We are shocked and saddened to report the sudden death of a valued member of the River Torridge Heritage Group, Adrian Wills. Adrian was a stalwart of the Rolle Canal and Northern Devon Waterways Society, and a trustee at North Devon Maritime Museum. His energy and drive will be much missed. To honour his memory, this week’s column focusses on the Rolle Canal. 

The Rolle Canal connected Torrington with Bideford by water. Financed by Lord Rolle, it was completed in 1827, leaving the River Torridge at Sealock, about three miles upstream of Bideford Long Bridge and terminating in present day Rosemoor RHS Gardens – a distance of seven miles. 

Its construction allowed Lord Rolle and local landowners to bring in heavy goods, especially coal and limestone from south Wales. This was used to make quicklime in lime kilns alongside the canal to spread on the fields and improve the productivity of heavy clay soils. Agricultural produce and ball clay were the principal goods taken out along the canal for use in north Devon or exported further afield.

In some ways it is surprising that so much of the canal exists today because, when the railway was extended from Bideford to Torrington in 1872, the new track was laid along much of its length. 

Over recent years, volunteers from the Rolle Canal Society have undertaken much restoration work along the canal. At the Sealock, progress can be seen from a viewing platform on the Tarka Trail. Now, volunteers are clearing vegetation from the inclined plane, used to bring the tub boats from river level up to the height of the main canal. Locks were not used as there was insufficient water supply.

In co-operation with Rosemoor Gardens, volunteers have been restoring the canal basin. Water supply from the leet has been reconnected, coping stones along the bank replaced, and the basin is once more filled with water. The site is not currently open to the public, as this is where Rosemoor store their garden machinery but, once the lime kiln buildings have been made safe, it is planned to open a path from the gardens along the canal bank – an industrial heritage site in the middle of a garden. Rosemoor will use water in the canal for irrigation thus reducing their need for mains water. 

We commiserate with his wife Hilary and the Rolle Canal Society on the loss of Adrian, who did so much to further this work. 

MT