14 Locks, near Newport, South Wales.

We decided to visit this site today having read some of its history which is quite amazing. There are 14 locks on the Monmouthshire Canal at Rogerstone, Newport. The locks were completed in1799 and they raise the water up by 160 feet over a distance of 800 yards.  The locks were designed to accommodate narrowboats which are up to 64 feet 9 inches long and 9 feet 2 inches wide with a payload of 28 tonnes. Because of the number of lock gates and the steepness of the rise of the land, this was one of the most significant water control projects in the country and it was all down to the skills of a 31 year old engineer named Thomas Dadford junior.