Stratford upon Avon Canal

Description: Runs 25½ miles from King's Norton Junction, where it joins the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, to Stratford-upon-Avon, where it joins the Avon

History: Promoted by Acts of 1793, 1795, 1799, 1809, 1815, 1817 and 1821. Opened 1816. The Stratford upon Avon Canal Society formed in November 1956. In 1958 the Warwickshire County Council decide to apply for the abandonment of the southern section of the canal and the following year over six-thousand formal objections were lodged concerning Warwickshire County Councils plans to close the canal. The southern section of the canal transfered to the National Trust on 29 September 1960. The official reopening of the southern section was on 11 July 1964.
For more details see the History page

Subordinate Waterways:

• Stratford upon Avon Canal - Kingswood Branch

Navigation Authority: Head Office: British Waterways, MD's Office: Southern Waterways, General Manager: Central Shires Waterways, Peel's Wharf, Lichfield Street, Fazeley, Tamworth, Staffordshire B78 3QZ : Telephone 01827 252000 : Fax 01827 288071 :

Junction of the Stratford upon Avon Canal and Avon

Related Articles

• The Stratford upon Avon Canal
• Cruise the Bardic Ring

• The Canals of the East Midlands by Charles Hadfield , Edition: 3rd impression ISBN 0-7153-4871-X :294 pages, Published by David & Charles 1 1981 (including part of London) Order now from .

• Save the Stratford Canal by Guy Johnson , 168 pages, Published by David & Charles 1983 A history of the restoration. 14 plates.

• The Flower of Gloster by Ernest Temple Thurston , Edition: 1st edition 244 pages, Published by Williams & Norgate 1911 Classic story of an early canal boat trip, illustrated by W R Dakin.

• Waterways to Stratford by Charles Hadfield & John Norris , Edition: 1st 176 pages, Published by David & Charles 1962 The History of the Avon, canal and tramway routes to Stratford.

• A Bit More Boating by Shirley Ginger , ISBN 0-9519198-1-4 :180 pages, Published by Lucifer Press 1992 Account of cruising the Nene, Middle Level, Grand Union, Thames, Oxford, BCN and Stratford waterways. Order now from .

• Nicholson/Ordnance Survey Guide to the waterways - 2 by Not known , ISBN 000713665X :170 pages, Published by Nicholson 2003 Severn, Avon and Birmingham. Includes the BCN, Gloucester & Sharpness, Severn, Staffordshire & Worcester Canal, Stourbridge, Dudley, Stratford-on-Avon and Worcester & Birmingham canals. Order now from .

• Pearson's Canal and River Companion: Severn and Avon by Michael Pearson , Edition: Fifth ISBN 0 907864 99 6 :96 pages, Published by J M Pearson & Son 2003 This edition now also contains details of the Cotswold Canals (i.e. the Stroudwater and Thames & Severn canals) and the the River Thames above Oxford. Order now from .

• Stratford Canal by Nick Billingham , ISBN 07524 2122 0 :128 pages, Published by Tempus 2003 An illustrated history of the canal and its restoration. Order now from .

• In the Wake of the 'Flower of Gloster' by John Kemplay , ISBN 0 9518964 2 3 :74 pages, Published by Ronald Crowhurst 2004 A reconstruction of Temple Thurston's voyage of 1911 as described in his book 'The Flower of Gloster'. Order now from .

Related Videos

• The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal Released in : 1999 47 minutes approx., Produced by VideoActive Excellent photography and informative script captures the Southern Stratford Canal. Available on tape and DVD. Order on video tape from Order on DVD from

• World's Most Beautiful Waterways 1 hour 10 minutes approx., Produced by Contender Ltd A waterway journey from Worcester to Oxford via the River Avon, Hatton and Banbury. Available on tape. Order on video tape from

• Heart of England Route Produced by VideoActive Available on tape and DVD. Order on video tape from

• A Journey Down The Stratford Canal Produced by Heritage Video Films Ltd Available on tape. Order on video tape from

• British Waterways - Waterway Magic / In The Heart Of Shakespeare's Country etc Produced by Laserlight Available on tape. Order on video tape from

• Narrow Boating 2 - In The Heart Of Shakespeare Country Produced by Laserlight Available on tape. Order on video tape from

Related Photographs

• Stratford upon Avon Canal: Edstone (Bearley) Aqueduct
• Stratford upon Avon Canal: Wilmcote Lock No 43
• Stratford upon Avon Canal: Lowsonford Lock No 31
• Stratford upon Avon Canal: Rowington Lock No 28 Barrel roof cottage
• Stratford upon Avon Canal: Between Preston Bagot Top Lock No 36 and Preston Bagot Bottom Lock No 38 Split bridge and barrel roofed cottage
• Stratford upon Avon Canal: Wilmcote Bridge No 59 Mary Arden's Cottage
• Warwickshire: Stratford-upon-Avon Canal basin lock
• Warwickshire: Stratford-upon-Avon Canal basin lock
• Stratford upon Avon Canal: Brandwood Tunnel Tunnel portal
• Stratford upon Avon Canal: Wilmcote Bottom Lock No 50

