As originally authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1792, it consisted of a main line from collieries at Wyrley and Essington to the Birmingham Canal Navigations at Horseley Fields Junction, near Wolverhampton, with a branch to Birchills, to the north of Walsall.

Before construction was completed, a second Act obtained in 1794 authorised a large extension to the east, running from Birchills Junction, where a short stub to the original terminus remained, through Pelsall to Brownhills, where there were coal mines, and then dropping through thirteen locks to Huddlesford Junction.

[7][8] To the south, the canal is level for 6.2 miles (10.0 km) to Longwood Junction via the Daw End Branch, where it joins the Rushall Canal, or for 16.2 miles (26.1 km) along the main line to Horseley Fields Junction and the BCN Main Line to Wolverhampton and Birmingham.

[7] The branch to Lichfield and Huddlesford heads east, and the start of the canal is spanned by a grade II listed cast iron bridge.

Each side of the elliptical arch is made from two castings, which are bolted together in the centre, and one of them carries the inscription "Horseley Ironworks 1829".