Aldersley Junction () is the name of the
canal junction where the
Birmingham Main Line Canal terminates and meets the
Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal
The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a navigable narrow canal in Staffordshire and Worcestershire in the English Midlands. It is long, linking the River Severn at Stourport in Worcestershire with the Trent and Mersey Canal at Haywoo ...
near to
Oxley Oxley may refer to:
Places
Australia
Australian Capital Territory
* Oxley, Australian Capital Territory is a suburb of Canberra, Australia
Queensland
*Oxley, Queensland is a suburb of Brisbane, Australia
** Oxley railway station, Brisba ...
, north
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
,
West Midlands
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. It opened in 1772.
History
The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal opened in April 1772, connecting
Great Haywood Junction on the
Trent and Mersey Canal
The Trent and Mersey Canal is a 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 Middle ...
to
Stourport
Stourport-on-Severn, often shortened to Stourport, is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of North Worcestershire, England, a few miles to the south of Kidderminster and downstream on the River Severn from Bewdley. At the 2011 ce ...
on the
River Severn
, name_etymology =
, image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG
, image_size = 288
, image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle
, map = RiverSevernMap.jpg
, map_size = 288
, map_c ...
.
The Birmingham Canal was authorised by an
Act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...
dated 24 February 1768. It would run from Birmingham to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire main line at Autherley, which was also known as
Aldersley
Aldersley is a small suburb of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is north-west of Wolverhampton city centre, within the Tettenhall Regis ward. Aldersley is a relatively modern part of Wolverhampton, with most of the housing stock – both ...
at the time. An unusual clause in the Act made provision for the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal to build the junction between the two canals themselves, if the Birmingham company failed to complete it within six months of opening their canal. They could also charge the Birmingham company for the full cost of the construction.
The
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
company lost no time in opening the route from Birmingham to
Wednesbury
Wednesbury () is a market town in Sandwell in the county of West Midlands, England. It is located near the source of the River Tame. Historically part of Staffordshire in the Hundred of Offlow, at the 2011 Census the town had a population of ...
, where there were collieries, but were less keen in the opinion of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire, to complete the link to their canal. Work began on the link in early 1770, but in May the Staffordshire and Worcestershire attempted to obtain a
mandamus
(; ) is a judicial remedy in the form of an order from a court to any government, subordinate court, corporation, or public authority, to do (or forbear from doing) some specific act which that body is obliged under law to do (or refrain from ...
writ, which would have compelled the other company to make the junction. They failed to get one, and so in January 1771 they presented a
bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
to Parliament to authorise them to make the junction. At this point, the Birmingham company negotiated, paid the costs of the bill, and agreed to press on quickly with the link. It was no small task, as it involved a flight of 20 locks (later increased to 21) to drop the level of the canal between
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
and the junction. The junction opened for traffic on 21 September 1772, some five months after the Staffordshire and Worcestershire had opened.
The names Autherley and Aldersley continued to be used interchangeably until the
Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal
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 Liverpo ...
opened their canal to join the
Chester Canal
The Chester Canal was an English canal linking the south Cheshire town of Nantwich with the River Dee at Chester. It was intended to link Chester to Middlewich, with a branch to Nantwich, but the Trent and Mersey Canal were unco-operative a ...
to a new junction around further to the north. At this point, Autherley was applied to the northern junction and Aldersley to the southern junction. Prior to the opening of the new canal, there had been considerable trade on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal between the Potteries and the south-western cities of
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
and
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, and also trade in manufactured goods north from Birmingham. The Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal, however, was one of the new generation of canals, which rather than winding across the countryside following the contours, used embankments and cuttings to create a more direct route, and tended to group the locks into flights. It was therefore shorter and quicker, with the result that much of the trade which had formerly travelled the from Aldersley to Great Haywood Junction now travelled the short distance between Aldersley and Autherley. The Staffordshire and Worcestershire raised the tolls for this stretch to absurd levels, in an attempt to reduce their losses.
[
In order to resolve the situation, the Birmingham Canal company worked with the Liverpool Junction company, and proposed the Tettenhall and Autherley Canal and Aqueduct. This would have left the Birmingham Canal just above lock 19, crossed the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal just below Aldersley Junction by an aqueduct made of iron, and then dropped down through three locks to join the Liverpool Junction Canal above the stop lock. The plans were drawn up by Dugdale Houghton, a firm of surveyors from Birmingham, but the canal was never constructed, as the Staffordshire and Worcestershire company reduced their tolls rather than lose them altogether.][
]
Location
Aldersley Junction is on the summit level of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, which is at a height of around above sea level. The pound continues for to the north before reaching Gailey Lock, the first one that starts the descent to Great Haywood Junction. To the south, Compton Lock is away, and starts the descent to Stourbridge. The Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal became part of the Shropshire Union Canal
The Shropshire Union Canal, nicknamed the "Shroppie", is a navigable canal in England. The Llangollen and Montgomery canals are the modern names of branches of the Shropshire Union (SU) system and lie partially in Wales.
The canal lies in ...
network in 1846. There is a stop lock just after Autherley Junction, which drops the level by just a few inches, and then a level pound of before the first real lock at Wheaton Aston. The Birmingham Canal became part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations
Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) is a network of canals connecting Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and the eastern part of the Black Country. The BCN is connected to the rest of the English canal system at several junctions. It was owned and oper ...
, and the first of 21 locks which raise the canal up to the level is located immediately after the junction.
See also
*List of canal junctions in Great Britain
This List of canal junctions in the United Kingdom is an incomplete list of canal junctions in the United Kingdom that have articles in Wikipedia, in alphabetical order.
See also
*Junction (canal)
*Canals of Great Britain
*History of the Br ...
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
References
{{Coord, 52.6079, -2.1449, display=title, format=dms, region:GB_type:landmark
Canal junctions in England
Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal
Transport in Wolverhampton
Birmingham Canal Navigations
Canals in the West Midlands (county)
Canals opened in 1772