BW3
Upper Avon Navigation
Description
Records of the Upper Avon Navigation: an illustrated guide book to the navigation c1965.
Date
c1965
Reference code
BW3
Access Status
These records are available immediately for research
Administrative / Biographical history
The Upper Avon runs from Stratford to Evesham where it joins the Lower Avon and is 18.3 miles long. Lord Windsor's family were granted ownership of the river in 1664. By the end of the 18th century the Upper Avon was in a poor condition. In 1813 William James gained ownership. The Upper Avon was sold in 1824 to a syndicate due to James's bankruptcy. The Stratford Canal leased the upper river in 1842. The river was 17 1/2 miles long, with 11 pound locks and 1 watergate and was able to take craft about 58 feet by 11 feet 6 inches. Upper Avon traffic was taken from 1852 by the arrival of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway at Evesham. After 1857 the river became disused, although acquired on behalf of the railway company in 1859. Complete decay followed. The Upper Avon Navigation Trust Limited are now responsible for the navigation which was reopened to Stratford in 1974.
System of arrangement
It has not been possible to ascertain any original structure of record-keeping from the small number of records held for this company. The fonds has therefore been arranged in chronological order.