Your floating hotel on the Canals and Rivers of the UK

Our guide to the waterways of the UK in detail.

Pictures of the Oxford Canal.

Napton to Braunston.

This canal of seventy-seven miles was built to connect Oxford and the River Thames via the Coventry canal to the Trent and Mersey and thus to the Rivers Severn, Trent and Mersey. As new canals were built it developed into three sections each with their own distinct character. Generally only one or two sections are cruised at a time. It is rare for anyone to travel all three sections in a single cruise.

This describes the middle section that from Napton to Braunston. When the Grand Junction was built as a direct line from Braunston to London the Oxford canal company paswaded the Warwick to Braunston canal company, which was, with its sister company the Warwick to Birmingham creating a much shorter route to Birmingham to join the Oxford at Napton and use a few miles of the Oxford as part of the London to Birmingham route. In later years the tolls levied on this traffic became one of the main sources of income for the Oxford canal Company.

For these five miles the canal is still busy, being part of the Grand Union route, however little bigger than a farm comes near the canal it is set right out the countryside.. Finally it arrives at the canal centre of Braunston.

More pictures of this canal?

Oxford to Napton / Braunston to Hawkesbury.

A history of this canal. / General information on the canal.

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