The Oxford Canal - the section from Braunston into Banbury.

Braunston via Lower Shuckburgh, Napton Locks, Claydon and Cropedy into Banbury on the Oxford Canal showing Bridges, Locks and other features.

The following series of photographs show all the bridges which cross the beautiful Oxford Canal as it wanders south from Braunston Turn in Northamptonshire down to Banbury in Oxfordshire going through Lower Shuckburgh, Napton and it's lock flight, Marston Doles, Wormleighton, Fenny Compton Wharf, Claydon and Cropedy. From Braunston to Napton Junction The Oxford Canal's towpath is shared with the Grand Union Canal - this section has hardly any towpath in places and is a real mess suffering from collapse, mud, nettles and brambles. From Napton to Fenny Compton there are some muddy bits but it's basically ok and then into Banbury it's fine.

The walk along the Oxford Canal between Fenny Compton and Banbury was achieved by parking at Banbury Railway station and getting a taxi up to Fenny Compton Wharf and then walking back (about 10 miles). This meant we had plenty of time to divert and look around both Copredy and Claydon as well as spending time enjoying the many locks along the way. This stretch of the Oxford Canal is really scenic - loads of things to look at apart from the many locks and bridges. The River Cherwell accompanies the canal at various times but is quite hard to see it at times due to the masses of foliage around. Several disused railway lines are evident and you can go and admire the lovely brickwork and arches from several semi-demolished bridges. They knew about design in those days especially when compared to the ugly concrete messes called bridges which are used by the M40 to cross (and therefore disfigure) the Oxford Canal. We also discovered a small dis-used brick works - this was used to provide the bricks for the canal's tunnel at Fenny Compton (the tunnel is now a deep cutting instead).

Castle Bridge 91

Braunston Turn Bridge 93+94

Braunston Turn
Bridge 93

Braunston Turn Bridge 94

Turnover Bridge 95

Oxford Canal
Aqueduct 96

Oxford Canal Bridge 97

Oxford Canal
Bridge 97

Ivy Bridge 98

Hargreaves Bridge 99

Hargreaves Canal Bridge no 99, The Oxford Canal, England.

Hargreaves Bridge 99

Chambers Bridge 100

The Fenny Compton Wharf to Marston Doles stretch on the Oxford Canal towpath

can be quite tiring on your feet although it is only about 8 miles mainly because the walking is constantly flat with not one Canal Lock to break up the route. (Towpaths are often not completely flat and can often wander away from the side of the canal and also at locks there is a small amount of up and down to break the pattern). Also the only way back was to either return back on the towpath or make a circular out into the countryside. The latter is how we achieved the walk but the distance was around 20kms - a description of these walks with some photos can be found via our Cropedy - Claydon Walks topic. When constructed The Oxford Canal often followed the land's contours and is perhaps quite well known for how much it meanders around - a perfect example of this are the huge bends which occur on it's journey between Bridge 116 and Bridge 138.

Dismantled
Railway Bridge

Nethercote Bridge 101

Nethercote Bridge
no.101

Flecknoe Road
Bridge 102

New Bridge 103

Jacksons Bridge 104

Jacksons Bridge no.104

Oxford Canal
FootBridge 105

Oxford Canal Bridge 105

Garners Bridge no.107

Garners Bridge 107

Nimrod Bridge 108

Nimrod Bridge no.108

Napton Junction - Bridge no.17, The Oxford Canal, England.

Bridge 17 at Napton Junction

Coventry Road
Bridge 109

Oxford Canal Bridges - Stockton Road Bridge 110

Stockton Road Bridge no.110

Stockton Road
Bridge 110

Napton Canal Bridge 111, The Oxford Canal, England.

Napton Bridge 111

Brickyard Bridge 112

The Folly Bridge 113

Napton Bottom Lock 08, The Oxford Canal, England.

Napton Bottom Lock 8

Napton Lock 09, The Oxford Canal, England.

Oxford Canal
(Napton) Lock 9

Napton Lock 9

Gilkes Bridge 114

Napton Lock 10

Napton Lock 10

Lock 11 at Napton, The Oxford Canal, England.

