The Giant's Basin, Potato Wharf, Manchester, Greater Manchester
In 1759, following the Bridgewater Act, Francis Egerton, third Duke of Bridgewater, started work on the canal between his coal mines at Worsley and Manchester. The canal opened to Cornbrook in 1763 and then to Castlefield (here in Manchester) in 1764. At Castlefield it terminated at a basin in this giant 'cloverleaf' weir at a junction with the river Medlock. The weir took the overflow from the canal into the river. This structure is of national historical importance as the first such canal weir.
