Oxford Canal

OVERVIEW

The Oxford Canal runs for 78 miles north from Oxford up to a junction with the Coventry Canal just to the north of Coventry. Along the way it links up with the Grand Union Canal, and passes through Banbury and Rugby.

Between 1890 and 1805 this provided the main transportation route for any cargo travelling between London and the Midlands, with cargo continuing on to London via the River Thames.

This was, however, a cheaper contour canal - and with the River Thames also taking a meandering route, the total distance of the canal and river were reasonably long. As a result this became a secondary route for cargo once the Grand Union Canal opened in 1805.

The canal was built north to south, and by the time it had reached Napton the scheme had largely run out of money - and although the canal did end up being built in full, the Banbury-Oxford stretch was built at a fairly low spec, with a greater use of spring bridge, deeper locks, and often making use of the meandering River Cherwell.

By 1827 the northern stretch of the canal had been re-surveyed in order to straighten the canal, and straightening works were completed between 1831 and 1834 reducing the length of the canal by nearly fifteen miles. 

Whilst the southern end of the canal particularly struggled following the opening of the more direct route to London along the Grand Union Canal, the northern end remained fairly busy up until 1868, but did have to reduce tolls charged in order to encourage this traffic.

PRACTICALITIES

The route is straight-forward, as you just need to keep following the canal.

Oxford has transport links and (often very expensive) accommodation - it is possible to stay in a town with a quick connection by rail to Oxford more cheaply (Reading is one of my go-to overnight points), but I stayed in the Premier Inn at Kidlington (which is reasonably cheap).

The train line follows the canal, but the train links first come at Tackley and Heyford, with Tackley reached by turning off at Pigeon Lock, and with Heyford lying next to the canal. Kings Sutton is the next option by train.

Banbury has train links and cheaper accommodation (although not as close to the station as it would ideally be), and I split the walks up here.

Between Banbury and Rugby there are no train links - but here I do plan to make use of the 664 bus to get from Leamington Spa to Napton, which runs a few times through the day.

At Rugby you have cheap accommodation and train links, and the next train links come at Coventry Area (now on the Coventry Canal) and in Coventry itself (where you again have cheap accommodation).

USEFUL LINKS

Canal & River Trust Website : Oxford Canal
LDWA Page: Oxford Canal Walk - LDWA Long Distance Paths

STAGES

Oxford to Kidlington (★★★★☆)

Coming soon...

Kidlington to Banbury (★★★☆☆)

Coming soon...

Banbury to Napton

Planned to walk in 2026...

Napton to Coventry

Planned to walk in 2026...