A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE RIVER STOUR In 1705, an Act of Parliament was made for the river to be made navigable from Sudbury to Manningtree a distance of 23.5 miles. This act, authorised channels and locks to be constructed enabling the passage of barges, boats etc between the two towns. The river navigation was opened for traffic in 1713. Between Brantham and Sudbury locks were located at:- Cornard, Henny, Pitmere (Lamarsh), Bures, Wormingford, Wissington(2), Nayland, Horkesley, Boxted, Langham, Stratford, Dedham, Flatford and Brantham. The lock gates were spaced 95 feet apart to allow the passage of two `lighters`. Barges on the river were known as `lighters` and were mostly built in a special basin at Flatford, which can still be seen today. These `lighters` were similar in every respect to those barges used on the fens and other waterways.

There can be no better portraits of these `lighters` and scenery than those painted by John Constable Uniquely, the `lighters` operated in pairs, being permanently shackled bow to stern, rather in the style of an articulated lorry, the rear lighter being used as a rudder for the pair. The stern vessel had a single hold with a small cabin at the rear. The crew consisted of a captain and a horseman. The latter was often a small boy, who often rode the horse. The journey from Sudbury to the estuary normally took about 2 days, with an overnight stop halfway at Horkesley - where a special "bothy" - or bunkhouse - was provided for the lightermen. Just one horse usually pulled the `lighters`. Each `lighter` was 27ft in length by 9ft wide with a depth of 2`8ft. Each `lighter` could pull 13 tons of freight, this meant that one horse, was not only pulling the weight of the craft, but also 26 tons of cargo.

The crew consisted of a captain and a horseman. The captains helper was often a small boy, who often rode the horse. The journey from Sudbury to the estuary normally took about 2 days, with an overnight stop halfway at Nayland.

Unfortunately the tow path between Sudbury and Brantham did not run on the same side of the river for its entire length. It crossed sides many times which meant that the horse had to traverse the river by the aid of the lighter. `John Constables` painting, "The White Horse" depicts this action vividly. Not content with this problem the horse also had to contend with stiles erected by the landowners. The height of the stiles presented a major problem at some locations. The Lightermen wanted them lower for their horses, but the farmers wanted them higher to avoid losing cattle. Stalemate, once again nothing happened to alleviate this dilemma.

We all look at the Albert Hall and perhaps the South Kensington's museums architecture with some wonder, but did we appreciate the bricks for those buildings, travelled through Bures from the Ballingdon Brickwork's on they way to London. The brickwork's were producing some 3 million bricks per year in the early 1900`s and most of them would be transported by `lighter`.

Mistley was a thriving port from the time it opened in 1730 importing coal from the North of England to the Gasworks at Bures and Sudbury together with grain for the Maltings. Bricks, chalk, flour and straw were exported to London and malt to the Guinness brewery at Dublin.

In 1836 it was decided to survey the navigation to see what improvements could be made. The obvious, was to have a continuous towing path on one side of the river to speed up the journey. If this was implemented the journey time from Sudbury to Cattawade would be in the region of 12 hours. Unfortunately this work was never carried out.

The arrival of the railways from Marks Tey in 1849, started the decline in the use of the river. An attempt was made about 1860 to power barges with steam engines to cut journey times but this proved a disaster. Fitting engines to existing `lighters` either caused the propeller to stick out of the water or foul the riverbed because of the meager 3ft draught. This project was abandoned in 1880.
In 1879 the Ministry of Agriculture purchased a steam dredger to clear the river of silt and keep the navigation clear. Within six months this proved ineffective and compounded by landowners, who would not pay the tolls for the work.

Stiff competition between river and rail meant fares were cut and more locks (13 to 26) were built to speed up the journey.
In 1890 the Navigation Company fell into debt. By the outbreak of the First World War little freight traffic now remained on the river.

The Navigation Company finally went into liquidation on September 9th. 1913, a few craft continued to use the river, paying dues to the Liquidators. The last `lighter` went up to Sudbury in 1914/15.

Today, River Stour Boating Community interest Company is trying to maintain the navigation for light craft for the use by the community and also future generations who should savour the benefits of a largely unspoilt area of the English countryside.

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