List of canal tunnels in the United Kingdom

Last updated June 27, 2024

This is a list of canal tunnels in the United Kingdom .

Listed by name

Tunnel	Canal	Length	Designer	Coordinates	Notes	Image
Ashford Tunnel	Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal	375 yards (343 m)^[1]	Thomas Dadford	51°53.195′N3°16.525′W / 51.886583°N 3.275417°W / 51.886583; -3.275417 (Ashford)	Brecknockshire/Powys Tunnel narrows considerably between northern and southern portals due to repairs to its fabric but is nevertheless navigable by a narrowboat with relative ease.	Ashford Tunnel, northern portal
Ashperton Tunnel	Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal	400 yards (370 m)
Aylstone Tunnel	Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal	440 yards (400 m)
Berwick Tunnel	Shrewsbury Canal	970 yards (890 m)	Josiah Clowes	52°42′4.97″N2°41′22.22″W / 52.7013806°N 2.6895056°W / 52.7013806; -2.6895056 (Berwick)	Claimed to be the first canal tunnel with a towpath throughout.	Berwick Tunnel, northern portal
Blisworth Tunnel	Grand Union Canal	3,056 yards (2,794 m)^[2]			Northamptonshire	Blisworth Tunnel, southern portal
Branwood Tunnel	Stratford-upon-Avon Canal	352 yards (322 m)^[3]				Brandwood Tunnel, eastern portal
Braunston Tunnel	Grand Union Canal	2,042 yards (1,867 m)^[2]	Jessop & Barnes	52°16.976′N1°10.041′W / 52.282933°N 1.167350°W / 52.282933; -1.167350 (Braunston)	Northamptonshire	Narrowboat leaving Braunston Tunnel
Bruce Tunnel	Kennet and Avon Canal	502 yards (459 m)^[4]				Bruce Tunnel's Eastern Portal (in 1992)
Butterley Tunnel	Cromford Canal	3,063 yards (2,801 m)^[5]		53°3.3841′N1°22.3994′W / 53.0564017°N 1.3733233°W / 53.0564017; -1.3733233 (Butterley)	Derbyshire	The Butterley Reservoir Adit where it enters the Butterley Tunnel, in 2006
Chirk Tunnel	Llangollen Canal	459 yards (420 m)^[6]		52°55′46.91″N3°3′46.77″W / 52.9296972°N 3.0629917°W / 52.9296972; -3.0629917 (Chirk)	Near Chirk	View taken from the Chirk Aqueduct
Cookley Tunnel	Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal	65 yards (59 m)^[7]				Cookley Tunnel, western portal
Drakeholes Tunnel	Chesterfield Canal	154 yards (141 m)^[8]
Dudley Tunnel	Birmingham Canal Navigations	3,172 yards (2,900 m)^[9]		52°31′18″N2°04′42″W / 52.52173°N 2.07840°W / 52.52173; -2.07840 (Dudley)	Part of Dudley Canal Line No 1	The southern portal of the Dudley Tunnel
Dunsley Tunnel	Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal	25 yards (23 m)^[10]		52°27′25″N2°12′34″W / 52.4568191°N 2.2093904°W / 52.4568191; -2.2093904 (Dunsley)		Dunsley Tunnel, west portal, near Kinver
Edgbaston Tunnel	Worcester and Birmingham Canal	105 yards (96 m)
Foulridge Tunnel	Leeds and Liverpool Canal	1,630 yards (1,490 m)^[11]	Robert Whitworth/Samuel Fletcher	53°52′28″N2°10′56″W / 53.8745°N 2.1821°W / 53.8745; -2.1821 (Foulridge)	Also known as the Mile Tunnel^[12]	Southern portal, Foulridge Tunnel
Gosty Hill Tunnel	Birmingham Canal Navigations	557 yards (509 m)^[13]			Part of Dudley Canal Line No 2	Gosty Hill Tunnel, northern portal
Greywell Tunnel	Basingstoke Canal	1,200 yards (1,100 m)^[14]			Closed to traffic following cave-in. Now home to Europe's largest bat colony.	The eastern portal of Greywell Tunnel on the Basingstoke Canal
Hardham Tunnel	Arun Navigation	375 yards (343 m)		50°56′56″N0°31′23″W / 50.94889°N 0.52306°W / 50.94889; -0.52306 (Hardham)	Closed since 1888; blocked in 1895 by LBSCR under Mid Sussex Line and Midhurst-Pulborough Line.	Southern Portal, Hardham Tunnel.
