Oxford Canal - The Route

The Route

The canal begins near Hawkesbury Village at Hawkesbury Junction, also known as Sutton Stop, where it connects with the Coventry Canal, four miles from the centre of Coventry. From Hawkesbury, it runs south east through the Warwickshire countryside for 15 miles (24 km) to Rugby.

The route between Coventry and Rugby is on a level with no locks, apart from the stop lock at the junction. Much of this section of the canal was straightened out in the 1820s, and remains of the original less direct route can still be seen in places.

The canal winds through the northern part of Rugby passing through the 270-yard (250 m) long Newbold Tunnel, and then reaches a set of three locks at Hillmorton just east of Rugby. In the churchyard in Newbold-on-Avon remains can be seen of the original tunnel dating from the 1770s.

South of Rugby, the canal passes through rural scenery and doubles back on itself for several miles until it heads southwards again passing for a short distance into Northamptonshire towards Braunston.

At Braunston the Oxford connects with the Grand Junction section of the Grand Union Canal and heads west. Grand Union traffic shares a five-mile stretch of the Oxford Canal until they diverge at Napton junction, where the Oxford turns south towards Oxford and the Warwick and Napton section of the Grand Union turns north-west towards Birmingham.

After winding round Napton Hill, the canal ascends the Napton flight of nine locks to a summit level. After passing an old wharf and a pub at Fenny Compton, the canal enters a long cutting which, until it was opened out in the 19th century, was a tunnel. This section is still referred to as 'tunnel straight' or the Fenny Compton Tunnel.

Because the section south of Napton junction was never straightened, the summit level remains one of the most twisting sections of canal in England. It winds for 11 miles (18 km) between two points which are under five miles apart. This is the "eleven-mile pound" mentioned in Tom Rolt's Narrow Boat.

The canal then reaches the Claydon flight of locks and descends into the valley of the River Cherwell at Cropredy (the canal descends the river valley all the way from here to Oxford).

Banbury is a major stop on the route because of the large number of visitor moorings on a paved and relatively secure mooring right alongside the shopping centre in the middle of town. Banbury, unlike some towns, has attempted to treat the canal as an attraction to be encouraged, rather than an eyesore to be shunned, and an old boatyard has been incorporated into the development as Tooley's Historic Boatyard. Heading south after 4 miles (6.4 km) you will approach the small hamlet, Twyford Wharf, where you can turn a narrow boat up to 60 feet (18 m). There are two villages, Kings Sutton and Adderbury within 30 minutes walking distance. Both offer a couple of pubs.

At Oxford, the canal has two connections to the River Thames. The first is three miles north of the city where Dukes Cut leads to King's Lock; the second is a few hundred yards from the city centre below Isis Lock (known to boatmen as 'Louse Lock') through Sheepwash Channel. This leads to an unusual river crossroads at the Thames called "Four Rivers" above Osney Lock.

After 330 yards (300 m) below Isis Lock the Oxford Canal ends abruptly at Hythe Bridge Street near to the current Hythe Bridge over the Castle Mill Stream, a backwater of the River Thames that runs parallel to the Oxford Canal for its southernmost part. The canal used to continue through a bridge under Hythe Bridge Street to a turning basin and goods wharf south of Hythe Bridge Street. It then continued via a bridge under Worcester Street to end in a coal wharf beside New Road. In 1951 the basin and wharves were filled in and Nuffield College now stands on part of the site (see below).