Worcester and Birmingham Canal

Worcester and Birmingham Canal Navigation Act 1815
Worcester and Birmingham Canal Navigation Act 1815
Act of Parliament
	<img alt="" class="mw-file-element" data-file-height="1550" data-file-width="1550" decoding="async" height="140" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Coat_of_Arms_of_the_United_Kingdom_%281801-1816%29.svg/140px-Coat_of_Arms_of_the_United_Kingdom_%281801-1816%29.svg.png" width="140"/> Parliament of the United Kingdom
Citation	55 Geo. 3.c. lxvi

TheWorcester and Birmingham Canalis acanallinkingBirminghamandWorcesterinEngland.It starts in Worcester, as an 'offshoot' of theRiver Severn(just after the river lock) and ends inGas Street Basinin Birmingham. It is 29 miles (47 km) long. There are 58 locks in total on the canal, including the 30Tardebigge Locks,one of the longestlock flightsinEurope.The canal climbs 428 feet (130 m) from Worcester to Birmingham.

Legend

					BCN Main Line
					Gas Street Basin (Worcester Bar)
					Holliday Street aqueduct
				86	A4540 Middle Ring Road
					Edgbaston Tunnel (105 yd)
				81	Cross-City Line
					Dudley Canal Selly Oak Jn
					Ariel Aqueduct
				80	A38 Bristol Road
				79	Cross-City line
				75	A441 Pershore Road
				74	Camp Hill line
					Stratford-upon-Avon Canal
					--Kings Norton Jn
					Wast Hill Tunnel (2726 yd)
				67	A441 road bridge
					Upper Bittell Resrand feeder
					Lower Bittell Resr
					M42 road bridge
					Crown Meadow Arm
					Shortwood Tunnel (613 yd)
					Tardebigge Tunnel (580 yd)
					Tardebigge Wharf
					Tardebigge Resr /engine house
				29-58	Tardebigge Locks(30)
				23-28	Stoke Locks (6)
				17-22	Astwood Locks (6)
				37	Railway bridge
					Droitwich Canal
				35	B4090 Hanbury Road
					Dunhampstead Tunnel (230 yd)
				24A	M5 road bridge
				11-16	Offerton Locks (6)
				22A	A449 bridge
				5-10	Locks (6)
				4	Blockhouse Lock
				3	Sidbury Lock,Worcester
					Diglis Basins and dry dock
				1-2	wide beam locks (2)
					River Severn

The canal also has connections with theStratford-upon-Avon Canal,and the restoredDroitwich Canal,it historically linked to theDudley Canal Line No 2,until the route through theLapal Tunnelwas abandoned in 1917.

History

The start of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal at Gas Street Basin, looking south-east, towards The Mailbox

Worcester and Birmingham Canal locks. Feb. 2007

Theparliamentary billpermitting its construction was passed in 1791 empowering the company to raise £180,000 (equivalent to £27.4 million in 2023),^[1]through 1,800 shares at a cost of £100 each. It also allowed them to raise a further £70,000, if needed, amongst themselves or by the mortgage of tolls and rates. The act also permitted the company to allow landowners on the line to build wharfs and wharfhouse, and if they refuse to, the company are allowed to if needed. A furtheract of Parliament^[which?]authorised the raising of £149,929 amongst themselves or through the creation of new shares. However, the company were unable to raise the full amount of money authorised by the second Act, and so another was passed allowing them to raise £49,680. Another act^[which?]was passed to obtain more money in 1808. This act empowered the company to raise £168,000 through the creation of 4,200 shares at £40 each. A final act (55 Geo. 3.c. lxvi) was passed in 1815 after the company had purchased land for reservoirs, which was not permitted in the previous Acts. The Act permitted the company to sell the land and to pay a debt of £29,096 (equivalent to £2,720,000 in 2023),^[1]to the treasurers by 29 September 1815 as well, otherwise it would be taken out of the proceeds raised from selling the land.

The canal was surveyed byJosiah ClowesandJohn Snape.Its engineers changed often, and includedThomas Cartwright,John Woodhouse andWilliam Crosley.

