The Oxford Canal is amongst the earliest of cuts in the Canal Age. Initially designed by James Brindley and succeeded by Samuel Simcock and Robert Whitworth, the canal was opened in sections between 1774 and 1790 with the purpose of bringing coal from the Coventry coalfields to Oxford and the River Thames.

The Oxford canal stretches from the city of dreaming spires all the way to the three spires of Coventry. The canal became the supply line for industrial production in the west end of Oxford. Breweries, jam factories, bakeries and other industry sprang up around St Thomas' Parish - as each required the energy produced from burning coal. The coal was sourced from mines in the midlands and transported down the Oxford canal to the coal wharf.

Ironically, it was another coal-powered industry which would lead to the decline of the canal age - the railway. Trains could transport huge quantities in quicker times with fewer disruptions. Faced with such competition, canal use and maintenance declined.

The post-war years saw the advent of yet another mode of transport, the automobile. By the 1950s, the Oxford coal wharf was acquired by William Morris and redeveloped as present day Nuffield College and Worcester Street car park.