Editing Oxford Canal (section)

==The route==
[[File:Oxford Canal at Hillmorton.jpg|thumb|right|The canal and locks at [[Hillmorton]]]]
[[File:Oxford Canal Map.png|thumb|right|Geographic map of the Oxford Canal (zoom in to see detail)]]

The canal begins in [[Warwickshire]] near [[Hawkesbury Village]] at [[Hawkesbury Junction]], also known as ''Sutton Stop'', where it connects with the [[Coventry Canal]], a little over 4 miles (or about 7&nbsp;km) from the centre of [[Coventry]] and {{convert|5|mi|0|spell=in}} from [[Nuneaton]]. Within a mile were the late 18th- and 19th-century coal field/pit and [[colliery]] of the small town of [[Bedworth]]. From Hawkesbury, it runs [[boxing the compass|southeast]] through the [[Warwickshire]] countryside for {{convert|15|mi|km}} to [[Rugby, Warwickshire|Rugby]].

The route between Coventry and Rugby is level, with no [[Lock (water transport)|locks]], apart from the [[Lock (water transport)#Stop locks|stop lock]] at the junction. Parts of this section were straightened by raising and waterproofing in the 1820s; the remains of a more circuitous route (which kept to the chosen [[contour line|contour]]) can still be seen in places.

The canal winds through the northern part of Rugby. It passes through the {{convert|270|yd|m|adj=on}} Newbold Tunnel. In the churchyard in [[Newbold-on-Avon]] remains can be seen of an earlier canal tunnel built in the 1770s. It scales a flight of three locks at [[Hillmorton]] about {{convert|3|mi|0|spell=in}} east-southeast of the town.

East of Rugby, the canal passes southwest then south. It crosses under the [[M45 motorway]] and through broad low fields interspersed by views of wooded knolls and modest hills of [[Northamptonshire]] and Warwickshire to reach [[Braunston, Northamptonshire|Braunston]].

West of Braunston village centre, by a pub, the canal converges with the [[Grand Union Canal]] where both change direction to west-southwest. The latter canal has a major wharf, Braunston Marina, {{convert|700|m|yd|order=flip}} east and a campsite. The combined canal splits north of Napton-on-the-Hill:
*The Oxford Canal runs southwest and then turns south towards [[Oxford]] via [[Banbury]].
*The Grand Union Canal runs north passing opposing marinas within a mile then northwest to [[Birmingham]] via [[Warwick]].

After winding round Napton Hill, the canal ascends the Napton flight of nine locks to a local summit reach, well below the hilltop. After passing an old wharf and a pub at [[Fenny Compton]], the canal enters a long cutting which until some time in the 19th century was a tunnel. This section is normally referred to as a "tunnel straight" or the [[Fenny Compton]] Tunnel.

The route between the farms of [[Priors Hardwick]] and [[Fenny Compton]] was never straightened, and is the most circuitous in the region: taking {{convert|9|km|order=flip|frac=4}} to cover {{convert|3.5|km|order=flip}} (geodesically, as the crow flies).  This coincides with the canal's highest "summit" reach in navigational terms. This reach is the "eleven-mile pound" mentioned in [[L. T. C. Rolt|Tom Rolt]]'s ''[[Narrow Boat (book)|Narrow Boat]]''.

The canal then descends the [[Claydon, Oxfordshire|Claydon]] flight of locks and into the vale of the nascent [[River Cherwell|Cherwell]] at [[Cropredy]]. The canal descends the valley to Oxford.

[[File:Oxford Canal near Brinklow.jpg|thumb|left|upright|A canal boat on the canal near [[Brinklow]] on the long stretch between [[Coventry]] and [[Rugby, Warwickshire|Rugby]].]]

[[Banbury]] has many visitor moorings alongside the historic and modern shopping areas in the middle of town. Banbury Town Council and [[Cherwell District Council]] treat the canal as an attraction to be encouraged; examples of its work include an old boatyard which has been incorporated into the town centre: [[Tooley's Boatyard|Tooley's Historic Boatyard]]. About {{convert|4|mi|km|0|spell=in}} south is a lightly settled locality, Twyford Wharf, where narrowboats up to {{convert|60|ft|m}} can be turned. Two villages nearby, [[Kings Sutton]] and [[Adderbury]] (Twyford), are within 30 minutes' walking distance along the road. Both offer several pubs.

