The Coombe Hill Canal.

The Coombe Hill Canal ran 2 3/4 miles from Coombe Hill Basin to the River Severn near Wainlode Hill. The canal was authorised in 1792 and was probably open in 1796. The cost of construction was about £5000 and the completed canal could take barges of 60-70 tons.

It was meant to carry goods to Cheltenham but the local geography made that impossible. In the end a gap of nearly five miles was left between the end of the canal and the town and this gap meant that the canal was not as useful as it might have been. In 1810 the canal was leased to a group of 3 men at a rate of £400 per annum. In 1822 the canal was then leased to a number of committeemen from the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. In 1829 they renewed their lease for another 21 years at the cost of £500 per annum and in 1844 offered to buy the canal for £8,750 however they latter withdrew the offer. In 1849 lease was taken up by the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal who were unable to make the canal pay and when they surrendered the lease in 1867 cargo fell to 1,800 tons per annum.

The Coombe Hill Canal company then asked the then engineer of the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal to provide a report. The report took the view that the canal could not be made profitable and it would be best turned into an oyster bed. Despite this the canal company tried to run the canal themselves for a few years before selling the canal for £520 in 1871. The canal was resold for £1000 in 1873 but 1876 the canal was abandoned due the new owners being unable to afford to repair flood damage to the lock that connected the canal to the River Severn. In 1954 the canal was registered as Site of special scientific interest. Today the canal is the home of a number of rare and uncommon beetle species and two species of fly that have not been found anywhere else within the UK.

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