Harecastle Tunnel	Trent & Mersey Canal	2,926 yards (2,676 m)^[15]	James Brindley/Thomas Telford	53°4′27″N2°14′11″W / 53.07417°N 2.23639°W / 53.07417; -2.23639 (Harecastle)	Staffordshire. Comprises parallel "Brindley" and "Telford" tunnels. (The length stated is for the Telford tunnel.)	Northern end of Harecastle Tunnel. Telford's tunnel on the left, Brindley's the right.
Hincaster Tunnel	Lancaster Canal	378 yards (346 m)	Thomas Fletcher	54°15′33″N2°45′18″W / 54.25917°N 2.75500°W / 54.25917; -2.75500 (Hincaster)	Opened in 1819. Commercial traffic on the Lancaster Canal ceased north of Lancaster in 1944 and this part of the canal was officially closed following the Transport Act, 1955.
Lapal Tunnel	Birmingham Canal Navigations	3,795 yards (3,470 m)^[16]		52°26′42″N2°00′06″W / 52.4450°N 2.0017°W / 52.4450; -2.0017 (Lapal)	Part of Dudley Canal Line No 2 (disused—closed 1907)	1955 Ordnance Survey map of the east portal of Lapal Tunnel
Lord Ward's Tunnel	Birmingham Canal Navigations	196 yards (179 m)^[17]			In the Dudley Tunnel complex
Netherton Tunnel	Birmingham Canal Navigations	3,027 yards (2,768 m)^[9]		52°30′25″N2°03′25″W / 52.50697°N 2.05708°W / 52.50697; -2.05708 (Netherton)		The dual towpaths inside the northern portal of Netherton Tunnel
Newbold Tunnel	Oxford Canal	250 yards (230 m)^[18]				Illuminated Newbold Tunnel
Newnham Tunnel	Leominster Canal	100 yards (91 m)		52°19′37″N2°31′20″W / 52.32685°N 2.52223°W / 52.32685; -2.52223 (Newnham)	Worcestershire
Norwood Tunnel	Chesterfield Canal	2,884 yards (2,637 m)^[19]	James Brindley	53°20′06″N1°16′11″W / 53.33501°N 1.26971°W / 53.33501; -1.26971 (Norwood)	Derbyshire to South Yorkshire. Closed with plans for partial restoration of eastern end.	Norwood Tunnel western portal
Oxenhall Tunnel	Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal	2,192 yards (2,004 m)
Pensax Tunnel	Leominster Canal	3,850 yards (3,520 m)		52°19′22″N2°23′27″W / 52.32265°N 2.39083°W / 52.32265; -2.39083 (Pensax)	Worcestershire Abandoned during construction.
Putnall Tunnel	Leominster Canal	330 yards (300 m)		52°17′38″N2°43′58″W / 52.29398°N 2.73266°W / 52.29398; -2.73266 (Putnall)	Herefordshire
Sapperton Canal Tunnel	Thames and Severn Canal	3,817 yards (3,490 m)^[20]	Josiah Clowes	51°42′45″N2°03′42″W / 51.7126°N 2.0618°W / 51.7126; -2.0618 (Sapperton)	Gloucestershire	The Coates Portal at the south-eastern end of the Sapperton Canal Tunnel.
Scout Tunnel	Huddersfield Narrow Canal	220 yards (200 m)^[21]			Unlined, rock tunnel	Scout Tunnel
Shortwood Tunnel	Worcester and Birmingham Canal	613 yards (561 m)
Southnett Tunnel	Leominster Canal	1,250 yards (1,140 m)		52°19′43″N2°28′37″W / 52.32874°N 2.47691°W / 52.32874; -2.47691 (Southnett)	Herefordshire
Standedge Tunnels	Huddersfield Narrow Canal	5,698 yards (5,210 m)^[21]		53°35′29″N1°57′36″W / 53.591283°N 1.95996°W / 53.591283; -1.95996 (Standedge)	West Yorkshire to Greater Manchester	Standedge Tunnel entrance at Marsden
Strood Tunnel	Thames and Medway Canal	3,946 yards (3,608 m)	Ralph Walker	51°24′54″N0°28′52″E / 51.4149°N 0.4812°E / 51.4149; 0.4812 (Strood)	Kent
Tardebigge Tunnel	Worcester and Birmingham Canal	580 yards (530 m)
Wast Hills Tunnel	Worcester and Birmingham Canal	2,726 yards (2,493 m)^[22]		52°23′25″N1°56′24″W / 52.3902°N 1.9400°W / 52.3902; -1.9400 (Wast Hills)	West Midlands (county) to Worcestershire	Wast Hills Tunnel, southern portal

