Your floating hotel on the Canals and Rivers of the UK

Our guide to the waterways of the UK in detail.

The history of the Coventry Canal.

The Coventry canal, started in 1768, had two objectives. To connect the town of Coventry with what was to become the Trent and Mersey canal, and to provide Coventry with cheap coal from the Bedworth coal field a few miles to the north.

Under its engineer Brindley the second objective was quickly achieved and by 1771 the canal had reached Atherstone and coal trade was well established into Coventry. However all the authorised capital was spent and they sacked Brindley. The local coal mine owners were now not that keen on competing coal coming in from further north which would happen once the canal was complete!

In 1778 the Oxford canal was fully opened from it's connection with the Coventry at Longford to Oxford.

In 1782 an agreement was made at Coleshill to support a canal to be built from Wednesbury in the Black Country via Frazeley, to which point the Coventry would extend from Atherstone. The new company would then continue from Frazeley to a point halfway to the Trent & Mersey from which point the Trent & Mersey would continue to their canal at Fradley. This would take trade from the Birmingham canal which already had a branch into Wednesbury from their main line so they strongly opposed the whole idea of the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal.

In 1784 Parliament were brought into the battle and eventually the Birmingham Canal won the day. The government gave them permission to buy out the Birmingham & Fazeley Company and build a canal from the centre of Birmingham to Fazeley, traffic from Wednesbury travelling on the Birmingham canal, which they would improve, into Birmingham first. They kept up the Coleshill agreement and the final parts of the Coventry Canal were built though the Coventry Company - perhaps bitter at losing the battle - had to be pushed into completing their short stretch between Atherstone and Fazeley. (Although the Trent & Mersey later sold its section to the Coventry the Birmingham & Fazeley never did despite attempts to make it do so in 1860.)

In 1788 Coventry basin was extended into the Y-shaped form it is today.

Finally in 1790 the Coventry and the Birmingham and Frazeley were completed.

In 1797 a branch of the Wyrley and Essington canal was joined to the Coventry at Huddlesford giving rise to traffic in and out of Birmingham and the Black Country by this route.

In 1792 the Ashby canal was started with support from the coalfields near Ashby de la Zouch who wanted an outlet to the south. Authorised in 1794 by 1798 it had reached Moria. The money had run out, the expensive part lay ahead and the new coal mines turned out to be less productive than expected so work halted and the canal slowly sank out of use.

However in 1804 new good quality coal had been found at Moria so the Ashby Canal was overhauled and trade started. By 1815 this new coal was proving very popular in London and Oxford so much so that the working boatmen knew the canal as the "Moira Cut".This was a good source of traffic for the Coventry. In 1856 a steam tug called Pioneer was put into service by the Moria Colliery company, but the Midland Railway as owners of the Ashby Canal banned its use due to damage to the banks. In 1859 after protests right to the House of Lords permission was granted for Steam Boats to work from Moria to Braunston. So in 1859 the company purchased another tug called Volunteer.

With its connecting role profits soon rose and when the Grand Junction canal was opened in 1799 shortening the route to London by 60 miles they kept on rising. Later in the 1830's the improvements to the northern Oxford enabled profits to stay high despite the earlier opening of the Napton to Birmingham route via Warwick. It was certainly one of the most profitable canals still paying dividends right up to 1947 and nationalisation.

In 1845 the Midland Railway Company bought the Ashby Canal. Both the Coventry Canal and the Oxford Canal feared that they would find it impossible to cope with the loss in tolls if Ashby Canal traffic switched to the rails. The two companies managed to continually foil the railway company and were so successful at it that the Ashby Canal traffic actually increased, leaving the railway with no chance of getting permission to close it down.

The Coventry Canal continued to increase its profits each year. Because it was in a prosperous coal field and on a useful through route it managed to stay in business long after others had faltered. In fact, it was still paying a dividend up till 1947, its last year of independent ownership. Even the devastation that took place in Coventry during WW2 did not dent the canal's success.

In 1957 Coventry Council began a concerted effort to close down the canal which had for so many years brought them prosperity. They planned to fill in the 5½ miles from Hawkesbury Junction into the city centre. But this was a bad time to try and close any canal. The Inland Waterway Association staged a rally in Coventry Basin which raised enough support from voters and councillors to stop the closure. The Coventry Canal Society was formed and they have done much since to secure the survival of the waterway.

In 1970 the last commercial traffic came to an end. During the years that followed the route has become very popular with holidaymakers.

In 1993 in complete contrast to the Coventry Council of the 1950s, the latest council wanted to attract people into the city. This included a complete refurbishment of Coventry Basin. Consultation with the canal society ensured that the new ideas fitted well alongside the old and in 1995 the basin re-opened..

In 1994 and 1995 action by the Canal Society prevented changes at Hawkesbury Junction.

Sources.

Nicholson Guides to the Waterways.

Roots & Routes, Peter Hardcastle's Website
http://www.canals.btinternet.co.uk/index.htm

Canal Companion, South Midlands J.M. Pearson. Published by Central Waterways Supplies of Rugby in 2004. ISBN 0-9545383-8-2

Some pictures of this canal?

Coventry to Hawkesbury / Hawkesbury to Marston / Marston to Frazley / Frazley to Fradley.

General information

Find our information about other canals on the canal index page.

If you have any questions then do ring us on 07977 229103
or email us at martinreed@reedboats.co.uk