A Disaster averted at Great Linford?
The building of the canal had not been an easy undertaking, but at least one near disaster is said to have occurred a few years after it’s completion, that if as serious as claimed, could have caused “considerable damage” to life, limb and property at Great Linford.
On the night of March 13th, 1809, a part of the canal embankment at Great Linford collapsed, with unspecified damage done to lands adjoining. The Northampton Mercury newspaper of Saturday April 22nd went into a small amount of detail on the event, indicating that water springs unknown to the builders had caused the “mischief”, and if not for the actions of canal employees who had let down the floodgates, then the damage could have been far worse, as there were several “inhabited huts near where the bank gave way.” Unfortunately, no names are given for the occupiers, but we can make a good guess as to the exact location of the collapse.
The embankment passes through the heart of Great Linford Manor Park, and since it seems unlikely that the Uthwatts would have allowed any unsightly huts in the gardens to mar their view, so the collapse most likely occurred on the opposite bank. The 1840 Tithe map for Great Linford does show a building in a plausible place to be one of the “inhabited huts” mentioned in the newspaper report. The building is located in an area named in the map index as “The plantation”, an area of woodland now surrounding a large pond (not illustrated on the map), once part of the ornate Manor gardens, but now largely lost to sight and sandwiched between the Canal and the disused Railway line. No occupants are named, but the land was owned by Henry Uthwatt of the Manor house.
On the night of March 13th, 1809, a part of the canal embankment at Great Linford collapsed, with unspecified damage done to lands adjoining. The Northampton Mercury newspaper of Saturday April 22nd went into a small amount of detail on the event, indicating that water springs unknown to the builders had caused the “mischief”, and if not for the actions of canal employees who had let down the floodgates, then the damage could have been far worse, as there were several “inhabited huts near where the bank gave way.” Unfortunately, no names are given for the occupiers, but we can make a good guess as to the exact location of the collapse.
The embankment passes through the heart of Great Linford Manor Park, and since it seems unlikely that the Uthwatts would have allowed any unsightly huts in the gardens to mar their view, so the collapse most likely occurred on the opposite bank. The 1840 Tithe map for Great Linford does show a building in a plausible place to be one of the “inhabited huts” mentioned in the newspaper report. The building is located in an area named in the map index as “The plantation”, an area of woodland now surrounding a large pond (not illustrated on the map), once part of the ornate Manor gardens, but now largely lost to sight and sandwiched between the Canal and the disused Railway line. No occupants are named, but the land was owned by Henry Uthwatt of the Manor house.
1840 tithe map of Great Linford (Tithe/255), showing L-shaped building by the canal. From the collections of Buckinghamshire Archives and reproduced with permission.
Given that we have a building of some sort in an area called The Plantation on the 1841 Tithe Map and assuming it occupies the same location as the huts reported in 1809, might they have been wood-cutters cabins? The 1911 tax record map still shows a building in the same location, clearly located at the bottom of the bank. The land was then being rented from the Uthwatts by Colonel Charles Walter Mead, who was also occupying the Manor house. No specific occupier is named for the hut, which provides further evidence that the building was never intended as a dwelling house and was a temporary structure. No obvious sign now exists of the building, though fragments of brick and pottery disturbed during the recent renovation works hints at its prior existence.
For such a major event, the collapse of the the bank seems oddly little reported; was it much noticed by the villagers, did they hear the collapse – the imagination provides for an apocalyptic deluge of water rushing from the canal, but perhaps the original reporter had overplayed the severity of the collapse, as there appears to be only one “hut” and it may not even have been permanently occupied, serving only as an occasionally base for wood-cutting. As the newspapers note, the bank was swiftly repaired and normal Canal operations resumed.
For such a major event, the collapse of the the bank seems oddly little reported; was it much noticed by the villagers, did they hear the collapse – the imagination provides for an apocalyptic deluge of water rushing from the canal, but perhaps the original reporter had overplayed the severity of the collapse, as there appears to be only one “hut” and it may not even have been permanently occupied, serving only as an occasionally base for wood-cutting. As the newspapers note, the bank was swiftly repaired and normal Canal operations resumed.
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