to raise capital, as a group of people had agreed to finance the initial construction, while ongoing revenue was to be provided by a tax on landowners who benefited from the drainage and by the enclosing of common land, in addition to the normal tolls. The engineer appointed to oversee the work was a Mr. Whitworth, and was managed by a committee of Drainage Commissioners. The canal was completed by 1782, and the main traffic consisted on agricultural produce and bricks, including Walling Fen bricks, which were fine, white and durable. Because of the dual purpose of drainage and navigation, water levels in relation to the land surface were strictly controlled by the terms of the enabling Act. There was inevitable conflict between the two functions, with the navigation requiring higher water levels than the drainage functions required. A number of brickworks were established along the canal in the Newport area, and it was a commercial success. Decline As with many others, the arrival of railways in the area started the decline of the canal. The York to Market Weighton Line opened in 1847, and the subsequent loss of income resulted in the condition of the canal deteriorating, to the extent that the commissioners sought an Act of Parliament in 1900 to abandon the canal as a navigation, and although the section above Sod House lock was abandoned in that year, the commercial carrying of bricks continued until the 1950s. This traffic was carried in Humber sloops. The condition of the canal continued to deteriorate until the formation of the Market Weighton Drainage Board in 1934, an internal drainage board under the terms of the Land Drainage Act 1930. They took over the powers of the original drainage commissioners, and are responsible for of arterial watercourses, most of which drain into the canal or the River Foulness, both of which came under the jurisdiction of the now defunct Yorkshire Ouse and Hull River Authority in 1951. The lower section of the canal, including Weighton Lock, (also called Humber Lock), which provides access to the River Humber, was abandoned in 1971, but when they heard that the lock was likely to be demolished, the Market Weighton Civic Trust moved quickly to have the whole structure listed as an ancient monument and their action, together with public pressure resulted in the lock being repaired and reopened. Further repairs and an overhaul of