X-Nico

4 unusual facts about Oxford Canal


Fiddler's Island

To the south of the island, there is a short stretch of water known as the Sheepwash Channel linking back to the Castle Mill Stream and the Oxford Canal.

Hythe Bridge

Immediately to the northeast of Hythe Bridge is the current southern end of the Oxford Canal.

Oxford Canal

In the churchyard in Newbold-on-Avon remains can be seen of the original tunnel dating from the 1770s.

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.


1790 in Great Britain

1 January - The 91-mile Oxford Canal is opened throughout, providing an important link between the River Thames at Oxford and Coventry in the English Midlands.

Bulstake Bridge

Between Botley and Oxford there are a number of road bridges crossing various branches of the Thames, including Botley Bridge over Seacourt Stream and Osney Bridge over the main branch of the Thames, also on Botley Road, and Hythe Bridge over the Castle Mill Stream, next to the end of the Oxford Canal.

Canal ring

Thames and Severn Canal, Stroudwater Navigation, Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, River Severn, River Avon, Stratford-upon-Avon Canal, Grand Union Canal, Oxford Canal, River Thames This ring is only possible when the Thames and Severn Canal and the Stroudwater Navigation are fully restored.

Coventry Canal

Five miles north of Coventry, at Hawkesbury Junction, a superbly preserved iron bridge crosses the start of the Oxford Canal, which journeys southwards to join the River Thames at Oxford.

Grand Union Canal Carrying Company

For the first time the main line from London to Birmingham and the River Trent were all owned by one company with the exception of the Oxford Canal between Braunston and Napton.

Lyra's Oxford

Two pages from a Baedeker published in Lyra's world (including entries for the Eagle Ironworks, the Oxford Canal, the Fell Press and the Oratory of St Barnabas the Chymist, all in the Jericho area of Oxford), a postcard from the character Mary Malone, and a brochure for the cruise ship Zenobia are also included.

Rewley Abbey

-- see talk page re. dates --> The only remaining trace of the Abbey is the remains of a wall and gate near the terminus of the Oxford Canal, which for many years marked the perimeter of the rail yard at Oxford railway station.


see also

Isis Lock

To the east over the Oxford Canal are the grounds of Worcester College, one of the colleges of Oxford University.