It provided a link between the Trent and Mersey Canal at Great Haywood Junction in the north and the River Severn at Stourport in the south.

It was one of the new generation of canals, which instead of following the contours, used cuttings and embankments to provide a more direct route, and had locks organised into flights where continuing on the level was not possible.

Its effect on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire was immediate, with most of the traffic which had previously travelled northwards from Birmingham diverting onto the newer faster route.

The plans were drawn up by Dugdale Houghton, a firm of surveyors from Birmingham,[2] and a bill was presented to Parliament, but the canal was never constructed, as the Staffordshire and Worcestershire company reduced their tolls rather than lose them altogether.

[4] It is also the highest point on the Shropshire Union Canal main line, which descends through 46 locks to Ellesmere Port.