Tooley's Boatyard

The opening of the Oxford Canal from Hawkesbury Junction to Banbury on 30 March 1778 gave the town a cheap and reliable supply of Warwickshire coal.

[3] The canal's main boat yard in Banbury was the original outlay of today's facility at Tooley's Boatyard,[4] which is an officially listed cultural site.

[5][6] Prior to the arrival of James Brindley's Oxford Canal in 1779, the canal-side area comprised an undeveloped, low-lying water meadows.

[7] Tooley's is the oldest continuous working dry dock in Britain[citation needed] and was established to build and repair the wooden horse-drawn narrow boats which regularly travelled up and down the newly constructed Oxford Canal network.

[5][9][4] A blue plaque to Mr Rolt was unveiled at Tooley's Boatyard, Banbury on 7 August 2010 as part of the centenary celebrations of his birth.