The canal lies between Springfield and Woolstone and west of Newlands.
The first canal in Britain was from Worsley to Manchester which opened in 1776. It was possible to travel from London to Birmingham by 1780, by using the Thames and the Oxford Canal. The Grand Junction Canal originated from a meeting at a Stony Stratford inn headed by the Marquis of Buckingham in 1792. Much of the £500,000 needed to construct the canal was put up by the Marquis and the canal was designed by James Barnes and William Jessop. The Grand Junction Canal was to be a quicker and more direct route from London to Birmingham.
By 1797 two stretches had been completed – London to Fenny Stratford and from Braunston to Blisworth. In 1800 the aqueduct over the River Ouse between Wolverton and Cosgrove was opened and in 1805 Blisworth Tunnel opened, thus completing the canal.