sentences:  The canal was authorised in 1827, one year after the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal, and it was opened on 1 September 1833.The total cost, which included wharves and warehouses at Barbridge Junction, was £129,000, but trade was meagre until the new link to Autherley was completed some three years later.Since the opening of the Ellesmere Canal in 1797, which linked Chester to the River Mersey at Ellesmere Port, the importance of Chester had gradually declined, while Ellesmere Port had correspondingly become more important.