian to Early to Mid 20th century - 1849 AD to 1932 AD)
Full Description
A narrow north-south canal basin was constructed in the mid 19th century as a branch from a larger and older east-west basin at Newbury Wharf. The narrow inlet is first shown on an 1849 map <1>; on the Second Edition Ordnance Survey map <2> it is named 'Canal Creek'. It was suggested by John Gould that this second basin might have been built for coal boats to unload fuel near to the Newbury Gasworks <3>. The area to the west of the basin is named Coal Yard, but the gas works were over 100m to the south <4>.
Canal Creek and the east-west basin were completely filled in around 1932, although a shortened Canal Basin of c 50m length turning into the southerly Canal Creek are still drawn on the 4th Epoch Ordnance Survey map of c1933-4 <8>. Apparently this anomaly is explained by the fact that the 1934 map was surveyed several years before publication <5>.
During an evaluation in 1997 <9>, building rubble and industrial waste, including coal, was found to have been used to fill in the basin.
Sources and further reading
| <01> | Davis, Cornelius. 1849. Davis' Ten Miles round Newbury, 1849. [Map / SWB13949] |
| <02> | Landmark. 1899-1900. Digital Ordnance Survey Mapping Epoch 2, 1:2500 (25 inch). Digital. 1:2500. [Map / SWB14455] |
| <03> | Sept 1989. The Butty. No 125. p14-17 Newbury Wharf by L J D. [Article in serial / SWB147505] |
| <04> | Landmark. 1880-81. Digital OS Mapping Epoch 1, 1:500 - Newbury Town Plan. Digital. 1:500. [Map / SWB146990] |
| <05> | Thames Valley Archaeological Services. 1997. Newbury Wharf: Proposed library site, Newbury, Berkshire: an archaeological evaluation. NWL97/66. WBC Network. [Unpublished document / SWB12653] |
| <06> | Wessex Archaeology. 1998. Newbury Wharf, Newbury - Assessment Report on the Excavation. Report No 44500a. [Unpublished document / SWB12944] |
| <07> | Crockett, A. 1999. The archaeology of Newbury Wharf, Newbury, Berkshire. Report No 44500b. WBC Network. [Unpublished document / SWB12654] |
| <08> | Ordnance Survey. c. 1930. Ordnance Survey Epoch 4. [Map / SWB14664] |
| <09> | Thames Valley Archaeological Services. 1997. Newbury Wharf: Proposed library site, Newbury, Berkshire: an archaeological evaluation. NWL97/66. WBC Network. p8. [Unpublished document / SWB12653] |
Related Monuments
| MWB5758 | KENNET & AVON CANAL - General record (Monument) |
| MWB15508 | Canal Basin, Newbury Wharf (Monument) |
| MWB3483 | THE WHARF, NEWBURY - former coal yard floor (Monument) |
Associated Excavations and Fieldwork
None recordedIf you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.
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