Oxford Inscriptions: Oxford Canal, off Hythe Bridge Street
TO
COMMEMORATE
200 YEARS OF THE
OXFORD CANAL
1790–1990
UNVEILED BY THE LORD MAYOR
OF OXFORD, COUNCILLOR JOHN POWER
29TH SEPTEMBER 1993
[Oxford coat of arms
and
the
Canals 200 logo]
ORIGINAL DESIGN BY WILLIAM BIRD
Wikipedia:
The Oxford Canal
Between September 1769 and January 1790 a 91-mile canal was built from Hawkesbury near Coventry to New Road, Oxford at a cost of £307,000. Its principal purpose was to bring coal to Oxford. The final stretch to New Road was opened on 1 January 1790.
The Duke of Marlborough built a cut at Wolvercote to link the canal to the River Thames.
In 1937 the canal terminal was sold to Lord Nuffield as a site for Nuffield College, and the south end of the canal is now at Hythe Bridge Street.