Within Oxford's conurbation, the end of the canal has two links to the [[River Thames|Thames]]:
*{{convert|3|mi|km|0|spell=in}} north of the city where [[Dukes Cut]] leads to [[King's Lock]]; 
*a few hundred yards (metres) from the heart of the city centre by [[Oxford railway station]].<ref name="Canalguide">{{cite web |title=Canal Guide (South Oxford Canal) |url=https://www.canalguide.co.uk/canals/oxfordcanalsouth.html |publisher=Canal Guide |location=UK}}</ref> below [[Isis Lock]] (known to boatmen as 'Louse Lock') through [[Sheepwash Channel]].<ref name="canalplan">{{cite web| url=http://canalplan.org.uk/waterway/edm8 | title=River Thames (Sheepwash Channel) | website=canalplan.org.uk|publisher= CanalPlanAC | location=UK | access-date=15 September 2012 }}</ref> This leads to an elongated navigable circuit at the Thames called "Four Rivers" above [[Osney Lock]].

After {{convert|330|yd|m}} below Isis Lock the Oxford Canal ends abruptly at [[Hythe Bridge Street]] near to the current [[Hythe Bridge]] over the [[Castle Mill Stream]], a backwater of the [[River Thames]] that runs parallel to the Oxford Canal for its southernmost part. The canal used to continue through a bridge under Hythe Bridge Street to a [[turning basin]] and goods wharf south of Hythe Bridge Street. It then continued via a bridge under [[Worcester Street]] to end in a coal wharf beside New Road. In 1951 the basin and wharves were filled in and [[Nuffield College, Oxford|Nuffield College]] has taken part of the site.

The locks on the canal are as follows.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Waterways Guide 1 Grand Union, Oxford & the South East|last=Collins Nicholson|publisher=Nicholson|year=2006|isbn=978-0-00-721109-8|location=London|pages=139–165}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+Locks on the Oxford Canal
!Lock Number
!Name
!Rise of lock
|-
|1
|Hawkesbury Lock (to/from [[Coventry Canal]])
|{{convert|1|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|2–7
|Hilmorton Locks
|{{convert|18|ft|7|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|8–16
|Napton Bottom Lock to Napton Top Lock
|{{convert|49|ft|1|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|17–21
|Claydon Top Lock to Claydon Bottom Lock
|{{convert|30|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|22
|Elkington's Lock
|{{convert|6|ft|5|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|23
|Varney's Lock
|{{convert|5|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|24
|Broadmoor Lock
|{{convert|7|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|25
|Cropredy Lock
|{{convert|5|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|26
|Slat Mill Lock
|{{convert|8|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|27
|Bourton Lock
|{{convert|6|ft|5|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|28
|Hardwick Lock
|{{convert|7|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|29
|Banbury Lock
|{{convert|5|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|30
|Grant's Lock
|{{convert|9|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|31
|King's Sutton Lock
|{{convert|10|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|32
|Nell Bridge Lock
|{{convert|8|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|33
|Aynho Weir Lock
|{{convert|1|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|34
|Somerton Deep Lock
|{{convert|12|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|35
|Heyford Common Lock
|{{convert|7|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|36
|Allen's Lock
|{{convert|5|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|37
|Dashwood Lock
|{{convert|9|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|38
|Northbrook Lock
|{{convert|5|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|39
|Pigeon Lock
|{{convert|8|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|40
|Baker's Lock
|{{convert|8|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|41
|Shipton Weir Lock
|{{convert|2|ft|5|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|42
|Roundham Lock
|{{convert|7|ft|5|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|43
|Kidlington Green Lock
|{{convert|4|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|44A
|Duke's Lock
|{{convert|5|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|44B
|Duke's Lock (to/from the Thames via Duke's Cut)
|
|-
|45
|Wolvercote Lock
|{{convert|3|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
|-
|46
|Isis Lock (to/from the Thames via Sheepwash Channel)
|{{convert|3|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|}
The canal rises from Hawkesbury Junction to Hilmorton Top Lock, there is then a {{convert|6+1/2|mi|adj=on}} pound to Braunston Junction, where it joins the Grand Union canal. From Napton Junction the Oxford canal rises again though the Napton Locks. After Napton Top Lock there is a {{convert|10+1/2|mi|adj=on}} pound to Claydon Top Lock, from where the canal falls towards Oxford. {{clear left}}

[[File:Boat On The Oxford Canal, Banbury.jpg|thumb|right|The Oxford Canal passes mainly through the [[Oxfordshire]], [[Northamptonshire]] and [[Warwickshire]] countryside, and is often considered to be one of the most scenic canals in Britain. The construction of the Oxford Canal in 1790 aided [[Banbury]]'s growth. The shot is taken at [[Tooley's Boatyard]], Banbury.]]