|
|
The River Gipping rises from a small spring near the radio mast at Mendlesham but it gets it's name from the village of Gipping close by. It is joined by several small streams and the larger River Rat when it reaches Stowmarket. It becomes the tidal River Orwell at Ipswich. The entire stretch from the Hartismere Hundred to the sea at Harwich was originally known as the Ure. Legend has it that mariners knew of a very deep pit or well in the river at Ipswich which they called the Ure-well. This pit is believed to have been near the present docks. Why the river changed it's name to the Gipping we don't know. The river was navigable as far back as 860 AD when the Danes used it to establish the village of Ratles-Dane. Later between 1065 and 1095 Caen stone was brought from Normandy, up the Gipping and Rat to Rattlesden, then to Bury St. Edmunds to build the Abbey. In the 16th century the river was used to transport the bells of Stowmarket church from Ipswich after they had been recast. The river was still in use into the 1700’s in its original state.
In 1790 a Board of Trustees was appointed to administer the Ipswich and Stowmarket Navigation after the Act of Parliament had received the Royal assent. The act authorised the trustees to raise £14,300 and an extra £6000 just in case. In 1793 the Navigation was opened but several parts were found to be poorly built so a lot more work (and more money) was needed to finish the job properly. In fact the trustees had to go back to get authorisation for a further £15,000 in order to complete the task.
The total rise of the river from Ipswich to Stowmarket is 90 feet and 15 locks were constructed to overcome it in the 16 miles of navigation. A tonnage charge of 1d per ton per mile was levied for use of the navigation, but there was a minimum charge equal to a 35 ton load. A 30-40 ton horse drawn lighter completed the journey in about 8 hours. The main cargo was manure which travelled toll free, coal, gun cotton, corn and hops. In 1846 the railway arrived and with it a large decline in water-borne trade. The Trustees sought Parliamentary approval to lease the navigation to the Eastern Union Railway for 42 years. In 1888 when the lease ended the navigation was returned to the Trustees along with £2000 compensation as it was in such a poor condition. After 1932, with no income to meet their maintenance liabilities under the Act that established the navigation, the Trustees applied for a Revocation Order. The business was wound up at the final meeting of the Trustees in 1934.
There followed many years of neglect, which resulted in the navigation becoming impassable.
Ipswich Branch of the Inland Waterways Association started restoration work on the River in the 1970s, assisting with the establishment of The Gipping Way, a public footpath from Ipswich to Stowmarket which follows the navigation towing path.
In 1994 work commenced to restore Bosmere Lock followed by Creeting Lock, work that took ten years.
The continuation of this work is now being undertaken by the Trust and work has started on the lock next to Baylham Mill.
|
|