The two Warwick canals opened officially on 19 December 1799, but were probably unfinished, as no trade occurred until the following March.

Parts of the southern section of the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal were dry, while there was little traffic on the northern section after 1939, which allowed the Great Western Railway to repair the Lifford swing bridge near Kings Norton Junction in 1942 in such a way that it could not be opened.

The route from Kings Norton to Kingswood junctions was the scene of one of the first campaigns by the fledgling Inland Waterways Association, when Tom Rolt announced in 1947 that he intended to navigate along the canal.

The railway company had to jack the bridge up, to allow his boat to pass,[3] and the event was widely reported in newspapers, gaining useful publicity.

South of Kingswood Junction the Southern Stratford Canal descends through locks to the River Avon at Stratford-upon-Avon.