Napton Lock 11

Oxford Canal (Napton)
Lock 11

Shut Bridge 115

Oxford Canal showing Shut Bridge and Napton Lock 12

Shut Bridge 115
and Lock 12

(Napton) Lock 12

Napton Lock 13 (Gates)

Oxford Canal (Napton)
Lock 13

Greens Lock Bridge 116

Greens Lock Bridge no.116, The Oxford Canal, England.

Greens Lock
Bridge 116

Napton Adkins Lock 14

Napton Adkins
Lock 14

The Oxford Canal - Napton Locks area

. The Napton Locks Flight comprises of nine narrow canal locks which takes the Oxford Canal up a total of 49 feet to reach Napton Toplock at Marston Doles. Beside Napton Toplock there is still a linesman's hut - these huts were once used as a refuge by canal workers in bad weather and also for equipment storage. The Old Engine House Arm leaves the Oxford Canal just by Napton Adkins Lock 14 - the first part of the short Arm is now used for private moorings and then the rest of it is really weeded up as it goes off into the fields and terminates at the remains of the Old Engine House itself. This Engine House once contained a steam pump which drew water from a spring and helped with the supply of water to the Oxford Canal but now the only inhabitants are (sometimes grumpy) cows.

Old very weedy Engine House Arm on the Oxford Canal

Old Engine House Arm

Old Engine House

Twenty Acre Bridge 118

Oxford Canal England - Twenty Acre Bridge no.118

Twenty Acre Bridge 118

Napton Lock 15

Oxford Canal (Napton) Lock 15

Marston Doles Bridge, The Oxford Canal, England.

Marston Doles Bridge 119

Marston Doles
Bridge 119

Napton Top Lock - The Oxford Canal at Marston Doles

Napton Top Lock 16

Oxford Canal England and Napton Top Lock

Napton Top Lock 16

Top Lock - Napton Lock Flight, The Oxford Canal, England.

Napton Top Lock

Linesman's Hut at Napton Locks, The Oxford Canal, England.

Canal Linesmans Hut

Oxford Canal
Bridge 122

Oxford Canal Bridge 122

Priors Hardwick Bridge, The Oxford Canal, England.

Priors Hardwick
Bridge 123

Priors Hardwick Bridge 123

Priors Hardwick
Bridge 123

Spurfoot Bridge on the Oxford Canal England

Spurfoot Bridge 124

Oxford Canal Bridge 125

Oxford Canal Bridge 125

Oxford Canal Bridge 126

Oxford Canal Bridge 126

Stoneton Bridge 127

Stoneton Bridge 127

Willison's Bridge 128

Ladder Bridge 129

Bridge 129 - Ladder Bridge, The Oxford Canal, England.

Ladder Bridge 129

Knott's Bridge 130

Wormleighton - and the bendy Oxford Canal.

From just after canal bridge 126 right through to Wells Bridge 136 the Oxford Canal makes an amazing sequence of loops even by it's meandering standards. This was because when the Oxford Canal's designer James Brindley reached Wormleighton Hill the influential owners of the Manor were not too keen about the canal and certainly did not want any of the necessary canal locks to cope with going over the hill built anyway near their land. Therefore instead of a fairly direct 1.25 miles run the canal had to be routed right round the hill which increased the distance to around 3.5 miles.

Knotts Bridge 130

Griffins Bridge 131

Griffins Bridge - Oxford Canal in England

Griffins Bridge 131

Oxford Canal FootBridge

Oxford Canal Bridge 132

Oxford Canal Bridge 132

Wells Bridge number 134, The Oxford Canal, England.

Wells Bridge 134

Bridge 135 - Sherne Hill, The Oxford Canal, England.

Sherne Hill Bridge 135

Sherne Hill Bridge goes over The Oxford Canal.

Sherne Hill Bridge 135

Oxford Canal at Fenny Compton - Bridge 136a

Oxford Canal Bridge 136A

Fenny Compton Wharf - Bridge 136a, The Oxford Canal, England.

Oxford Canal Bridge 136A

Oxford Canal Bridge 136

Fenny Compton Wharf - Bridge 136, The Oxford Canal, England.

