History of the Oxford Canal: The Oxford Canal is among the earliest of Cuts in the Canal Age. It was initially Designed by Engineer James Brindley, succeeded by Samuel Simcock & Robert Whitworth after Brindley’s untimely death in 1772 at the age of 56. A lot of Brindley’s Canal Construction was done on the cheap and, like his Wooden Accommodation Bridges, has vanished. His surviving Brick Bridges are curving forms with a hole punched through them. They are like a child’s drawing and have a rough-&-ready charm about them. But they also set the scene for much of what came later in the Canal Age.
It was Opened in Sections between 1774 & 1790 with the purpose of bringing Coal from the Coventry Coalfields to Oxford and the River Thames. The Canal formed part of Brindley’s grand plan for a Waterway ‘Cross’ Linking the Rivers Thames, Mersey, Trent & Severn. The Oxford Canal provided a direct Link with London via the Thames, and for several years was hugely profitable. The arrival of the Grand Junction Canal, linking Braunston to London and later becoming the backbone of the Grand Union Canal, finally broke its Stranglehold and effectively bypassed the Southern half of the Oxford Canal. Nonetheless, it brought more Traffic to the Northern Section, which soon required Upgrading. The Oxford Canal was originally Built to the Contour Method favoured by Brindley, which not only meant that Earthworks were minimised, but that the Canal could call at many Villages & Wharves along the Route. The drawback to this approach was lengthy Transit times.
After winding round Napton Hill, the Canal ascends the Napton Flight of 9–Locks to a Local Summit reach, well below the Hilltop. After passing an old Wharf and a Pub at Fenny Compton, the Canal enters a Long Cutting which until some time in the 19thC was a Tunnel. This Section is normally referred to as a “Tunnel Straight” or the Fenny Compton Tunnel. The combined Canal splits North of Napton-on-the-Hill.
In the 1830s, Marc Brunel & William Cubitt made the most of Developments in Engineering to straighten Brindley’s Original Line. Several of the resulting ‘Loops’, where the New Line bisected the Old, can still be seen: some have found use as tranquil Moorings. Other improvements included the duplication of Locks at Hillmorton. Also in the 1830s, the stretch between Napton & Braunston, where the Canal shares its Route with the modern-day Grand Union Canal, was widened. But the Southern Section between Napton & Oxford remains remarkably unspoilt and offers an evocative insight into Canal Life as it would have been 2–Centuries ago. Trade began to seriously Decline on the Oxford Canal after WW2, but Commerce continued well into the 1960s.
Tooley’s Boatyard, in Banbury, is famous as the Spot from where Canal Pioneer Tom Rolt (1910-1974) set out on his 1930s Journey around the Waterways. His Travels in ‘Cressy‘ were Immortalised in his Book Narrow Boat, which directly led to the Formation of the Inland Waterways Association and the Campaign to save the Waterways. The Boatyard has recently been Reborn as the Centrepiece of the Castle Quays Shopping Development.
The Oxford Canal reached the Outskirts of Oxford in 1789, when a Coal Wharf was opened at Heyfield Hutt, now the Site of Hayfield Road. The final Section into Central Oxford was ceremonially opened on 1st January 1790.
The Duke’s Cut, a short Link from the Oxford Canal to the River Thames, just North of Oxford, was Built in 1789 by the Duke of Marlborough. Today, the Cut is the preferred Boating Route from the Oxford Canal to the Thames.
After 330-yds (300Mm) 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 & 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 & Wharves were filled in and Nuffield College has taken part of the Site.
The Historic Oxford Terminus of the Canal is long Lost, Sold to Nuffield College and Redeveloped as a Public Car Park. However, support is growing for proposals to reinstate it as the Heart of a new Cultural Quarter for the City.
Aston Rowant & Chilterns Spring Line Villages 