Kingswood/Lapworth
There were several designs for the link to the Warwick and Birmingham Canal; one of which was over one mile long. The canal terminated at Kingswood in 1802 in a large basin when finance ran out. It must be noted that Lock 21 was not built at that time so the water level in the basin was six feet higher than it is at the present time. The link to the W&B canal was the channel at right angles which was a lock chamber with that six feet fall in level in the Link to the Warwick and Birmingham. When construction of the canal commenced again from Kingswood, Lock 21 was built, the level of the basin was reduced and the gates on the lock on the Link were removed. The W&B company objected because existing agreements guaranteed them a lock full of water from every boat travelling through the junction on the Stratford Canal; in this new arrangement there were occasions when the W&B could actually lose water to the Stratford Canal. A legal dispute continued from 1812 to 1816 and eventually the lock on the Link was made into a stop lock to ensure no water was lost by the W&B. This arrangement needed permanent staff to monitor it and eventually a new lock from the canal above Lock 21 was built and the lock on the link was filled in. This new lock is No 20. This new lock was really redundant when the canals were nationalised but both locks Nos 20 and 21 are still operational and the original lock chamber on the Link was opened up about 1996. Kingswood junction is seven locks up the Lapworth flight.