Canal when the War of 1812 broke out; these were the Santee Canal (opened 1800) in South Carolina, the Middlesex Canal (opened 1802) in Massachusetts and the Dismal Swamp Canal (opened 1805) in Virginia. The Erie Canal (opened 1825) was chartered and owned by the state of New York and financed by bonds bought by private investors. The Erie canal runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie. The Hudson River connects Albany to the Atlantic port of New York City and the Erie Canal completed a navigable water route from the
Thames and Severn Canal navigable state. The condition of the canal continued to decline. Complaints were made about its state in 1874 and 1885, which resulted in surveys being undertaken, but little was done to remedy the situation. In 1893, the Thames and Severn company announced that the canal between Chalford and Inglesham would close two days later. Negotiations with a number of interested parties took place, and having given an assurance that it would not be converted into a railway to the Great Western Railway, an Act of Parliament was obtained in 1895, which formed a Trust with powers to raise £15,000. The