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River Stort, New

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651996

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Not until the 16th century did the river flowing through Bishop’s Stortford finally acquire a title – map makers of that period, Saxton & Camden, deciding it should take its name from the town and be called the River Stort. In the 16th century the town was a prime supplier of malt to the London breweries transported by carts to the city. But those same carts caused untold damage to the highways, making them virtually impassable in winter. In order to preserve the roads a ruling was made in 1602, declaring that all malt was to be transported by packhorses between the months of October and March. This caused problems for Bishop’s Stortford as the River Stort was not navigable at this time.
It was Thomas Adderley (1707–1774), landlord of The Crown Inn at Hockerill, who finally realised the river’s great potential and it was he and his supporters who gained an Act of Parliament in 1759 to make the river navigable. Unfortunately, the scheme fell at the first hurdle through lack of finance and was temporarily abandoned. In 1766 Sir George Jackson took over the scheme and the work was finally completed in 1769 at a cost of £100,000.

Added:
4th Feb 2009

Subjects:
Citizenship, Geography, History

Key Stages:
Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3

Keywords:
Malt, Breweries, Adderley, Jackson, Navagation, Stort, 1759, 1769, Bishop's Stortford, Museum

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