Sankey Canal

Sankey Canal
The start of the Sankey Canal at Spike Island in Widnes
Specifications
Locks	16
Status	Partly restored
History
Original owner	Sankey Brook Navigation Co
Principal engineer	Henry Berry
Date of act	1755
Date of first use	1757
Date closed	1963
Geography
Start point	River Mersey, Widnes
End point	St Helens
Connects to	River Mersey

v t e Sankey Canal
Legend
Ravenhead Branch Sutton Branch St Helens Gerard's Bridge Branch New Double Lock (2) Blackbrook Branch A58 bridges Old Double Lock (2) Haydock Lock A572 Common Road bridge Newton Common Lock Sankey Viaduct Bradley Lock Hey Lock M62 bridge Winwick Lock Hulme Lock Sankey Brook aqueduct A574 bridge Bewsey Lock Great Sankey viaduct A57 bridge Railway bridge Sankey Brook Sankey Lock River Mersey Fiddlers Ferry Locks (2) Widnes Locks (2) River Mersey

The Sankey Canal in North West England, initially known as the Sankey Brook Navigation and later the St Helens Canal, is a former industrial canal, which when opened in 1757 was England's first of the Industrial revolution, and the first modern canal.^[1][2][3]

The canal eventually connected St Helens to the River Mersey at Spike Island in Widnes. Originally it followed the valley of the Sankey Brook from the Mersey through Warrington to Parr following which extensions were constructed at the Mersey end to Fiddlers Ferry and then to Widnes, while at the northern end it was extended to Sutton.

The canal was abandoned between 1931 and 1963 but has been the object of ongoing restoration attempts since 1985.