Stover Canal Society

The Stover Canal Society was formed in 1999 and is dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the Stover Canal in Devon, England. Built in the 18th Century, the canal was used to transport clay and other minerals from the Bovey Basin and granite from quarries on Dartmoor to the docks at Teignmouth for nearly 150 years.

The canal was built by James Templer of Stover House between 1790 and 1792 to serve the ball clay industry in the area. It runs for 2 miles from Ventiford Basin near Teigngrace to Jetty Marsh on the outskirts of Newton Abbot. From there, barges would follow the tidal Whitelake Channel, then the River Teign to Teignmouth docks, a further 5 miles, where the cargo was transhipped to seagoing coasters.

Around 1820 James Templer's son, George, built the unique Haytor Granite Tramway which carried granite mined on Dartmoor down to the canal basin at Ventiford, on carts running on granite rails mined from the same source. Haytor granite was most notably used in the construction of London Bridge, the British Museum and the National Gallery. The granite trade was short lived, lasting less than 40 years but the canal continued to serve the ball clay industry until 1937. With no other traffic using the canal abandonment followed, the decline of the canal being hastened by a breach in 1951. Today the canal lies derelict.

The society is working with local councils and other interested parties to preserve the line of the canal and to restore it as an amenity for the local community. Parts of the canal towpath form part of the Templer Way, a historical trail which links the canal, the tramway and other legacies of the Templer family.