Selby Canal

Selby Canal
The canal approaching the River Ouse
Specifications
Length	6 miles (9.7 km)
Maximum boat length	78 ft 6 in (23.93 m)
Maximum boat beam	16 ft 6 in (5.03 m)
Locks	2
Status	navigable
Navigation authority	Canal and River Trust
History
Original owner	Aire and Calder Navigation
Principal engineer	William Jessop
Other engineer(s)	John Gott
Date of act	14 June 1774
Date completed	29 April 1778
Geography
Start point	West Haddesley
End point	Selby
Connects to	Aire and Calder Navigation, River Ouse

The Selby Canal is a 6-mile (9.7 km) canal with 2 locks which bypasses the lower reaches of the River Aire in Yorkshire, England, from the village of West Haddlesey to the town of Selby where it joins the River Ouse. It opened in 1778, and provided the main outlet for the Aire and Calder Navigation until 1826, when it was bypassed by a new cut from Ferrybridge to Goole. Selby steadily declined after that, although traffic to York still used the canal.

Powers to increase its depth were obtained in 1828, and the residents of Selby used legal action to ensure that the company complied with its own Act of Parliament. The locks were enlarged in 1885, and subsequent history was uneventful, with the canal eventually coming under the control of British Waterways in 1962. When British Waterways also took control of the River Ouse, the canal was marketed as part of a through route to York, and the number of boats using it have steadily increased. Although not originally part of the canal, the section of the Aire from Dole Bank Lock to Haddlesey Flood Lock is usually considered to be part of the modern Selby Canal, making it 11.7 miles (18.8 km) long with four locks.