devised a navigation system for Worsley which was not carried out. His son, the third Duke of Bridgewater Francis Egerton, was to build the Bridgewater Canal. The Duke purchased the Manor of Pemberton (near Wigan) in 1758, the Manor of Hindley in 1765, and the Manor of Cadishead in 1776. Upon his death in 1803 he was succeeded by George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland. In 1833 the estate was inherited by Gower's son, Francis Leveson-Gower who changed his surname to Egerton, and in 1846 became the Earl of Ellesmere. In 1836 he purchased the Manor of Tyldesley. He is recorded as saying that he found Worsley to be "a God-forsaken place, full of drunken, rude people with deplorable morals". Worsley New Hall, designed by Edward Blore, was built in 1846 for Francis Egerton the First Earl of Ellesmere. The plans are held at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Queen Victoria visited the hall in 1851 and 1857; Edward VII and Queen Alexandra visited when Edward was Prince of Wales in 1869, and on 6 July 1909. The hall was used as a hospital in World War I and in World War II housed Dunkirk evacuees, American soldiers preparing for D-Day and the Lancashire Fusiliers. In 1943 the hall was badly damaged by fire and demolished in 1949. Industrial Revolution Coal has been mined around Worsley from as long ago as 1376, originally in bell pits. The coal seams in the area tend to be fairly thin, slanting downwards from north to south, and so deeper mining became necessary during the 17th century. With the onset of the Industrial Revolution and the growing use of steam power, there was a rapid increase in the demand for coal. The Duke's mines were among those supplying the surrounding districts but transport was both inefficient and expensive, and the mines also suffered from persistent flooding. His solution to these problems was to build a canal from Worsley to Salford, and an underground canal into the mines from Worsley Delph. The canal boats would carry at a time, – more than ten times the amount of cargo per horse that was possible with a cart. The Duke and his estate manager obtained an Act of Parliament empowering them to begin construction on a planned route directly to Salford, avoiding the River Irwell. James Brindley was brought in for his technical expertise and suggested varying