Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) is a network of canals connecting Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and the eastern part of the Black Country. The BCN is connected to the rest of the English canal system at several junctions. It was owned and operated by the Birmingham Canal Navigation Company from 1767 to 1948.[1]
At its working peak, the BCN contained about 160 miles (257km) of canals; today just over 100 miles (160km) are navigable, and the majority of traffic is from tourist and residential narrowboats.
History
BCN Network (within shaded area) from historical map, 1864Birmingham Canal Company offices fronting Paradise Street. They backed onto the Old Wharf terminus.
An Act for making and maintaining a Navigable Cut or Canal from Birmingham to Bilstone, and from thence to Autherley, there to communicate with the Canal now making between the Rivers Severn and Trent, and for making collateral Cuts up to several Coal Mines.
An Act to rectify a Mistake in an Act, passed in the Eighth Year of His present Majesty, intituled, "An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Cut or Canal from Birmingham to Bilstone, and from thence to Autherley, there to communicate with the Canal now making between the Rivers Severn and Trent; and for making collateral Cuts up to several Coal Mines;" and to explain and amend the said Act.
An Act to oblige the Company of Proprietors of the Birmingham Canal Navigation, to complete the said Canal to a Field called Newhall Ring, adjoining to the Town of Birmingham in the County of Warwick, within a limited Time, and to maintain and keep the same free and open for the Passage of Boats, Barges, and other Vessels.
The earliest mention of the Birmingham Canal Navigation appears in Aris's Birmingham Gazette on 11 April 1768. Here it was reported that on 25 March 1768, the first general assembly of the Company of Proprietors of the Birmingham Canal Navigation was held at the Swann Inn, Birmingham, to raise funds to submit for an act of Parliament.[2] The first canal to be built in the area was the Birmingham Canal, authorized by the Birmingham Canal Navigation Act 1768 (8 Geo. 3. c. 38) and built from 1768 to 1772 under the supervision of James Brindley from the, then, edge of Birmingham, with termini at Newhall Wharf (since built over) and Paradise Wharf (also known as Old Wharf) near to Gas Street Basin to meet the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal at Aldersley (north of Wolverhampton).[3] It opened for business on 14 September 1772.[4]
The Birmingham Canal Navigation Act 1769 (9 Geo. 3. c. 53) was obtained to construct the canal through a detached portion of the county of Shropshire, near Oldbury, and it included powers to make reservoirs anywhere within 3 miles between Smethwick and Oldbury.[3]
The Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, from Birmingham to Tamworth, followed in 1784 with the Birmingham Canal Company merging with the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal Company immediately, to form what was originally called the Birmingham and Birmingham and Fazeley Canal Company. This cumbersome name was short-lived, and the combined company became incorporated as the Birmingham Canal Navigations Company from 1794, as the network was expanded. The Birmingham Canal Navigation Act 1794 (34 Geo. 3. c. 87) authorized the extension from Broadwater to Walsall, and the short cut between Bloomfield and Deepfield, where the Coseley Tunnel was constructed, which with a length of 1.75 miles (2.82km), avoided a detour around Tipton Hill of 4 miles (6.4km).
Between 1825 and 1829 the canal was improved by the cutting down by 16 feet (4.9m) of the summit at Smethwick, which occupied two and a half years, and cost £560,000 (equivalent to £62,250,000in 2023),[5] and by cutting off bends and erecting steam engines which reduced the cost of haulage by 4d. per ton.[6]
Between 1825 and 1837 the navigation was improved between Spon Lane, Deepfield and Wolverhampton, saving a distance of six miles, which reduced the toll on coal by 9d per ton.[6] At the same time the Titford Canal was constructed at a cost upwards of £200,000 (equivalent to £22,960,000in 2023).[5]
United Kingdom legislation
Birmingham Canal Navigations and Worcester and Birmingham Canal Navigable Communication Act 1815
The junction with the Warwick and Birmingham Canal was made under powers of an act of 1815 (55 Geo. 3. c. xl). These improvements were all consolidated under the Birmingham Canal Navigations Act 1835 (5 & 6 Will. 4. c. xxxiv).[which?][3]
From 1839 to 1843 the Tame Valley Canal was built, along with the Bentley, Rushall and Walsall Junction Canals opening up the Cannock Chase and Wyrley coal districts to the town of Birmingham[6] at a cost upwards of £570,000 (equivalent to £70,680,000in 2023).[5]
An Act to authorize the Company of Proprietors of the Birmingham Canal Navigations to extend and alter the Line of their intended Cut or Canal from Dank's Branch to Salford Bridge; and to grant further Powers to the said Company.