Navigable adits and mine levels

An adit is a horizontal entrance to a mine:

Tunnel	Canal	Length	Designer	Coordinates	Notes	Image
Hollingwood Common Tunnel	Chesterfield Canal
Worsley Navigable Levels	Bridgewater Canal			53°30′2.2″N2°22′52.2″W / 53.500611°N 2.381167°W / 53.500611; -2.381167 (Worsley Navigable Levels)	Greater Manchester	Starvationer at Ellesmere Port Canal Museum with a demonstration of the process of legging to push the boat through the tunnels

Listed by canal

Grand Union Canal

Blisworth Tunnel, Northamptonshire
Braunston Tunnel, Northamptonshire
Crick Tunnel, Northamptonshire
Husbands Bosworth Tunnel, Leicestershire
Saddington Tunnel, Leicestershire
Shrewley Tunnel, Warwickshire

Union Canal (Scotland)

Falkirk Tunnel, Falkirk
Roughcastle Tunnel, Falkirk. Part of the Falkirk Wheel complex; leads to Locks 1 & 2 and South Basin

Related Research Articles

The Calder and Hebble Navigation is a broad inland waterway, with locks and bridge holes that are suitable for 14-foot-wide (4.3 m) boats, in West Yorkshire, England. Construction to improve the River Calder and the River Hebble began in 1759, and the initial scheme, which included 5.7 miles (9.2 km) of new cuts, was completed in 1770 and has remained navigable since it was opened. Significant improvements were made, including the Salterhebble branch to Halifax, opened in 1828, and ever-longer cuts to bypass river sections. Trade was assisted by the opening of the Rochdale Canal in 1804, which provided a through route from Sowerby Bridge to Manchester. There were plans to abandon the river sections completely in the 1830s, but these were modified as the needs of mill owners and other riparian landowners were recognised.

The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal is a canal in the south Midlands of England. The canal, which was built between 1793 and 1816, runs for 25.5 miles (41.0 km) in total, and consists of two sections. The dividing line is at Kingswood Junction, which gives access to the Grand Union Canal. Following acquisition by a railway company in 1856, it gradually declined, the southern section being un-navigable by 1945, and the northern section little better.

The Grantham Canal ran 33 miles (53 km) from Grantham through 18 locks to West Bridgford, where it joined the River Trent. It was built primarily for the transportation of coal to Grantham. It opened in 1797 and its profitability steadily increased until 1841. It was then sold to a railway company, declined, and was finally closed in 1936. It was used as a water supply for agriculture, and so most of it remained in water after closure, although bridges were lowered. Since the 1970s, the Grantham Canal Society have been working to restore parts of it. Two stretches are now navigable to small vessels. A new route will be required where the canal joins the Trent, as road building has severed the original one.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashton Canal</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Ashton Canal is a canal in Greater Manchester, England, linking Manchester with Ashton-under-Lyne.

The Huddersfield Broad Canal or Sir John Ramsden's Canal, is a wide-locked navigable canal in West Yorkshire in northern England. The waterway is 3.75 miles (6 km) long and has 9 wide locks. It follows the valley of the River Colne and connects the Calder and Hebble Navigation at Cooper Bridge junction with the Huddersfield Narrow Canal near Aspley Basin in Huddersfield.

Caldon Canal is a branch of the Trent and Mersey Canal which opened in 1779. It runs 18 miles (29 km) from Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, to Froghall, Staffordshire. The canal has 17 locks and the 76-yard (69 m) Froghall Tunnel.

Dudley Tunnel is a canal tunnel on the Dudley Canal Line No 1, England. At about 3,172 yards (2,900.5 m) long, it is now the second longest canal tunnel on the UK canal network today.. However, since the Dudley Tunnel is not continuous this status is sometimes questioned:.

Netherton Tunnel Branch Canal, in the West Midlands county, England, is part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, (BCN). It was constructed at a 453–foot elevation, the Wednesbury or Birmingham level; it has no locks. The total length of the branch canal is 2.4 miles (3.9 km) and the canal tunnel is 9,081 feet (2,768 m) long.

The Stourbridge Canal is a canal in the West Midlands of England. It links the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal with the Dudley Canal, and hence, via the Birmingham Canal Navigations, to Birmingham and the Black Country.

The Dudley Canal is a canal passing through Dudley in the West Midlands of England. The canal is part of the English and Welsh network of connected navigable inland waterways and forms part of the popular Stourport Ring narrowboat cruising route.

The Digbeth Branch Canal in Birmingham, England is a short canal which links the mainline of the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal at Aston Junction and the Grand Union Canal at Digbeth Junction in Digbeth, a district in Birmingham, England.

The Lapal Tunnel is a disused 3,795-yard (3,470 m) canal tunnel on the five mile dry section of the Dudley No. 2 Canal in the West Midlands, England. It takes its name from the settlement of Lapal.

