NHER 13534 (Monument record) - North Walsham and Dilham Canal

Begun 1825. Now mostly abandoned.
Bridges, locks remain.
See details, press cuttings (S1) to (S5) and photograph (S6) in file.
E. Rose (NAU), 24 November 1986.

Duplicate prints from an important set of photographs taken of the canal in 1956 are in file (S7).

This important artificial waterway linked North Walsham to the River Ant at Dilham. The idea to build it seems to have originated as a means of avoiding the fairly high cost of transporting goods on the newly opened toll road between North Walsham and Norwich. It was also seen as an opportunity to improve turnover at a number of mills along the River Ant. Although the idea to build a canal was decided on, mainly by local landowners, in 1811, and an Act of Parliament authorizing its construcion was passed in 1812, the canal was only completed in mid-1826 at a cost of £32,000. Once completed, the system allowed goods to travel from Antingham, via the River Bure, to Great Yarmouth (and of course back). The canal was ten miles long, dug by hand by a labour force of about a hundred men, and lined with clay. A special cut ('Tyler's Cut') was made in Dilham to access a brickworks there (NHER 15890).

However, the canal itself was narrow, only able to take boats up to twelve tons, and it soon became clear that the volume of trade was too small to be profitable. Even if the volume had been higher, the water supply (from the upper reaches of the River Ant) would not have been sufficient to replace the water let through the locks. Also the advent of the railway and improved roads meant that, in a short period of time, cheaper and more efficient transport systems were available.

After various changes in ownership, the canal fell into disuse in the 1920s. Of the five mills along its course, Antingham (NHER 15854), Bacton Wood (NHER 11572), Ebridge (NHER 11730) Briggate (NHER 8206) and Dilham (NHER 15892) only Ebridge continued to trade (by road, not using the canal) and now even this has pretty much closed down.
P. Aldridge (NLA), 26 June 2006.

January 2007. Norfolk NMP.
Notes on Norfolk’s World War Two defences (S8) record that sections of the canal were deepened to form an anti-tank ditch. Where this is visible on aerial photographs (as banks of dredged material, for example) it has been recorded as NHER 38818, 45232, 45233, 49213, 49212 and 49211.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 3 January 2007.