Oxford Canal Bridge 136

Fenny Compton Wharf

Tunnel Bridge 137

Turnover Bridge, The Oxford Canal, England.

Turnover Bridge 137a

Oxford Canal Bridge 138

The cutting which was originally a tunnel at Fenny Compton, The Oxford Canal, England.

Fenny Compton Tunnel Cutting

Brick Kiln used for making the original tunnel at Fenny Compton, The Oxford Canal, England.

Old Brick Kiln

Reservoir Bridge 139

Reservoir Bridge.

The Oxford Canal and the now extinct Fenny Compton Tunnel:

As the Oxford Canal heads away from Fenny Compton Wharf there is a quite unusual feature for this canal - it actually travels in a straight line for a while. The reason for the canal's such untoward behaviour is because this is where there was originally a 1138 yard long narrow tunnel. The tunnel had a series of iron rings on it's walls which boatmen used to pull the boat along - a laborious slow process. However following the purchase of the land above the tunnel the tops of both ends of it were removed and eventually by the early 1870s the whole tunnel had been converted into what became a really deep cutting. The towpath goes high above the canal for a distance and just a little way along look out for a narrow path which takes you to where an old brick kiln still exists. This was used to make the huge number of bricks required during the construction of the tunnel - the building is still fairly intact however quiteovered with brambles and nettles.

Boundary Lift-Bridge 141, The Oxford Canal, England.

Boundary Lift-Bridge 141

Boundary Lift- Bridge 141

Feeder Bridge 142

Feeder Bridge 142

Hay Bridge 143

Oxford Canal Lift Bridges:

As the canal system was being built often as not the route would go right through farms and farmland sometimes cutting their land in half and obviously creating an access problem for livestock and so on. In some cases bridges were built but quite often the solution was to build a much cheaper lift bridge. These lift bridges are left in the "up" position and just lowered as necessary - they are quite easy to manipulate as they are counterblanced. The lift bridge mechanism is never on the towpath side of the canal else it would of course obstruct the movement of the horses on the towpath - there is usually a rope or chain to pull the bridge down onto the towpath of course (see picture of Boundary Lift Bridge 141 above). The Oxford Canal still has quite a few lift bridges most of which are all in full working condition as they are still required for livestock movement between fields.

Claydon Top Bridge 144

Claydon Top Lock 17

Claydon TopLock 17

Claydon Top Lock 17

Claydon Lock 18

Claydon Middle Lock 19

Claydon Middle Lock 19

Claydon Middle Bridge 145

Claydon Middle
Bridge 145

Claydon Lock 20

Claydon Bottom Lock, The Oxford Canal, England.

Claydon Bottom Lock 21

Claydon
Bottom Lock 21

Claydon Bottom
Bridge 146

Oxford Canal
Bridge 147

Elkingtons Lock 22

Elkingtons Bridge 148

Elkington's Bridge, The Oxford Canal, England.

Elkingtons Bridge 148

Varneys Bridge 149

Varneys Lock 23

Varneys Lock 23

Broadmoor Lock 24

Broadmoor Bridge 150

Possible ruins of Liftbridge 151, The Oxford Canal, England.

Possibly ruins of
liftbridge 151

Oxford Canal possible ruins of Liftbridge 151

Extinct liftbridge 151?

Cropedy Lock 25

Cropedy Lock

Cropedy Lock
Bridge 152

The Oxford Canal and it's Wharfs:

As the Canals in England were being constructed and then opened for business any nearbye village or small town would - usually at their own expense - have a small wharf installed so they could get involved in the newly created trade opportunies. These canal wharfs were often just simple stone or brick walls built alongside the towpath and allowed the boats to load and unload their goods. They were normally constructed close to where an existing track met the canal. Some of these wharfs ended up being quite busy - for instance durng the 1790s several thousand tons of coal were unloaded at Cropedy Wharf each year.
There also used to be a Toll House alongside Cropedy Wharf - charges were estimated by measuring the heights of the barges above the waterline and using a gauging rod to calculate the weight of the cargo.