History of the River Avon (Stratford)

The River Avon has never been a navigation on the scale of the River Severn, into which it flows at Tewkesbury, but it has nevertheless enjoyed a distinguished commercial history.

In the early 17th century, William Sandys of Fladbury devoted a large proportion of his fortune in creating a navigation along the Avon which allowed the passage of barges up to 30 tons. But since the early 18th century, the Upper and Lower Avon - the divide being at Evesham - have been under separate and oft-confused ownership.

By the late 19th century, largely in the face of increasing rail competition, the Upper Avon fell into commercial disuse and by World War I there was very little traffic. Decline steadily followed, and the Lower Avon became unnavigable upstream of Pershore throughout World War II until in 1949 it was purchased by Douglas Barwell. A Trust was formed and by 1965, aided by previously unseen levels of voluntary activity, the navigation had been restored as far as Evesham.

Meanwhile the reinstatement between 1961 and 1964 of the southern Stratford-upon-Avon Canal, at that time under the ownership of the National Trust, gave impetus to fully restoring the river to form a circular route comprising the River Avon, Worcester and Birmingham Canal, Stratford-upon-Avon Canal and the River Severn. Support for restoration evidently ran high, with one anonymous individual donating £100,000 - an incredible amount at the time. Led by David Hutchings, who had worked for the National Trust in restoring the Southern Stratford, the restorers managed to complete the circle and give the Avon fully navigable status once more. It was reopened by HM The Queen Mother in 1974.

In recent years diverse plans have been mooted to extend navigation from Stratford to Warwick, where a new connection would be made to the Grand Union Canal.