Monument record SUF 089 - River Lark Navigation

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Summary

Improvements to River Lark to make it navigable.

Location

Grid reference Centred TL 7076 7598 (26971m by 16945m)
Map sheet TL77NW
County SUFFOLK

Map

Type and Period (0)

Full Description

From NRHE Record:
Joining the Great Ouse about 4 miles below Ely, the Lark was navigable for 12 miles to Mildenhall, but impassable from there to Bury St Edmunds. The Romans are believed to have improved the river between Pickwillow and Isleham, but under an Act of 1700 the younger Henry Ashley improved the 13 miles from Mildenhall to Bury by building pound locks and staunches. During the canal age there were plans to join the Lark and the Suffolk Stour by a canal from Bury to the Stour estuary at Mistley. Another proposal of 1790 was a canal from Bury to Stowmarket on the Gipping. In the 1830s and '40s improvements to the Lark were undertaken and there were then 11 pound locks and 15 staunches for craft up to 48' x 10'. In 1889 the Lark was acquired by the Eastern Counties Navigation & Transport Co. Ltd under the patronage of the Marquis of Bristol and Lord Francis Harvey. They worked to re-open the Mildenhall-Bury section to steam towage, repairing the staunches. They were able to improve up to Fornham, a mile short of Bury, by 1894, but a receiver was appointed by the end of the year. The river above Icklingham was then abandoned. Later, the Lark was bought by Parker Bros. of Mildenhall, but commercial traffic ceased in the 1920s.

Sources/Archives (2)

  • --- Bibliographic reference: Edward Paget-Tomlinson. 1993. The illustrated history of canal and river navigations.
  • <S1> Digital archive: Historic England. National Record Of the Historic Environment.

Finds (0)

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (0)

Record last edited

Jun 17 2021 11:49AM

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