Kings Norton Junction

Kings Norton Junction
The roving bridge crosses the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, while the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal starts at the top right.
Specifications
Status	Open
Navigation authority	British Waterways
History
Date completed	1807

Kings Norton Junction (grid reference SP052794) is the name of the canal junction where the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal terminates and meets the Worcester and Birmingham Canal at Kings Norton, Birmingham, England.

The Worcester and Birmingham Canal was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1791, after overcoming opposition by the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal and the Birmingham Canal Company. The first saw the new route as direct competition, while the second would not allow a junction between the two canals. The canal was built southwards from Birmingham, where there was a 7-foot (2.1 m) gap between the canal and the Birmingham system. Shortly after passing through King's Norton, a ridge of hills was pierced by the 2,726-yard (2,493 m) Wast Hill Tunnel. Construction of it began in 1794, and by 1807, boats could reach Tardebigge. There was then a period of no activity, but the canal was finally completed to Diglis Basin and the River Severn in 1815. An agreement enabled a stop lock to be built to connect the canal to the Birmingham Canals in the same year.

The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal was authorised in 1793, to ensure that the prosperity being generated by new canal routes would not bypass Startford. Construction began at Kings Norton Junction, less than 3 miles (4.8 km) from Selly Oak Junction, where the Worcester and Birmingham met with the Dudley Canal No. 2 line which passed through the Lapal Tunnel. This route would give easy access to the Dudley coalfields. After the first three years, progress was slow due to a lack of capital, and it was not until the canal reached Kingswood Junction at Lapworth in 1803, where there was a link to the Warwick and Birmingham Canal (later part of the Grand Union Canal), that large volumes of traffic used the canal and Kings Norton Junction. The final section from Lapworth to Stratford was built between 1812 and 1815.