A History of the Melton Navigation by Brian Fare

Mon, Mar 23rd 2026 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

A talk about the history of the Melton Navigation Canal.

“A History of the Melton Navigation by Brian Fare”

The Melton Mowbray canal was set up in 1791 by an Act of Parliament; the Act gave the Melton Mowbray Navigation Company of Proprietors powers to “make the rivers Wreake and Eye navigable for the carriage of coal, stone, lime, limestone, timber, lead and all kinds of merchandise”. For decades, the Melton Navigation was a healthy business seeing a comfortable return for its investors but the introduction of the Syston to Peterborough Railway started to take traffic away from the water & it fell into a dramatic decline.

In this talk Brian Fare will take us through the history of the Melton Navigation from inception in the late 18thcentury to abandonment in 1877.

Brian is a Melton based historian, with a particular interest in military history & the history of Melton & surrounding areas. This talk was researched & developed for the Melton & Oakham Waterways Society as part of an 18-month research project into the history of the canal, made possible by grant aid from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.