was transferred to the new company, and was used to speed the construction of the railway, earning £312 in the year ending September 1853. The line followed the route of the canal closely, with much of it built on the towpath. The canal was closed on 1 July 1854, and the lock and aqueducts on the upper section were dismantled. The railway opened on 17 August 1854. The lower sections of the canal were given to the Commissioners for Sewers, for use as a drainage ditch. The final section was retained to provide a wharf for the railway company, which was used until 1936, when it passed to the Commissioners of Sewers and was filled in. The Central Somerset Railway merged with the Dorset Central Railway to become the Somerset and Dorset Railway. The main line to Glastonbury closed in 1966, while the branches to the dairy at Bason Bridge and the Highbridge Wharf lasted until 1972. Route The canal started at a lock constructed on the old course of the River Brue, which had been bypassed by a new cut in 1801 and filled in. It then followed the course of the Brue to Cripps Bridge, after which it followed the Cripps River to Gold Corner. The first part of the Cripps River was originally part of a loop on the River Brue, which was bypassed by a new cut made under the 1801 act. Gold Corner is at the point where the Huntspill River, the Cripps River and the South Drain meet. Following the course of the enlarged South Drain, a lock raised the level of the canal at Shapwick, while the Drain turned off to run parallel to the canal but to its north. The railway ran between the two waterways, crossing to the south side of the canal immediately after the single arched aqueduct and syphon over the South Drain. The remains of the three-arched aqueduct and syphon over the River Brue are still visible, near the old railway bridge, and from there the canal headed towards Glastonbury, passing the Ham Wall and Street Heath nature reserves and making a sharp right-hand turn just before its terminal basin, which was located near the old Glastonbury and Street railway station. References Bibliography Canals in Somerset History of Somerset Canals opened in 1834 Glastonbury