The Wyrley and Essington Canal was incorporated by the Birmingham Canal Navigation Act 1792 which authorized the line from Wolverhampton to Sneyd Junction and Walsall. The extension to Huddlesford and the Lord Hay and Daw End branches were constructed under the Birmingham Canal Navigation Act 1794 (34 Geo. 3. c. 87). This amalgamated with the Birmingham Canal Navigations in 1840.[3]
In 1855, the Cannock Extension Canal and the Wyrley Bank Branch were added to the network[6] at a cost upwards of £100,000 (equivalent to £11,800,000in 2023).[5]
From 1855 to 1858 the Netherton Tunnel and other improvements cost the company upwards of £350,000[6] (equivalent to £44,490,000in 2023).[5]
United Kingdom legislation
London and Birmingham Railway and Birmingham Canal Arrangement Act 1846
An Act for carrying into effect certain Arrangements between the London and Birmingham Railway Company and the Company of Proprietors of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, and for granting certain Powers to the said respective Companies.
In 1776, the Dudley Canal was authorized from Parkhead to the junction with the Stourbridge Canal. The Parkhead to Tipton Green section including Dudley Tunnel was made under the Dudley Canal Act 1785 (25 Geo. 3. c. 87), and the extension from Parkhead to Selly Oak Junction with the Oxford and Birmingham Canal, including the Gorsty Hill and Lappal Tunnels under the Selly Oak Canal Act 1793 (33 Geo. 3. c. 121). This canal became part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations in 1846 under the London and Birmingham Railway and Birmingham Canal Arrangement Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. ccxliv).[3]
A short section of the BCN Old Main Line, at Smethwick Summit, was built at 491 feet (150m) OD. Pumps at either end were built to pump water used by the locks back to the summit – one at Spon Lane locks, and one at Smethwick locks: the Smethwick Engine. When the summit became too busy John Smeaton designed a scheme where it was lowered by 18 feet (5.5m) to the Wolverhampton level, eliminating six locks and providing a parallel set of locks at Smethwick which improved traffic throughput. It also linked to the general Wolverhampton Level supply of water.
The canals of the BCN
Fingerpost at Old Turn Junction, where the BCN Main Line meets the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal
BCN Main Line (originally known as the Birmingham Canal) from Aldersley Junction (north of Wolverhampton) to Gas Street Basin (at the Worcester Bar in central Birmingham), using some of the Old Main Line canal.
Old Main Line, originally terminating in Birmingham at two wharfs now built upon: Old Wharf (adjacent to Gas Street Basin) and Newhall Wharf.
New Main Line, a revised route for the Birmingham Canal, double towpathed, largely progressing in straight lines using cuttings and tunnels.
Soho Loop (an old circuitous route cut off by Telford's improvements, originally with a branch, the Soho Branch to Soho Wharf, serving the Soho Manufactory)
Spon Lane Locks Branch (between Bromford Junction and Spon Lane Junction on the Old Main Line - 3 locks, part of the original Wednesbury Canal, not to be confused with Spon Lane Branch, another name for Tat Bank Branch on the Titford Canal)
The BCN Society is a registered charity (number 1091760) formed in 1968, which exists to conserve, improve and encourage a wide range of interests in the BCN. It publishes a quarterly journal. Boundary Post. From 1983, it erected signposts at most of the canal junctions on the BCN.
The Birmingham and Fazeley Canal is a canal of the Birmingham Canal Navigations in the West Midlands of England. Its purpose was to provide a link between the Coventry Canal and Birmingham and thereby connect Birmingham to London via the Oxford Canal.
The Wyrley and Essington Canal, known locally as "the Curly Wyrley", is a canal in the English Midlands. As built it ran from Wolverhampton to Huddlesford Junction near Lichfield, with a number of branches: some parts are currently derelict. Pending planned restoration to Huddlesford, the navigable mainline now terminates at Ogley Junction near Brownhills. In 2008 it was designated a Local Nature Reserve.
The Anson Branch is a short canal in the West Midlands, England. It runs for just over one mile from its junction with the Walsall Canal near Forster's bridge. It forms part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations.
The BCN Main Line, or Birmingham Canal Navigations Main Line is the evolving route of the Birmingham Canal between Birmingham and Wolverhampton in England.
The Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN), a network of narrow canals in the industrial midlands of England, is built on various water levels. The three longest are the Wolverhampton, Birmingham, and Walsall levels. Locks allow boats to move from one level to another.