Related External Web Sites

• Anglo Welsh : A large narrowboat hire company with a good choice of bases and boats.
• Away 4 awhile : Hotel boat 3 or 4 day breaks from Warwick to Stratford upon Avon and Warwick to Birmingham, then to Stratford upon Avon and back to Warwick.
• Canal Navigations : A site covering some of the unique canals found in Britian
• The Stratford upon Avon Canal Society : Promoting the fullest use, maintenance and improvement of all Inland Waterways of Great Britain, and in particular the Stratford upon Avon Canal.
• The Lady of Arden Narrowboat Cruises : Traditional narrow boat cruises down the Stratford-upon-Avon canal.

Related Cruising Logs

• 19th June 1995
• 20th June 1995
• 27th August 1996
• 28th August 1996
• 24th July 1996
• 9th July 1997
• 30th May 1997
• 9th August 1999
• 10th August 1999
• 18th April 2000
• 25th June 2001
• 28th June 2004
• 23rd June 2005

Other Related Pages

• Introducing Route Planning : An introduction to planning a cruise route.
• My Holidays on Inland Waterways - Cruise III : Birmingham to Chertsey. By P Bonthron. First published 1916.
• Cruising Times

Lock Sizes and maximum craft dimensions: Length 70 foot, beam 7 foot. NOTE: For more details of maximum lock and craft sizes and the basis of these figures see Craft and Lock Sizes Page

Stratford upon Avon Canal: Table of distances			Miles	Locks	Navigable (N)	Grid ref	OS Map No
King's Norton Junction	Junction with Worcester and Birmingham Canal		0.0	0	N	SP053793	139
King's Norton Stop Lock No 1	Normally left open		.1	1	N	SP055794	139
Brandwood Tunnel	King's Norton Tunnel		1.0	1	N	SP066794	139
Yardley Wood Bridge No 6			3.0	1	N	SP092795	139
Lift Bridge No 8	Drawbridge Inn		4.3	1	N	SP103778	139
Bridge No 16	Red Lion 500 yards South		6.6	1	N	SP114751	139
Waring's Green Bridge No 19	Bluebell Cider Inn		7.8	1	N	SP128743	139
Rotherham's Oak Bridge No 22			8.8	1	N	SP137733	139
Hockley Heath Bridge No 25	A34 and Wharf Inn		9.8	1	N	SP152724	139
Lapworth Top Lock No 2	Bridge No 29		10.8	2	N	SP165715	139
Lapworth Lock No 6			11.5	6	N	SP176713	139
Kingswood Junction	Junction with Stratford upon Avon Canal - Kingswood Branch		12.5	20	N	SP186707	139
Lapworth Bottom Lock No 27			13.3	26	N	SP187695	139
Rowington Lock No 28			13.8	27	N	SP187691	139
Rowington Lock No 29			14.0	28	N	SP187686	139
Rowington Lock No 30	Lowsonford		14.3	29	N	SP187681	139
Lowsonford Lock No 31	Fleur de Lys Inn		14.5	30	N	SP188677	151
Lowsonford Lock No 32			14.9	31	N	SP189672	151
Claverdon Top Lock No 33			15.6	32	N	SP185665	151
Claverdon Bottom Lock No 35	Bridge No 45		15.9	34	N	SP183662	151
Preston Bagot Top Lock No 36			16.3	35	N	SP179657	151
Preston Bagot Bottom Lock No 38	Bridge No 47		16.4	37	N	SP176656	151
Wootton Wawen Aqueduct	Over the A34		18.5	37	N	SP158629	151
Bearley Lock No 39			19.6	38	N	SP161613	151
Edstone (Bearley) Aqueduct			19.9	38	N	SP162608	151
Wilmcote Bridge No 59	Wilmcote Village on East bank		21.9	38	N	SP167583	151
Wilmcote Top Lock No 40			22.5	39	N	SP170574	151
Wilmcote Lock No 43			23.0	42	N	SP173568	151
Wilmcote Bottom Lock No 50			23.4	49	N	SP179564	151
Bishopton Lock No 51			23.9	50	N	SP186561	151
Stratford Top Lock No 52	Bridge No 65 (A34 road)		24.9	51	N	SP198554	151
Stratford Bottom Lock No 55	Bridge No 68 (A46 road)		25.1	54	N	SP203551	151
Stratford-upon-Avon Lock No 56	Junctions with Higher Avon Navigation and Upper Avon		25.5	55	N	SP205547	151

NOTE: N and U in the Navigable column above indicates that the node is navigable or unnavigable. If a D appears here it means that navigation is difficult or restricted to smaller craft.

 

 

Text and photographs copyright of Jim Shead.