Jump to content

Oxford Canal around Brinklow, pre-1830s route map


Joe the plumber

Featured Posts

Having had a rather good walk around Brinklow (near Coventry) and the Oxford Canal there at Christmas, my wife and I have become interested to find out the original course it followed prior to the modernisation in the early 1830s. There are hints here and there on the OS Explorer maps, but not enough to link up the remains.

 

I've tried hunting for maps on-line, and have found one (on the Rose Narrowboats site) that shows what I'm after, but it's at just too poor a resolution to see clearly:

 

http://www.rose-narrowboats.co.uk/history.htm

 

I've got the 1976 Hugh Compton book on the canal, a complete set of 'Narrowboat' magazine (which has a c1830 Bradshaw map in the third issue, but with the route erased) and have tried several on-line canal map sites, but all to no avail.

 

It's purely for our own interest, and hopefully to add a bit of detective work to future walks. Please can anyone point me in the direction of such a map.

 

Thanks for any help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The NLS reference is excellent and can be varied over a satellite image from today, otherwise Google earth will show up a lot of the loops, theres a lot to find around Brinklow inc the remains of FMC steamer "Earl" at the end of the Brinklow stub.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zwlvX3wX2g6k.ke0k7TZjATkA&hl=en_US is a Google map which includes all navigable and former canals, including the Oxford Canal loops.

 

Edited to add that I've just noticed it doesn't include the Runcorn and Western Canal or the western set of Runcorn Locks, and the Droitwich is shown as unnavigable, so perhaps treat with some caution.

Edited by David Mack
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The original route through Brinklow and Stretton are well documented, although there remains some issues about the correct course towards Cathiron.

 

The route travelling south from Stretton was smoothed out, straightened and widened but still included the Brinklow Arches in part of the new embankment route. The junction old and new line was made a right angle with a new Horseley Bridge spanning it. The old route continued to be used as far as the Wharf beside the road, From there it crossed under the road from Stretton round by the far side of that road crossing it again south of St Johns Church. It crossed under another road then ran along the north side of Cathiron Lane to the point where the two routes crossed. The old route diverged north a little through the fields before being covered again by the new.

 

Ray Shill

Edited by Heartland
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, the google link does show most of the diversions of the Oxford Canal 1829-1834,

 

I note it does not show the Foxyards Canal which joined the BCN at Bloomfield, nor the extension of the Whitchurch Arm from the present terminus on the Shropshire Union, nor the Plastknynaston Canal at Trevor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

indeed it is, though it shows the Droitwich as unnavigable..., and the Middle Level Main drain as navigable between three holes and Mullicourt, which I don't think is encouraged ... Who owns it ??

Absolutely forbidden as far as I am aware. I'm not sure who actually owns the main drain but the Middle Level Commissioners are responsible for it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Absolutely forbidden as far as I am aware. I'm not sure who actually owns the main drain but the Middle Level Commissioners are responsible for it.

 

Sorry, I meant to ask if anyone knows who owns the Google map. It's a nice resource and would be good to get it updated!

 

On the Main Drain, the MLC notes say

 

"Navigators are advised to avoid the Main Drain beyond the public short stay moorings at Three Holes situated on the north-west bank just beyond Three Holes Bridge, which is navigable only as far as the Well Creek Aqueduct at Mullicourt Priory, and Old Pophams Eau, which is a dead-end spur north of Three HolesBridge, as conditions there can be hazardous due to sudden pumping operations."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

On the Main Drain, the MLC notes say

 

"Navigators are advised to avoid the Main Drain beyond the public short stay moorings at Three Holes situated on the north-west bank just beyond Three Holes Bridge, which is navigable only as far as the Well Creek Aqueduct at Mullicourt Priory, and Old Pophams Eau, which is a dead-end spur north of Three HolesBridge, as conditions there can be hazardous due to sudden pumping operations."

We've been up to Mullicourt Aqueduct on the Main Drain. It's wide and deep and easy. You can't get further because the aqueduct is too low.

 

I suspect that the hazard related to the big guillotine gate that used to be just downstream of the aqueduct. If that was opened with a significant level difference, there would be a sudden very strong current pulling you towards the aqueduct. As the MLC no longer do any gravity drainage, that gate is not used, and indeed has now been removed.

 

 

We were moored on the Three Holes mooring on the 1st November last year and woke up on the bottom. The MLC had declared winter started, and pumped it down six inches overnight.

 

MP.

Edited by MoominPapa
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, the google link does show most of the diversions of the Oxford Canal 1829-1834,

 

I note it does not show the Foxyards Canal which joined the BCN at Bloomfield, nor the extension of the Whitchurch Arm from the present terminus on the Shropshire Union, nor the Plastknynaston Canal at Trevor.

