Pub history

The Thomas Telford

Ellesmere Port owes its existence to a group of Shropshire businessmen whose meetings in the early 1790s, chaired by Lord Edward Clive, resulted in a plan to build a canal connecting the rivers Severn, Mersey and Dee. William Jessop was appointed chief engineer, and fellow engineer Thomas Telford drew up plans for the bridges, aqueducts, tunnels, locks, reservoirs, wharfs and other works. The canal opened on 1 July 1795, and Ellesmere Port was born.