Ellesmere Canal

The Ellesmere Canal is a waterway system constructed in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, linking Llangollen in north Wales with Nantwich in south Cheshire, via the town of Ellesmere in north-west Shropshire. It is regarded as the first major civil engineering work undertaken by Thomas Telford.

Today, the canal is known as the 'Llangollen Canal'.

The canal was intended to provide a route from coalfields and ironworks near Wrexham to the sea. From Nantwich, canal traffic took the Chester Canal (now part of the Shropshire Union Canal) to Chester where - at least, initially - sea access via the River Dee was possible. However, a northern canal extension was added later, linking Chester with the River Mersey at a place now known as Ellesmere Port.

The canal's most notable features include the spectacular Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, engineered by Telford to carry the canal over the River Dee.