Sapperton Canal Tunnel

The Sapperton Canal Tunnel is a tunnel structure at the Thames -Severn Canal, which crosses the Cotswold Hills. It is located near Tarlton and Cirencester, Gloucestershire, was when it opened in 1789, not only the longest tunnel of a Narrowboat Canal, but the longest tunnel in England at all. The construction of the 3490 -meter-long canal tunnel took five years. The tunnel leads through solid rock of limestone and in a wide range by clayey material, which necessitated a lining. The tunnel portals are executed in masonry and have complex architectural forms. A towpath there was not in the tunnel. In the novel " Hornblower is commander " by CS Forester a ride on a getreidelten mail boat across the channel towards the Thames and through the tunnel is portrayed vividly. It also describes how the boat is moved by the leinpfadlosen channel. This technique is called leggings. Two people are on a cross bar at the front of the ship and drive the ship by " running " on the tunnel wall through the tunnel.

Only in 1811 was the Sappertontunnel as the longest canal tunnel in England replaced by the Standedge Canal Tunnel, the key point of the Huddersfield Narrow - channel.

Since the task of the Thames -Severn Canal, which had suffered constantly under difficult water conditions, especially under severe water loss, broke up the building around 1927. According to initial repair work around 1960 cruises for tourists were also offered by the Sappertontunnel until this in the area where he leads by layers of clay, eventually collapsed partially.

51.716111111111 - 2.0666666666667Koordinaten: 51 ° 42 ' 58 " N, 2 ° 4' 0 " W

• Tunnel in England
• Building in Gloucestershire
• Derelict Tunnel
• Former channel
• Built in the 1780s
• Grade II building in England
• Grade II * building in England