Geograph - photograph every grid square

The canal has a complex history, being an amalgamation of existing canal companies. The Birmingham and Fazeley was authorised by an Act of Parliament obtained in 1784. The new company and the Birmingham Canal merged soon afterwards, becoming the awkwardly named Birmingham & Birmingham & Fazeley Canal Company. John Smeaton was the engineer, the contractor was John Pinkerton and work started in April 1786. Although Pinkerton had the contract removed in February 1789 resulting in a court case not settled until 1801. Agreement was obtained from the Oxford Canal Company that they would complete the route to the River Thames at Oxford, and one from Coventry Canal that they would extend their canal from Atherstone to Fazeley, and agreed that they would complete the Coventry Canal's route from Fazeley as far as Whittington, as the Coventry Canal company could not finance the whole route. The Trent and Mersey would finish that link by building the remainder of the route to Fradley Junction. The canal is 15 miles long with 38 locks to provide a link between the Coventry Canal and Birmingham and thereby connect Birmingham to London via the Oxford Canal.