Traces of a Canal

The Portsmouth to Arundel canal opened with great optimism in 1823. Its terminus was located by the present day Portsmouth and Southsea station. The idea was to link Portsmouth, and its thriving merchant port, with London. Its path came from Chichester round the lower shore of Thorney Island, around the top of Hayling (cutting through the ancient wadeway) before heading inwards at the present day Locksway Road. The venture was however short lived and closed in 1832. The reasons were twofold: the canal bed was not isolated and salt water began to penetrate the local water supply while the introduction of the railway provided alternative cheap methods of transport. When the railways arrived in Portsmouth, part of the canal basin was used to lay the track. There remain other traces: the naming of Locksway Road, Canal Walk, Arundel Street and in Milton where some of the lock gates still exist.