| Fazeley Junction | |
|---|---|
 The termination of the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal under the Watling Street Bridge at Fazeley on the right | |
| Specifications | |
| Status | Open |
| Navigation authority | Canal and River Trust |
| History | |
| Date completed | 1790 |
Fazeley Junction (grid reference SK202020 ) is the name of the canal junction where the authorised Birmingham and Fazeley Canal terminates and meets the Coventry Canal at Fazeley, near Tamworth, Staffordshire, England.
The Coventry Canal was authorised by an act of Parliament, the Coventry Canal Act 1768 (8 Geo. 3. c. 36), to connect Coventry to the Grand Trunk Canal, now called the Trent and Mersey Canal, at Fradley, passing through Atherstone and Fazeley. They opened the first 10 miles (16 km) from Coventry to Bedworth, where there were coal mines, in 1769, and a lucrative trade in coal soon developed. By the time they reached Atherstone in 1771, the money had run out and construction stopped. [1] Atherstone was 10.4 miles (16.7 km) away from Fazeley. [2]
The Birmingham and Fazeley Canal faced serious opposition from the Birmingham Canal Company, but this was eventually overcome, and the route was authorised in 1784. It was designed to provide a much shorter route to London, as all goods from Birmingham to London had previously had to pass down the River Severn before crossing southern England. However, the canal would have been useless unless the Coventry Canal link north of Atherstone was completed, and so the company negotiated with several other canals to ensure that it would be part of a much bigger network once it was completed. This included the Oxford Canal, who agreed to extend their line southwards to reach Oxford and the River Thames, while completion of the Coventry Canal link to Fradley was to be completed in three stages. The Coventry Canal Company would build the route to Fazeley, which included the eleven Atherstone locks and two more at Glascote. The Birmingham and Fazeley Canal would build the next section, from Fazeley to Whittington Brook, near Lichfield, some 5.5 miles (8.9 km) to the north, and the Trent and Mersey Canal would complete the route by building southwards from Fradley Junction to meet up at Whittington Brook. This section was also 5.5 miles (8.9 km) long. [1] [3]
The Birmingham and Fazeley Canal was completed in 1789, under the direction of John Smeaton and the whole network was operational in the following year. As a result of the junction and the traffic that passed through it, the Coventry Canal was profitable, and bought the section from Fradley to Whittington from the Trent and Mersey company, but the Birmingham and Fazeley, which soon became part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, retained ownership of their section. [1] [4] As a result, the bridges north of Fazeley carry name plates in the BCN style, rather than numbers.
From the junction, the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal heads south, and is level for 3 miles (4.8 km) to Curdworth Bottom Lock, [5] the first of 38 that ascend to Farmers Bridge Junction in Birmingham. [6] The route to Fradley Junction heads north-west, and is level for the entire 11 miles (18 km), but there are locks on the Trent and Mersey Canal either side of the junction. [7] The Coventry Canal initially heads north-east before turning to the south. The first lock is at Glascote, just 1.4 miles (2.3 km) from the junction. [2]
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 Trent and Mersey Canal is a 93+1⁄2-mile (150 km) canal in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire in north-central England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities to the east of Burton upon Trent and north of Middlewich, it is a wide 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 Coventry Canal is a navigable narrow canal in the Midlands of England.
Fradley Junction is a canal junction between Fradley and Alrewas near Lichfield, Staffordshire, England and the point at which the Coventry Canal joins the Trent and Mersey Canal. It opened in 1790, and several of the buildings around it, including The Swan public house, are grade II listed structures.
The Warwickshire ring is a connected series of canals forming a circuit around the West Midlands area of England. The ring is formed from the Coventry Canal, the Oxford Canal, the Grand Union Canal, the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal and the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal. It is a popular route with tourists due to its circular route and mixture of urban and rural landscapes.
Aldersley Junction is the name of the canal junction where the Birmingham Main Line Canal terminates and meets the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal near to Oxley, north Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It opened in 1772.
Aston Junction is the name of the canal junction where the Digbeth Branch Canal terminates and meets the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal near to Aston, Birmingham, England.
The Four Counties Ring is a canal ring which links the four English counties of Cheshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire and West Midlands.
Rushall Junction is the southern limit of the Rushall Canal where it meets the Tame Valley Canal in the West Midlands, England. It opened in 1847, when the Rushall Canal was built to create connections between the Birmingham Canal Navigations system and the Wyrley and Essington Canal, following the amalgamation of the two companies in 1840.
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.
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.
Barbridge Junction is the name of the canal junction located at Barbridge, Cheshire, where the Shropshire Union Canal Middlewich Branch terminates and meets the Shropshire Union Canal main line.
The Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal was a canal in England which ran from Nantwich, where it joined the Chester Canal, to Autherley, where it joined the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. Forming part of a major link between Liverpool and the industrial heartlands of the Midlands, the canal was opened in 1835, and merged with the Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company in 1845, which became the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company in the following year.
Hawkesbury Junction or Sutton Stop is a canal junction in England, at the northern limit of the Oxford Canal where it meets the Coventry Canal, near Hawkesbury Village, Warwickshire, between Bedworth and Coventry. The alternative name, Sutton Stop, arises from the name of a family which provided several lock keepers there in the nineteenth century.
Hardings Wood Junction is a canal junction near Kidsgrove, Staffordshire, England and the point at which the Macclesfield Canal joins the Trent and Mersey Canal. It opened in 1831.