The Gower Branch Canal is a half-mile canal at Tividale in England, linking Albion Junction on the Birmingham Level of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, and Brades Hall Junction on the BCN's older Wolverhampton (473 ft) level, via three locks, the Brades Locks, at the Southern, Brades Hall end.

The present day Bumble Hole Branch Canal and Boshboil Branch surround Bumble Hole, a water-filled clay pit, in Bumble Hole and Warren's Hall Nature Reserve, Rowley Regis, West Midlands, England. They formed a looped part of the original Dudley No. 2 Canal until the opening of the Netherton Tunnel in 1858 when the loop was bypassed by a new cut, in line with the new tunnel. Part of the bypassed canal loop, which surrounds Bumble Hole, is now in-filled giving access to the pool of Bumble Hole. An area next to the Bumble Hole and Dudley canals is the Bumble Hole Local Nature Reserve.

The Outer Pennine Ring is an English canal ring which crosses the Pennines between Manchester, Leeds and Castleford. Its route follows parts of eight canals, and includes the longest canal tunnel in England. The ring was completed in 2001, with the opening of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. Much of the route is shared with the North Pennine Ring, which crosses the Pennines by a different route on the southern leg.

Delph Locks or the Delph Nine are a series of eight narrow canal locks on the Dudley No. 1 Canal in Brierley Hill, in the West Midlands, England. They were opened in 1779, and reopened in 1967 following restoration of the Dudley Canal and the Stourbridge Canal in a joint venture between the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Society and the British Waterways Board.

The Avon Ring is a canal ring which is located to the south west of Birmingham in England, and connects the major towns of Stratford-upon-Avon, Evesham, Tewkesbury, Worcester and the southern outskirts of Birmingham. It consists of stretches of four waterways, and is heavily locked, with a total of 129 locks on its route of 109 miles (175 km).

Shrewley Tunnel is a canal tunnel near Shrewley, Warwickshire, England, which opened in 1799. It became part of the Grand Union Canal in 1929.

The Runcorn and Weston Canal was a short canal near Runcorn in Cheshire, England, constructed to link the Weston Canal, which is part of the River Weaver Navigation, to the Bridgewater Canal and Runcorn Docks. It was completed in 1859, but was little used. Around half of it became the Arnold Dock in 1876, when it was made wider and deeper, and linked to Fenton Dock by a ship lock. The dock section and some of the remaining canal were filled in during the 1960s, and the remainder is in a derelict state.

Maida Hill Tunnel is a canal tunnel on the Regent's Canal in London, England. The two other tunnels on the Regent's Canal are Islington Tunnel and Eyre's Tunnel.

References

↑ Cumberlidge 2009, p. 366.
1 2 Cumberlidge 2009, p. 128.
↑ Mosse 2018, p. 142.
↑ Cumberlidge 2009, p. 161.
↑ Cumberlidge 2009, p. 105.
↑ Cumberlidge 2009, p. 363.
↑ Mosse 2018, p. 113.
↑ Cumberlidge 2009, p. 99.
1 2 Cumberlidge 2009, p. 76.
↑ Mosse 2018, p. 117.
↑ "Foulridge Tunnel - Graces Guide". www.gracesguide.co.uk. Grace's Guide. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
↑ "FOULRIDGE - Village goes online! - Internet Archive". www.burnleyexpress.net. Burnley Express. 30 July 2004. Archived from the original on 29 October 2019.
↑ Mosse 2018, p. 138.
↑ Cumberlidge 2009, p. 72.
↑ Cumberlidge 2009, p. 319.
↑ The Dudley Canal and Tunnel Trust.
↑ information – CanalPlanAC 2020.
↑ Cumberlidge 2009, p. 246.
↑ Skempton 2002, p. 736.
↑ Cumberlidge 2009, p. 310.
1 2 Cumberlidge 2009, p. 152.
↑ Cumberlidge 2009, p. 339.

Bibliography

"Lord Ward's Tunnel". information – CanalPlanAC. 5 January 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
Cumberlidge, Jane (2009). Inland Waterways of Great Britain (8th Ed.). Imray Laurie Norie and Wilson. ISBN 978-1-84623-010-3.
"History of the tunnels". The Dudley Canal and Tunnel Trust. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
Mosse, Jonathan (2018) [1969]. Waterways Guide 2: Severn, Avon & Birmingham. Nicholson. ISBN 978-0-00-825801-6.
Skempton, Sir Alec; et al. (2002). A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland: Vol 1: 1500 to 1830. Thomas Telford. ISBN 978-0-7277-2939-2.