Construction of a double barge-width (14 ft) canal began in 1792 from the Birmingham end, but progressed slowly.Selly Oakwas reached in October 1795 andKings Norton Junctionby May 1796, meeting the newStratford-upon-Avon Canalwhich had by then reachedHockley Heath.By March 1797 the 2726 yard (2493 m)Wast Hills Tunnelwas open and the canal was trading toHopwood.In 1807 the canal reachedTardebiggewithout the use of locks. FromWorcester BartoTardebigge top lock,the canal is at the453 ft Birmingham Level.The cost of building 14-foot (4.3 m) locks was too great so the 56 locks down to Worcester were built to the narrow 7-foot (2.1 m) specification, with the final two locks connecting to the Severn in Worcester being 14-foot (4.3 m) to allow river craft access toDiglis Basin.

The final 16 miles (26 km) was opened in December 1815. Plans to construct basins at Lowesmoor andDigliswere carried out eventually.

Worcester and Birmingham Canal signpost.

TheDudley Canal Line No 2was built through theLapal Tunnelto meet the canal at Selly Oak in 1798. After repeated collapses, the tunnel was finally abandoned in 1917 leaving a short stretch navigable between Selly Oak and a brick works at California until 1953, after which it was drained and filled in. A campaign group, The Lapal Canal Trust, is working to restore it, with a diversion around the tunnel.^[2]

A major user of the canal was theCadbury chocolatefactories atBournvilleand Blackpole, Worcester.

Birmingham terminus

For twenty years direct connection to theBirmingham Canal Navigations(BCN) was prevented by theWorcester Bar,a physical barrier atGas Street Basin,Birmingham designed so that the BCN would not lose water to the Worcester and Birmingham. Cargoes had to be laboriously manhandled between boats on either side. In 1815 an Act allowed the creation of a stop lock and the bar was breached. The Worcester and Birmingham raised their water level by six inches to minimise water loss and today the two pairs of lock gates have been removed. There were separatetoll officeseither side of the bar for the two canal companies. The bar still exists, with boats moored to both sides of it.

The commercial terminus in Birmingham wasWorcester Wharf,a large complex extending from the bar along Bridge Street, Gas Street and Granville Street. Part of it now forms a water front toThe Mailboxshopping and residential complex.

Birmingham West Suburban Railway

After the development of the newBirmingham New Street,a group of local business men noticed the resultant need for additional railway capacity south, through what were the under developed suburbs of south Birmingham andvillagesof northernWorcestershire.They therefore proposed development of a new branch railway, following the route of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal south to theBirmingham and Gloucester Railwayto allow access to their new station atKings Norton.

Needing finance for construction of the BWSR, the newly formedMidland Railwaybecame involved in the deal. An eventual agreement was reached with the then loss making canal company, who would be paid a rent for the land, which later became a guarantee of a 1% share dividend.^[3]The payments to the canal company and development began in 1873, and the line was running by 1875. Originally the railway terminated atGranville Street stationand later theCentral Goods station and goods yardthrough a tunnel under the canal, both stations now demolished and built upon.

Today it forms a large part of the southern section of theCross-City Linewhich runs in another tunnel under the canal adjacent to theHolliday Street Aqueduct.

Today

Aerial view of the new railway bridge (nearest to camera) and Ariel Aqueduct, over the diverted A38, taken in January 2013

AtSelly Oak,a new aqueduct, the Ariel Aqueduct (named after the formerAriel Motorcyclesfactory nearby), was constructed in 2011 to carry the canal over a new section of the A38.^[4]

The canal is popular for leisure and hasnarrowboathire centres at Alvechurch, Worcester, Tardebigge,Dunhampsteadand Stoke Prior.

The canal forms part of theStourport Ring,a popular cruising circuit for holiday boating. The ring takes in parts of four waterways, is 74 miles (119 km) long, and includes 105 locks. Another ring which includes the Worcester and Birmingham Canal is theAvon Ring,which is 109 miles (175 km) long with 129 locks, and also includes parts of four waterways.