The Oldest Canal in Britain? The Exeter Ship Canal

In this episode Dr Sam Willis explores the Exeter Ship Canal which, with the exception of the Roman 'Fossdyke' in Lincolnshire, is the oldest manmade waterway in Britain. Canal building is usually associated with the canal mania which gripped Britain between 1790 and the 1820s as the early years of the industrial revolution both posed problems and created solutions for those wishing to travel and transport goods across Britain. But the Exeter ship canal is 230 years OLDER than that. It was built in various stages but the first section was built in 1563 - in the Tudor period when Elizabeth I was queen. Sam meets Todd Gray a historian of Devon to find out more. The episode was filmed with incredible new done footage that shows the navigation from the city centre to the heart of the Exe estuary as never before and can be seen on the Mariner's Mirror podcast YouTube channel and Facebook page. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.