PRN 63533 In 1774 a survey was held to assess interest for a new canal from Sleaford to Grantham, although by 1783 interest has turned to the opposite direction and the new proposal was to make the river Slea and the Kyme Eau navigable from Sleaford to the River Witham. (This was not the first time the Kyme Eau was navigable, there are reports that it was widened for traffic in the time of Edward III-1327-1377). {1} William Jessop and John Hudson conducted a survey in 1791, and the cost of making the Slea navigable was put at £9979. Royal assent to build the Sleaford Navigation was obtained on the 11th June 1792. By 1793 £ 16 000 was raised in shares and loans to build it, and just two years later, on the 6th May 1794 it officially opened. The navigation was 12.25 miles long and had seven locks. There were suggestions in the late 1920's and early 1930's to extend the canal but these never came to fruition. {1} The canal though lost money following the opening of the railway to Boston in 1859 and the proprietors started to try and evade their responsibilities. In 1878 only 84 years after it opened the Sleaford Navigation (Abandonment) Act received royal assent and it closed shortly afterwards. {1}