Your floating hotel on the Canals and Rivers of the UK

Our guide to the waterways of the UK in detail.

The River Avon.

For most of its life the River Avon has been treated as two separate navigations, the Upper and the Lower Avon.

Lower Avon..

William Sandys, a member of a wealthy land owning Warwickshire family, in 1636 - 9 spent £20,000 constructing pound locks and water gates at the mill weirs to make the River Avon first navigable from Tewkesbury up to Bidford. Then later extending it up to Stratford-upon-Avon.

In 1717 the River Avon was split into Upper and Lower at Evesham.

In 1758 control passed to George Perrott who spent £4,000 on improving the navigation.

In 1835 the Perrott fortunes declined and the ownership passed to the Perrott Trustees and the operating rights were sold.

The Avon condition declined in the 1920's the last traffic up to Evesham, the barge collecting tar from Evesham gas works ceased and in 1923 the Perrott Trust finding it just a liability sold the lower Avon to the Lower Avon Navigation Company. However they were handicapped by restricted tolls despite an attempt in Parliament in 1932 to seek improvement.

The only traffic by World War II was the Pisgah, a 30 ton grain barge running up to Partridge's mill at Pershore as she had done since 1918. They did some work to keep the 4 locks and 1 watergate working, upstream the rest of the navigation became derelict.

The Lower Avon was bought for £1,500 in 1950 by Barnwell and with the support of the IWA the Lower Avon Navigation Trust was then created and restoration started under Barwell's leadership.

In March 1950 Strensham lock gates failed, but the Barwell managed to get them replaced within 6 months by help from the Docks & Inland Waterways at Diglis Worcester.

Chadbury Lock was dewatered and examined in 1952. It was the first work to take place on the River Avon under the new Trust. The lock was discovered to be in a very bad state, so the Royal Engineers totally rebuilt it over the winter 1952-3.

Wyre Mill, was purchased in 1953 in a derelict state by Barwell and improvements gradually made. Wyre Mill Club was created.

In 1953 the Trust created it's own magazine. Avon News. A successful rally was also held at Pershore attracting 74 boats and raising the profile of the restoration.

The River Board in 1953 wished to remove Pershore Watergate to assist with their improvement of drainage. To ensure navigation this would mean deepening of the channel upstream to Pershore lock and the deepening of Pershore lock. This work was carried out in 1955 to 1956 allowing the removal of the Watergate in 1956.

In 1956 Evesham lock, weir and mill were given to the Trust.

In 1957 Fladbury Lock, was deepened to allow for the latter removal of Cropthorne Watergate. Professional contractors carried this out in 1957.
In 1958 the Trust was able to purchase land and the derelict mill adjacent to Fladbury lock. This year Nafford lock was re-gated and had extensive repairs carried out to the structure.

In 1961 Crophtorne Watergate was removed and the channel deepened up to Fladbury Lock. At the same time Pershore lock that had depreciated dramatically was purchased by the trust and repaired. Work was also carried out at Pershore lock enabled by the low water levels for the work on the weir.

Finally the Lower Avon was completed to Evesham by 1962 being formally opened at Crophtorne in June of that year.

On 11th July 1964 the Queen Mother reopened the Stratford on Avon Canal at Stratford. This just left the Upper Avon as the missing link in a cruising ring. So the Upper Avon Navigation Trust was formed in 1965 and in 1969 work began and despite enormous difficulties the upper river was officially reopened in 1974 by the Queen Mother.

In 1964 Evesham lock was restored and a channel dredged below it. The River Avon was now completed to Oftenham.

By 1965 the river had over 1,000 boats on it on one day including of course the marinas.

In 1972 the Pisgah, the last commercial traffic on the River Avon ceased when Partridge's mill at Pershore was burnt down.

After 1974 the Lower Avon is now part of the very popular Avon Cruising Ring.

Upper Avon.

William Sandys in 1636 - 9 constructed pound locks and water gates to make the River Avon navigable from Tewkesbury up to Bidford. Eventually extending it up to Stratford-upon-Avon.

In 1717 the River Avon was split into Upper and Lower at Evesham.

In 1813, William Jones, the driving force behind the Stratford canal, personally purchased the Upper Avon navigation to ensure navigation on it. In 1815 the act for the Stratford canal was altered and a connection made. He then proceeded to make many improvements to the navigation. In 1822 closing the river for a while and spending £6,000 on improvements. However in 1823 his numerous commitments forced him to be declared bankrupt and a local consortium of seven carriers and industrialists bought his shares in the Avon Navigation.

In 1842 the Upper Avon Syndicate leased the river to the Stratford Canal Company.

The Oxford Warwick and Worcester railway, later to become part of the Great Western Railway purchased the Upper River in 1856. Complaints about the state of the river due to their lack of maintenance started in 1863 and by 1873 the only through traffic was the steamer Bee bringing corn up from Tewkesbury to Lucy's mill. In 1875 they started to refuse tolls, by this they avoided the obligation to maintain the river and all traffic on the Upper Avon ceased. Although the councils of both Stratford and Evesham took the GWR to court it failed and the river remained closed.

In 1895 the Mayor of Evesham called a meeting of interested parties and a scheme for renovation was devised, but nothing came of it. Further attempts to raise interest were made in 1899, 1905 and 1912, but nothing happened. One last attempt was made in 1920 with an ambitious scheme being presented to the government, but again nothing happened.

A little traffic remained on the Lower Avon and in 1950 restoration started being completed to Oftenham by 1962.

The Stratford Canal had also virtually closed however in 1960 the National Trust took over control of the canal and David Hutchings was appointed canal manager to lead the restoration. Three years of frantic work followed. Then on 11th July 1964 the Queen Mother reopened the canal at Stratford.

The Upper Avon was now the missing link in a cruising ring so the Upper Avon Navigation Trust was formed in 1965 and in 1969 work began after an anonymous donor gave one third of the estimated cost. It was a much more difficult task than the Lower Avon as there were no working locks and few of the weirs had survived. In effect a new navigation had to be created.

The Water authority insisted on new lower water levels that meant deepening the bed of the river in many places. The work however was greatly assisted by support from both the Royal engineers and volunteers from both Gloucester Goal and Hewell Grange Borstal at Redwich.

Despite all the difficulties the upper river was officially reopened in 1974 by the Queen Mother.

Sources.

To maintain and Improve. By D.H. Burlingham, published 2000 by Tempus Publishing, Stroud. ISBN 0 7524 1756 8

Gateway to the Avon, The Official handbook of the Lower Avon, 13th edition 1999.

Navigation Companion, Upper Avon Navigation. Published by the Upper Avon Navigation Trust

Nicholson Guide to the Waterways.

Canal Companion, Severn & Avon J.M. Pearson. Published by Central Waterways Supplies of Rugby in 2003. ISBN 0-907864-99-6

Some pictures of this river?

Pictures of the Avon.

General information on the river.

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

We will not be on this river in 2008

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