The Stroudwater Canal was built in the 18th century, flourished in the 19th, closed in the 20th and is now being reopened for leisure uses in the 21st century.
Make the most of this historic asset by learning about the changing role of the canal in the past and by getting involved in interesting activities today.
The main content of this website is taken from the records of The Company of Proprietors of the Stroudwater Navigation. You will find searchable summaries of the contents of documents and scanned images of the mainly hand written documents themselves. Together with this you will find stories and information about people and places related to the Canal.
We describe how to navigate the site and search for information from nearly 200 years worth of selected documents relating to building and operating the Canal from 1774 to 1941. In the Stroudwater Archive at Gloucestershire Archives, there are approximately 95,000 pages including the minutes of meetings, letters and information about the vessels and cargoes that used the waterway.
