Plans for the Wey & Arun canal were promulgated by Lord Egremont of Petworth House in 1812 after many years of other unsuccessful projects to link London with the south coast. The Parliamentary Act to set it in motion was dated 1st April 1813. Despite the choice of date, this was no foolish promise and the canal was completed and opened on 29th September 1816, a remarkably short time for building such an enterprise. 

The Wey and Arun Junction Canal, as it was originally titled, enabled traffic to pass between the two rivers which were already established navigations, and thus make the link possible. It offered a quicker and potentially safer route for cargoes compared to the alternatives by sea, albeit at a cost in tolls. Coal, timber and agricultural produce were carried. It was hoped that much naval traffic would flow from the capital to Portsmouth from 1823 (when the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal opened) but this was largely unfounded. The advent of the railways in the 1860s hastened the route's demise, and the Wey and Arun Junction Canal closed in 1871.  

Publication of P.A.L. Vine's London's Lost Route to the Sea (first edition 1965) sparked interest in restoration of the Wey & Arun, and the canal Trust was formed in 1972. Membership is now close to 3,000 and, in addition to the significant rebuilding programme, there is a public trip boat operation at Loxwood which carries some 15,000 passengers annually on a fully restored working section of the route.

For more details, visit the WACT website.