About the Cotswold Canals
The Cotswold Canals comprise the Stroudwater Navigation and the Thames & Severn Canal. Together this 37 mile route used to link the River Severn at Framilode, to the River Thames near Lechlade, both of which are in Gloucestershire, UK.
Most of the route is now unnavigable and this website shows the current condition of the Canals through some 300+ photographs. These photos depict all the surviving major structures, infilled sections and other obstructions to navigation. Click 'Photo Index' on the top menu to select & view the photos.
Historical Outline
The Stroudwater Navigation was constructed between 1775 and 1779. The canal linked Framilode, on the River Severn, with Wallbridge in Stroud.
The canal was officially abandoned in 1954 by Act of Parliament.
Work started on the Thames & Severn Canal in 1783 with the opening in 1789. This canal was abandoned in two phases; between the River Thames and Whitehall Bridge on 10 May 1927; and between Whitehall Bridge & Wallbridge, Stroud on 9 June 1933.