External links

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Canal tunnels of London

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[FOOTNOTECumberlidge2009366-1] Cumberlidge 2009, p. 366.

[FOOTNOTECumberlidge2009128-2] 1 2 Cumberlidge 2009, p. 128.

[FOOTNOTEMosse2018142-3] Mosse 2018, p. 142.

[FOOTNOTECumberlidge2009161-4] Cumberlidge 2009, p. 161.

[FOOTNOTECumberlidge2009105-5] Cumberlidge 2009, p. 105.

[FOOTNOTECumberlidge2009363-6] Cumberlidge 2009, p. 363.

[FOOTNOTEMosse2018113-7] Mosse 2018, p. 113.

[FOOTNOTECumberlidge200999-8] Cumberlidge 2009, p. 99.

[FOOTNOTECumberlidge200976-9] 1 2 Cumberlidge 2009, p. 76.

[FOOTNOTEMosse2018117-10] Mosse 2018, p. 117.

[11] "Foulridge Tunnel - Graces Guide". www.gracesguide.co.uk. Grace's Guide. Retrieved 18 May 2021.

[Burnley_Express_2004-12] "FOULRIDGE - Village goes online! - Internet Archive". www.burnleyexpress.net. Burnley Express. 30 July 2004. Archived from the original on 29 October 2019.

[FOOTNOTEMosse2018138-13] Mosse 2018, p. 138.

[FOOTNOTECumberlidge200972-14] Cumberlidge 2009, p. 72.

[FOOTNOTECumberlidge2009319-15] Cumberlidge 2009, p. 319.

[FOOTNOTE''The_Dudley_Canal_and_Tunnel_Trust''-16] The Dudley Canal and Tunnel Trust.

[FOOTNOTE''information_–_CanalPlanAC''2020-17] information – CanalPlanAC 2020.

[FOOTNOTECumberlidge2009246-18] Cumberlidge 2009, p. 246.

[FOOTNOTESkempton2002736-19] Skempton 2002, p. 736.

[FOOTNOTECumberlidge2009310-20] Cumberlidge 2009, p. 310.

[FOOTNOTECumberlidge2009152-21] 1 2 Cumberlidge 2009, p. 152.

[FOOTNOTECumberlidge2009339-22] Cumberlidge 2009, p. 339.

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v t e Navigable canals of the United Kingdom
England	Aire and Calder ¹ Ashby-de-la-Zouch ² Ashton Basingstoke Canal Beverley Beck Birmingham Canal Navigations ³ Bridgewater Bridgwater and Taunton Buckingham Arm ² Bude ² Calder and Hebble ¹ Cambridgeshire Lodes ³ Chelmer and Blackwater ¹ Chesterfield ² Chichester ² Coventry Driffield Droitwich Erewash Foss Dyke Gloucester and Sharpness Grand Union ³ Grand Western ² Grantham ² Herefordshire and Gloucestershire ² Hollinwood Branch ² Huddersfield Broad Huddersfield Narrow Ipswich and Stowmarket ¹² Kennet and Avon ¹ Lancaster ² Leeds and Liverpool ³ Lee Navigation ¹ Limehouse Llangollen Lydney Macclesfield Maidenhead Waterways Manchester Bolton & Bury ² Manchester Ship Canal Market Weighton ² Middle Level Navigations ³ Montgomery ² North Walsham & Dilham ¹² Nottingham ² Oxford ¹ Peak Forest Pocklington ² Regent's Canal Ribble Link ¹ Ripon Rochdale Royal Military Canal Sankey ² Selby Sheffield and South Yorkshire ¹³ Shropshire Union ³ Sleaford ¹² South Forty-Foot Drain Staffordshire and Worcestershire Stort ¹ Stourbridge Stratford-upon-Avon Stroudwater ² Thames and Medway ² Thames and Severn ² Trent and Mersey ³ Weaver ¹ Wey and Arun ² Wey and Godalming ¹ Wilts & Berks ² Witham Navigable Drains ³ Worcester and Birmingham
Northern Ireland	Coalisland Canal Lagan Canal Newry Canal Shannon–Erne Waterway Strabane Canal Ulster Canal
Scotland	Caledonian Canal ¹ Crinan Canal Forth and Clyde Union Canal
Wales	Llangollen Canal Monmouthshire and Brecon ² Montgomery Canal ² Neath and Tennant ² Swansea Canal ²
Features	Aqueducts (list) Basins Locks Rings Tunnels (list) Winding holes
Related topics	British Waterways Canal & River Trust Scottish Canals History of the British canal system Manchester Pusher Narrowboats National Waterways Museum Navigable aqueduct Waterways Ireland
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.