Monument MPM1347 - Portsmouth Canal

Site of the Portsea section of the former Portsmouth and Arundel Canal. The canal opened in 1823, and was entered from Langstone Harbour via a sea lock at Milton. It extended to the western end of the present day Arundel Street, where there were two basins. The canal roughly followed the same route as the present day Goldsmith Avenue, Canal Walk and Upper Arundel Street. Having proved to be unsuccessful as a business venture, the canal fell into disuse during the 1830s/1840s. [1]

The basins had been infilled by 1838 [2], and a section of the canal was reused for part of the new railway line between Fratton and Portsmouth & Southsea stations which opened in 1847 [1]. The remaining sections of canal had been infilled by the late-19th century. [1]

The sea lock at Milton (MPM52) and the former canal pumping station in Locksway Road ('Old Engine House' MPM1334) have survived, and the former is now a conservation area. Part of the West Lock Gate was revealed in a trial pit excavated on a development site at 400-402 Locksway Road in 1995 (MPM1010).

The mapping for this record depicts the approximate location of the canal as far as the railway line at Fratton as shown on the 1870 Ordnance Survey map. The location of the canal and basin beyond this point has only been estimated using sources [1] and [2].

<1> Cuthbert, Ted, 1989, Portsmouth's Lost Canal (Bibliographic reference). SPM234.

<2> Owen, Thomas Ellis, 1838, Portsea Tithe Map and Apportionment (Map). SPM235.