Tolls were collected until at least the end of 1804, and the canal was still being used for some months after that, but a lack of maintenance and some wilful damage resulted in the canal being closed in 1806. The company was defunct by 1808. Parts of the Salisbury arm soon became dry, and others became a small stream, but the section in Southampton became a stagnant ditch. In 1841 a woman drowned in the canal, after which the council took action and filled it in. Raising money and getting the legal powers to fill canal in delayed work until 1846 and the final grassing over didn't take place until 1851.