Digbeth Branch Canal
Encyclopedia
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
is a short canal which links the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal
Birmingham and Fazeley Canal
The Birmingham and Fazeley Canal is a canal of the Birmingham Canal Navigations in the West Midlands of England. Its purpose was to provide a link between the Coventry Canal and Birmingham and thereby connect Birmingham to London via the Oxford Canal....
at Aston Junction
Aston Junction
Aston Junction is the name of the canal junction where the Digbeth Branch Canal terminates and meets the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal near to Aston, Birmingham, England....
and the Grand Union Canal at Digbeth Junction (or historically, at the adjacent Warwick Bar
Warwick Bar
The Warwick Bar conservation area is a conservation area in Birmingham, England which was home to many canalside factories during the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries....
) in Digbeth.
Built under the Birmingham Canal Act 1768 and completed in 1799 the Digbeth Branch of the Birmingham Canal Navigations
Birmingham Canal Navigations
Birmingham Canal Navigations is a network of navigable canals connecting Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and the eastern part of the Black Country...
took traffic from the Birmingham and Warwick Junction Canal and the Warwick and Birmingham Canal (now both part of the Grand Union Canal
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line connects London and Birmingham, stretching for 137 miles with 166 locks...
) towards the Worcester and Birmingham Canal
Worcester and Birmingham Canal
The Worcester and Birmingham Canal is a canal linking Birmingham and Worcester in England. It starts in Worcester, as an 'offshoot' of the River Severn and ends in Gas Street Basin in Birmingham. It is long....
at the Worcester Bar (Gas Street Basin
Gas Street Basin
Gas Street Basin is a canal basin in the centre of Birmingham, England, where the Worcester and Birmingham Canal meets the BCN Main Line. It is located on Gas Street, off Broad Street, and between the Mailbox and Brindleyplace canal-side developments....
).
The 1¼ mile long canal canal has six locks leading down from Aston Junction. It passes through a grade II listed tunnel at the east of Curzon Street railway station
Curzon Street railway station
Curzon Street railway station was a railway station in Birmingham that was used briefly for regular scheduled passenger services between 1838 and 1854 when it acted as the terminus for both the London and Birmingham Railway and the Grand Junction Railway, with lines connecting Birmingham to London...
(originally carrying the main lines from it) and under the viaduct of today's eastbound railway line from New Street station
Birmingham New Street Station
Birmingham New Street is the main railway station serving Birmingham, England, located in the city centre. It is an important hub for the British railway system, being served by a number of important long-distance and cross-country lines, including the Birmingham loop of the West Coast Main Line,...
. It then originally met the Birmingham and Warwick Junction Canal at the Warwick Bar
Warwick Bar
The Warwick Bar conservation area is a conservation area in Birmingham, England which was home to many canalside factories during the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries....
stop lock just to the rear of Birmingham Proof House
Birmingham Proof House
The Birmingham Gun Barrel Proof House was established in 1813 by an act of Parliament at the request—and expense—of the then prosperous Birmingham Gun Trade. Its remit was to provide a testing and certification service for firearms in order to prove their quality of construction, particularly in...
, at which there is a short branch to the Typhoo
Typhoo
Typhoo is a brand of tea in the United Kingdom. It was launched in 1903 by John Sumner Jr. of Birmingham, England.-History:In 1863, William Sumner published, A Popular Treatise on Tea as a by-product of the first trade missions to China from London....
Basin. The junction is called Digbeth Junction or Proof House Junction. It has a total fall of 40 feet.
All of the canal between Ashted Lock at Jennens Road (formerly the A47
A47 road
The A47 is a trunk road in England originally linking Birmingham to Great Yarmouth. Most of the section between Birmingham and Nuneaton is now classified as the B4114.-Route:...
) and Great Barr Street (Bordesley) is within the Warwick Bar Conservation Area.
Features
| Point | Coordinates |
|---|---|
| Aston Junction Aston Junction Aston Junction is the name of the canal junction where the Digbeth Branch Canal terminates and meets the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal near to Aston, Birmingham, England.... |
52.49020°N 1.88850°W |
| Ashted Lock | 52.48625°N 1.88401°W |
| Ashted tunnel North portal | 52.48187°N 1.88191°W |
| Ashted tunnel South portal | 52.48080°N 1.88295°W |
| Railway viaduct | 52.48082°N 1.88451°W |
| Proof House Junction | 52.48028°N 1.88411°W |
| Warwick Bar Warwick Bar The Warwick Bar conservation area is a conservation area in Birmingham, England which was home to many canalside factories during the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.... |
52.47985°N 1.88338°W |
| River Rea River Rea The River Rea is a small river which passes through Birmingham, England. The name of the river derives from a root found in many Indo-European languages and means "to run" or "to flow". It frequently bursts its banks after heavy rain.... |
52.47897°N 1.88192°W |
| Great Barr Street | 52.47783°N 1.87996°W |
| Bordesley Junction Bordesley Junction Bordesley Junction is a canal junction where the Grand Union Canal splits near to Bordesley, Birmingham, England.The southern arm is the main line of the Grand Union to London. The north-east arm was originally the Birmingham and Warwick Junction Canal leading to Salford Junction and on to the... |
52.47565°N 1.87719°W |
See also
- Canals of Great Britain
- History of the British canal systemHistory of the British canal systemThe British canal system of water transport played a vital role in the United Kingdom's Industrial Revolution at a time when roads were only just emerging from the medieval mud and long trains of pack horses were the only means of "mass" transit by road of raw materials and finished products The...