The Titford Canal is a narrow (7 foot) canal, a short branch of the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) in Oldbury, West Midlands, England.
Smethwick Junction is the name of the canal junctions where the Birmingham Canal Navigations Main Line Canal from Birmingham splits into the BCN Old Main Line and the BCN New Main Line near to Smethwick, West Midlands, England.
The Walsall Canal is a narrow canal, seven miles (11 km) long, forming part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, and passing around the western side of Walsall, West Midlands, England.
Tame Valley Junction, also known as Doe Bank Junction, is a canal junction at the western limit of the Tame Valley Canal where it meets the Walsall Canal, south of Walsall, in the West Midlands, England.
Horseley Fields Junction is a canal junction at the western limit of the Wyrley and Essington Canal where it meets the BCN Main Line, at Horseley Fields east of Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands, England.
Huddlesford Junction is a canal junction at the original north-eastern limit of the Wyrley and Essington Canal where it met the Coventry Canal, near Lichfield, in Staffordshire, England.
Ogley Junction, on the Staffordshire county border near Brownhills, West Midlands, England, is a historic canal junction on the Wyrley and Essington Canal where the Anglesey Branch left the main line.
Catshill Junction is a canal junction at the northern limit of the Daw End Branch Canal where it meets the Wyrley and Essington Canal main line, near Brownhills, in West Midlands, England.
Pelsall Junction is a canal junction at the southern limit of the Cannock Extension Canal where it meets the Wyrley and Essington Canal main line, near Pelsall, West Midlands, England.
Birchills Junction is the canal junction at the northern limit of what is now called the Walsall Canal where it meets the Wyrley and Essington Canal main line, near Walsall, West Midlands, England. It opened in 1798, but lasted for little more than a year, until it was re-opened in 1841 when a connecting link was built to the Birmingham Canal Navigations' southern route to Walsall.
Wednesbury Old Canal is part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) in the English West Midlands. It opened in 1769, and although parts of it were abandoned in 1955 and 1960, the section between Pudding Green Junction and Ryder's Green Junction is navigable, as it provides a link to the Walsall Canal. A short stub beyond Ryder's Green Junction is connected to the network but difficult to navigate.
Spon Lane Junction is the original junction of the Wednesbury Canal and the Birmingham Canal, near Oldbury in the West Midlands, England.
Bromford Junction is a canal junction at the foot of the Spon Lane Locks where the Spon Lane Locks Branch meets the BCN New Main Line near Oldbury in the West Midlands, England.
The Wednesbury Oak Loop, sometimes known as the Bradley Arm, is a canal in the West Midlands, England. It is part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN), and was originally part of James Brindley's main line, but became a loop when Thomas Telford's improvements of the 1830s bypassed it by the construction of the Coseley Tunnel. The south-eastern end of the loop was closed and in parts built over, following the designation of the entire loop as "abandoned" in 1954, including the section which was filled in at the beginning of the 1960s to make way for the Glebefields Estate in Tipton.
The Bradley Branch or Bradley Locks Branch was a short canal of the Birmingham Canal Navigations in the West Midlands, England. Completed in 1849, it included nine locks, and had a number of basins which enabled it to service local collieries and industrial sites. The locks were unusual, as they had a single gate at both ends, rather than double gates at the bottom end. The route closed in the 1950s, and the top seven locks were covered over and landscaped.
References
Broadbridge, S. R. (1974). The Birmingham Canal Navigations, Vol. 1 1768 - 1846. David & Charles. ISBN0-7509-2077-7. (There was no second volume)
Foster, Richard (1990). Birmingham New Street. The Story of a Great Station Including Curzon Street. 1 Background and Beginnings. The Years up to 1860. [Wild Swan Publications]. ISBN0-906867-78-9.
Hadfield, Charles (1969). The Canals of the West Midlands (Seconded.). David & Charles. ISBN0-7153-4660-1.
Pearson, Michael (1989). Canal Companion - Birmingham Canal Navigations. J. M. Pearson & Associates. ISBN0-907864-49-X. - canal maps and text
Perrott,David; Mosse,Jonathan (2006). Nicholson Waterways Guide 3 - Birmingham & the Heart of England. Collins. ISBN978-0-00-721111-1.
1 2 3 4 5 "Birmingham Canal Navigation". Wolverhampton Chronicle and Staffordshire Advertiser. England. 2 March 1864. Retrieved 7 September 2022– via British Newspaper Archive.
Notes: 1 Contains canalised river. 2 Partly or mostly navigable, and/or under restoration. 3 A system of canals. Canals which form part of this system are not listed here individually.
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