William Jessop

A modest man

Jessop was known to be a modest man. He encouraged new and inspiring engineers and often recommended other engineers if he was too busy himself, to take on a new project.

He worked with other famous engineers including John Rennie, John Smeaton and Thomas Telford, and he reportedly didn't care for the recognition.

Cromford Canal

Jessop was involved in many of the canal builds across our network, including the Cromford Canal. Although it's mostly derelict these days, the Cromford Canal once brought narrowboats from the Erewash Canal at Langley Mill, to Cromford, with a branch to Pixton.

Opened in 1794, it originally included four tunnels and 14 locks. But in 1889, subsidence closed the 3,063 yards (2,801 meters) Butterley Tunnel. And further subsidence in 1900 closed the tunnel permanently. Most of the canal was abandoned by 1944 except the last half-mile (800m) stretch to Langley Mill, though it too was abandoned in 1962.

William Jessop also built three reservoirs to feed his new canal. Butterley Reservoir is the largest, the others being the Codnor Park Reservoir and Butterley Park Reservoir, which was dismantled in the 1930s. The remaining reservoirs are still very much in use as local fisheries.