Wide beam section up to bridge 15 (Barge Lock 8)
Take care using the navigable culvert under the M5 as it has very low headroom. Although the headroom is normally 6ft (1.8m), it can vary depending to the flow from the Body Brook into the canal. It's good advice to use the gauge at the culvert entrance before navigating through.
Lock Gates
Tunnel AqueductDroitwich Barge Canal locks Number 1 to 8 going East from the River Severn.
Droitwich Junction Canal locks Number 8 to 1 going East to the Worcester and Birmingham Canal.
History of the Droitwich Canals
The canals are two man-made waterways that run through the town of Droitwich Spa in Worcestershire, England. The canals were built in the late 18th century and early 19th century to transport salt, which was a valuable commodity at the time.
Constructed by the engineer James Brindley.
The first canal, the Droitwich Barge Canal, was built in 1771 to transport salt from Droitwich to the River Severn. The canal was originally just over three miles long and had four locks. The second canal, the Droitwich Junction Canal, was built in 1854 to connect the Barge Canal to the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. This canal was just over a mile long and had three locks.
The salt industry in Droitwich dates back to Roman times and the town was an important centre for salt production in medieval times. By the 18th century, the town was producing large quantities of salt, which was transported by packhorse to the River Severn for distribution across the country. The construction of the Droitwich Barge Canal made this transportation much easier and more efficient, as the salt could be transported by boat directly to the river.
The canal was originally used exclusively for the transportation of salt, but over time it became a more general-purpose canal, carrying a variety of goods and passengers. The construction of the Droitwich Junction Canal in 1854 further improved transportation links in the area, allowing boats to travel from Droitwich to Birmingham and other major cities.
The canals had slipped into decline by 1939 and for many years they lay derelict and overgrown in fact little more than a ditch but both The Droitwich Barge Canal (approx. 7 miles) joins Droitwich Junction Canal (approx. half a mile) re-opened in 2011, after years of hard work by the Droitwich Canal Trust, local volunteers and the C & RT in their former guise of British Waterways.
However, in the 1970's and 1980's there was renewed interest in Britain's canal heritage and a restoration project was undertaken to restore the Droitwich Canals to their former glory. The project involved dredging the canals, repairing the locks and bridges and rebuilding sections of the canal that had been lost.
The canals were reopened to navigation in 2011, and today they are popular with boaters, anglers and walkers.
The Droitwich Canals are a testament to the importance of Britain's canal heritage and the role that canals played in the industrial development of the country.
Users of the information displayed in this website or in websites linked to directly or indirectly, do so on the basis that it is a guide only. I Do Canals or its directors, partners or associates do not accept any responsibility for inaccuracies, omissions, costs incurred or disappointments of any kind what-so-ever. It is the users responsibility to check directly with any services, displayed, listed or linked to in or from this website, or associated parties with regards to (but not limited to) directions, costs, facilities, services, hospitality, availability, accommodation, etc. There is no implied recommendation for any of the entries or firms listed, nor is any criticism implied for any entry or firm not yet listed.
We have added 103 Waterways and there are 2685 entries listed and displayed on our maps and/or the resource pages:
Waterways Resources -
Boat Build & Fit Out -
Waterside Attractions. We continue to add items on a very regular basis.
Many entries have several services on offer, on average 5 services (some have many more). This means there are approx. 5 x the number of services listed.
