File:Dry abandoned canal south of Braunston - geograph.org.uk - 1395931.jpg

English: Dry abandoned canal south of Braunston Looking south along the course of a long-abandoned loop of the Oxford Canal (foreground). The line of trees marks the embankment of the dismantled Leamington to Weedon railway line.

When first built in the late 18th century, the Oxford Canal followed the contours of the land, meandering around hills and along the sides of valleys to avoid the expense of digging cuttings and building embankments.

By the 1830s it had become obvious that a more direct (and, therefore, faster) route was needed so much of the Oxford Canal north of Wolfhampcote was straightened. This involved many short sections of new canal to bypass the worst twists and turns of the original route. The overall distance between Hawkesbury and Oxford was reduced by about 20 miles to its present 77 miles.

The most southerly section to be straightened was that from Braunston to southwest of Wolfhampcote.

From the north, the Oxford Canal approaches Braunston closely following the 100 metres (325 feet) contour line. The original route rounded Braunston hill then continued east along a section now regarded as part of the Grand Union Canal to Braunston toll stop (later it was joined at this point by the Grand Junction Canal from London).

From the toll stop, the Oxford Canal turned south and passed under the Holyhead road (today's A45) before swinging west (the truncated section as far as the A45 is now the entrance to Braunston Marina).

South of the Holyhead road, the canal's remains can still be seen in this photo as it crosses the field beside the farm track to Wolfhampcote. Many years later, the Weedon to Leamington railway embankment was built across the abandoned course of the canal. From this railway bank, the original route ran south following the east side of the River Leam valley for nearly a mile. With the river higher than further downstream and the valley narrower, the canal builders were able to build a low embankment to carry the canal over the river: the embankment is intact to this day even though the canal has been infilled.

Strictly speaking the crossing of the Leam was an aqueduct; in fact, the river passed under the solid embankment through small culverts.

From the aqueduct, the canal continued west until a point near the Great Central Railway embankment (which was built 70 years after the canal had been straightened) whereupon it turned north towards Wolfhampcote. There is little to be seen on this section to betray the canal's route; however,at Wolfhampcote itself, the old course of the canal is still water-filled as a series of fishing pools.

A tunnel, just 33 yards long, carried the canal under a small rise in the ground near Wolfhampcoate Manor. The old route then crossed the current route beside Wolfhampcote Bridge (bridge 97) and looped northwest then southwest round another small rise until it joined the present-day alignment 150 metres west of Ivy Bridge (bridge 98).

This was the circuitous detour tackled by the 1830s straightening scheme. A new junction was built at Braunston and a new length of canal constructed to cross the Leam valley on a high straight embankment known as Braunston Puddle Bank, The River Leam flows under this embankment through a substantial aqueduct. From the end of the embankment, the straightened route forges straight ahead through the higher ground at Wolfhampcote in a cutting.

The new line - from the junction, across Braunston Puddle Bank, and through Wolfhampcote cutting - is just over three-quarters of a mile: the original route between these points was three and a quarter miles.

This new Leam crossing was the southernmost example of the 1830s straightening work: from here, the canal still follows its original wandering course to Oxford.