Kidwelly and Llanelly Canal

Kidwelly and Llanelly Canal
Kymer's dock at Kidwelly, reconstructed in 1990.
Specifications
Locks	5 plus 3 inclined planes
Status	Replaced by a railway 1869
History
Original owner	The Kidwelly and Llanelly Canal and Tramroad Company
Principal engineer	Thomas Kymer
Other engineer(s)	James Green
Date of act	1766
Date of first use	1768
Date completed	1837
Date closed	1865
Geography
Start point	Kidwelly
End point	Cwmmawr
Branch(es)	Burry Port

v t e Kidwelly and Llanelly Canal
Legend
Cwm y Glo reservoir Cwmmawr basin Cwmmawr aqueduct Hirwaunissa inclined plane Pont Henry inclined plane Capel Ifan inclined plane Lock Lock Plas Bach lock Fforest Fach lock Pontnewydd aqueduct Pwll y Llygod pit Wharf and tramway Kidwelly-Llanelli turnpike Gwendraeth Fawr aqueduct Moat Farm branch Muddlescwm Kidwelly-Penbre road Kidwelly South Wales Railway re-excavated 1990 Pont y Cocks Kymer's dock (West Quay) Gwendraeth Fawr (river) Pembrey Canal junction Ty Mawr lock Ffrwd branch Ashburnham Canal Cross Lane lock Pembrey terminus Tramway to old harbour Stanley's Tramway and bridge Pembrey old harbour Burry Port Tywyn Bach harbour

The Kidwelly and Llanelly Canal^{[Note 1]} was a canal and tramroad system in Carmarthenshire, Wales, built to carry anthracite coal to the coast for onward transportation by coastal ships. It began life as Kymer's Canal in 1766, which linked pits at Pwll y Llygod to a dock near Kidwelly. Access to the dock gradually became more difficult as the estuary silted up, and an extension to Llanelli was authorised in 1812. Progress was slow, and the new canal was linked to a harbour at Pembrey built by Thomas Gaunt in the 1820s, until the company's own harbour at Burry Port was completed in 1832. Tramways served a number of collieries to the east of Burry Port.

In 1832 engineer James Green advised on extending the system, and suggested a line with three inclined planes to reach Cwmmawr, further up the Gwendraeth Valley. Although Green had experience with inclined planes on other canals, he underestimated the cost and could not complete the work. He was sacked in 1836, but the canal company finished the new route the following year. The canal was moderately successful, and shareholders received dividends from 1858. In 1865 the company changed its name to become the Kidwelly and Burry Port Railway, amalgamated with the company running Burry Port in the following year, and the canal became the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway in 1869.

Kymer's dock at Kidwelly continued to be used for the export of coal by coasters for another 50 years. It was used as a rubbish dump during the 1950s, but together with a short section of the canal was restored in the 1980s. A few of the structures of the canal can still be traced in the landscape, and the route of the now closed railway can be followed for most of its length.

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