 

I've got the above shown on my map now, as well as all the Oxford old line that I'm aware of. I welcome any criticisms and suggestions.

 

Link in sig.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

I am also intrigued by this area and wonder how much exploration has been done on foot around the fields nearby.

For example, was there a line of the canal to the east and NE of the Brinklow Arches before they were constructed or completed? Aerial photographs and 25" maps suggest there might have been a continuation of the loop around to the south of Stretton Stop crossing even the railway line routing and then ESE curving around the 'tops' of the fields. There are several 'linear copses' - often a give-away for old canals and tracks, but - on the other hand - the full line isn't clear at all. Those two copses (one straight, one curved) are very close to the 300' contour. It does seem unlikely (as the 300' contour heads NE for a long distance, way past Newbold Revel.)

Then further south, where the 'Brinklow Straight' turns east (heading southbound), it looks as if the Brinklow Arm doesn't make a straight connection back to the current canal line, but twists north, east and south again before heading east. There's also quite a drop to the stream here, with a (working?) sluice still there, just at that point where the current canal turns due east.

I have often wondered why the village of Brinklow hasn't pushed to restore the arm right down to the village (at either end).

I also wonder if the canal always ran straight through All Oak Wood west-east. There is a bit of a cutting, particularly on the north bank, and there's a more obvious, flatter route through the woods (much more obvious in winter) and there are pools of water here and there in the woods. However, I acknowledge that in a woodland, there should be much more obvious sign of a disused canal bed as no-one will have ploughed through it for 180 years.

I am also puzzled by the quite substantial Cathiron Lane cutting, west of Tuckey's Bridge. Was this part of the modernisation, or was there an earlier loop around the (High Oaks) ridge to the south? There were a lot of stone quarries in this area in the Victorian era (both east and west of Fennis Fields Farm) so surely there would have been an attraction to this particular area. However, I notice that Cathiron Lane itself is absolutely level with the water at this point. Perhaps the canal ran along what is now Cathiron Lane originally rather than through the shoulder of the ridge. If you have a look at the NLS maps and compare it with the contours locally, you will see what I mean. Why cut through a ridge when there's a gap just 40 metres away?

Has anyone got permission to walk the fields and woods to trace these old lines of the canal? I think the entire old line is now on private land.

Edited by stort_mark
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The original OCC maps show only the Brinkow Arches and no deviation further north round the head of the valley.

The original line where the Brinklow arm crosses the straight originally wandered around in the field on the north (off) side of the canal for a few yards before joining the current line over the arches.

The Brinklow Arm was sold by BWB with a specific clause in the contract that it would not be reconnected. Allegedly there are also issues with the height of the banks down there as an over exuberant dredger driver discovered when dredging the arm entrance to form the current window hole in the 1960s. I'm not sure why this should be though as the arm was in water in the 1930s and the Longford pound has not had the weirs raised in the intervening period.

Although there's a well preserved stretch of the southern end of the Brinklow loop near the village the bridge under Easenhall Lane would require re-instating and the bit between there and the public wharf at All Oaks/Hall Oaks is comprehensively obliterated.

The line through Hall Oaks wood is the original, as is the cutting at Cathirons. The original line then headed south just after Br. 42 and passed very close to Fennis Fields Farm. The Fennis Fields arm (now the entrance to Brinklow Marina was retained to serve a limekiln near the farm. The toll records I have start in the late 1890s and don't show any traffic emanating from that area.

Cathirons Lane was there first so it was perhaps cheaper to dig the cutting than build a bridge to get under the road to the lower lying land and back again, and also bear in mind that a lot of the route from Hawkesbury to Newbold was through the Craven and Denbigh estates so their wishes would have held at least as much sway as Brindley's survey.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ray: Those maps are extremely interesting, although the resolution isn't great. Do you have the originals or higher-resolution scans? Also does the first map have more to the west.Those maps are extremely interesting, although the resolution isn't great. Do you have the originals or higher-resolution scans? Also does the first map have more to the west.

Anthony (or Chris), I assume: Thanks for that. Interesting about the Brinklow Arm. I wonder why they put that covenant in the sale contract.

Was there any industry at the western end of All Oaks Wood? I know there were brickworks at the eastern end (and still some pools there I think). I find it odd that they would cut through a ridge there rather than run the canal around the end of the ridge which was just probably just a half-mile longer than the cutting. 

Similarly at the Cathiron Lane "ridge", it seems expensive to put the canal through the ridge rather than around it. The lane does seem to be older as the field boundaries don't cross over it, which they tend to do with newer roads. The way the lanes and copses is laid out around Tuckey's Bridge is interesting too. I see there was a timber yard there for some time. Does that show on the tollr records?

At Fennis Fields Farm, did they ship stone from the wharf as well? They seem to be quite a bit lower down than the canal.

I was surprised to see how much of the original Newbold Loop was in water right up until the 20th Century. Was that also lime or bricks from somewhere along that loop?

On the estates, I see that the Feilding of Newnham Paddox estate archives are all in the Warwickshire CRO, together with some estate maps. These might be quite interesting records of the early canal days too. The Craven estate papers seem scattered among half a dozen libraries and archives, which is a pity. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've got images of all the maps at work - they can also be found on the CRT archive and there's an original on the wall in the Stop House at Braunston that I keep meaning to take some decent pictures of.

If you look at where Cathirons Lane comes out of Brinklow, the 300' contour crosses the Lane almost immediately, but the cut doesn't, and then follows it exactly when it comes back north of the road up and round towards Townthorns, then back to the corner where the public wharf is today. The 300 foot contour then goes south of the road again and into Hall Oaks Wood. Far easier, I would think, to dig a shallow cutting through some sandy soil than purchase valuable woodland and have to fell some big trees and deal with the roots.

Do you know when the brickworks at Hungerfield (east end of Hall Oaks) was active? There's no wharf mentioned in the 1840 chain survey, I'd always assumed it was just during the building of the canal, but it would explain the presence of a wharf and a pub in the middle of nowhere.

All I know of at Fennis Fields was the limeworks - again they're gone by the 1885 map.

The Newbold Arm had quite a substantial wharf which is still there today (and accessible by footpath from the back of St Botolph's) which I'm sure was for a limeworks but I can't remember how I know that. The main reason for its retention though was because it supplied water to the troughs at Newbold on the Trent Valley line. When these were taken out in about 1964 the arm beyond the weir had no further use and as the farmer at Newbold Lodge kept complaining and demanding compensation for his cattle which kept getting stuck in it, BWB sold it to him.

Anthony

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Brinklow arches appear in Hogrewe's 1780 book on English canals. Von Maillard, in his 1817 book on canal construction noted:

The first 11 arches were initially built as accommodation, but afterwards became uninhabitable. This structure, whose plan and view can be found in Hoggreve’s work about the English canals, presents on paper a pleasant image, however, on the other hand it was pointless to have so many costly land arches, and instead of those an embankment was all that was necessary – it gave a poor impression; also not to be copied on this oldest canal in England are the delicately built, very costly and mainly unessential overflows.

Hogrewe, Tab 3.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Pluto and Anthony.

I am not sure about the brickworks at Hungerfield. I don't have access to the 1886 map (it's not in the NLS collection) but by 1903 there was not even the remains of a track to it. So that suggests it probably was just for the canal. I noted on Sunday that there is a stile over the fence from the Hungerfield Farm field into the Brickyard Spinney so there must be some reason still for getting in there.

I note that the farm there is now called Town Thorns Farm rather than Hungerfield. I think everyone ever passing that bridge must have wondered why the Boat Inn was ever built there. However, I understand that there were actually two pubs there, the New Inn (now Boat Cottage) and the Boat Inn. The name suggests that possibly they were open concurrently. The Wikipedia entry provides other little snippets of interest: that the lands here were owned by the Skipwith family (so yet another estate). They held it until 1852 so were the landowners during the original construction and also the modernisation. Not sure if their ownership extended over to the west to the Brinklow Arches though. 

There is mention of the 1829 land survey for the modernisation. Is that the same map as posted above? Wouldn't the original survey also still be around somewhere?

So many questions stilll!

Mark

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The survey appears to have generated various versions of the maps relating to the 1829 improvements:

Maps showing the proposed routes (at Falls Bridge for example there were two options), plus the proposed new cut from Ansty to Bedworth

Maps showing the detail of the cuts to be built, usually with detail such as elevations and cross sections which were presumably drawn up after the route had been agreed

Maps showing land ownership of each field adjacent to the old and new cuts.

I have seen a map survey of the proposed original route, but what was built deviated from it quite significantly, especially on the Longford and Braunston pounds.

As you say, so many questions!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This a photo copy of part of an original held by Coventry Reference Library. "A PLAN of the intended Navigable CANAL from the Coventry CANAL near the City of Coventry to the City of Oxford. Surveyed in 1768." Signed by J Cole Oxon. and Robt Whitworth , delin.t 

Oxford Canal plan.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.