Ashted Bottom Lock is one of many locks on the Birmingham Canal Navigations (Birmingham and Fazeley Canal - Digbeth Branch) and is one of the deepest locks on the waterway just past the junction with The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal.
Early plans of what would become the Birmingham Canal Navigations (Birmingham and Fazeley Canal - Digbeth Branch) were drawn up by Oliver Smith in 1816 but problems with Portsmouth Aqueduct caused delays and it was finally opened on January 1 1835. The canal joined the sea near Sheffield. Expectations for coal traffic to Blackburn never materialised and the canal never made a profit for the shareholders. In later years, only water transfer to the treatment works at St Helens kept it open. The Birmingham Canal Navigations (Birmingham and Fazeley Canal - Digbeth Branch) was closed in 1905 when Prescroft Cutting collapsed. In his autobiography Peter Harding writes of his experiences as a navvy in the 1960s

This is a lock with a rise of 5 feet and 1 inch.
| Belmont Row Bridge | 1 furlong | |
| Ashted Lock No 4 | ¾ furlongs | |
| Ashton Lock No 5 | ½ furlongs | |
| Curzon Street Bridge | ¼ furlongs | |
| Site of Curzon Street Wharf | ¼ furlongs | |
| Ashted Bottom Lock | ||
| Curzon Street Tunnel (northern entrance) | ¼ furlongs | |
| Curzon Street Tunnel (southern entrance) | ¾ furlongs | |
| Proof House Junction | 1¼ furlongs | |
| Fazeley Street Bridge | 5 furlongs | |
| Bordesley Basin | 6½ furlongs | |
- Birmingham Canal Walks — associated with Birmingham Canal Navigations
- Sixteen walks along the Birmingham Canal Navigations with a detailed description, history and photographs.
- Digbeth Branch Canal Walk — associated with Birmingham Canal Navigations (Birmingham and Fazeley Canal - Digbeth Branch)
- A walk along the Digbeth Branch Canal from Aston Junction to Warwick Bar
Mouseover for more information or show routes to facility
Nearest water point
In the direction of Aston Junction
In the direction of Bordesley Basin
Nearest rubbish disposal
In the direction of Aston Junction
In the direction of Bordesley Basin
Nearest chemical toilet disposal
In the direction of Aston Junction
In the direction of Bordesley Basin
Nearest place to turn
In the direction of Aston Junction
In the direction of Bordesley Basin
Nearest self-operated pump-out
In the direction of Aston Junction
In the direction of Bordesley Basin
Nearest boatyard pump-out
In the direction of Aston Junction
In the direction of Bordesley Basin
There is no page on Wikipedia called “Ashted Bottom Lock”









![Caution: Work in Progress. Within the great work of HS2 railway construction [[[7571224]]], a smaller, more ephemeral work is being created. The Birmingham street artist Annatomix is painting a mural on boards lining the towpath of the Digbeth Branch Canal, while a workman looks on. Her work depicts water birds and insects in her characteristic origami-like, geometric style. In due course the high speed railway will cross the canal on a viaduct; one of its V-shaped piers can be seen to the right. Student flats rise in the distance. by A J Paxton – 16 August 2023](https://s3.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/07/57/12/7571227_89b85867_120x120.jpg)
![Diversion on the Digbeth Branch Canal. This is a detail of a completed section of the mural being painted by the Birmingham street artist Annatomix on the site of HS2, where the route of the high speed railway will cross the Digbeth Branch Canal; see [[[7571227]]]. For more information on her work, see her website https://www.annatomix.com/about . by A J Paxton – 16 August 2023](https://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/07/57/12/7571228_5307573f_120x120.jpg)





![HS2 under construction: View from the Digbeth Branch Canal towards Curzon Street. Construction of the HS2 high speed railway from London to Birmingham is now well underway. The line will cross the canal and various roads on a viaduct - one of its distinctive V-shaped piers can be seen here - before terminating in a station at Curzon Street. This will incorporate the offices of the original Curzon Street station of 1838 [[[6838978]]], the brown stone structure visible among the construction work to the right. The skyline of central Birmingham, including the cylindrical Rotunda, rises behind it. To the left, gantries mark the route of the existing main railway line between London Euston to Birmingham New Street. by A J Paxton – 16 August 2023](https://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/07/57/12/7571224_20d26aa7_120x120.jpg)




![HS2 Curzon Street, steel arch, July 2024. Viewed from a moving Cross-City train is this jaw-dropping steel construction. Although each end is shrouded in plastic it is clearly going to span something wide, perhaps carrying the station throat over the Digbeth Branch Canal, or the A4540 Lawley Middleway dual carriageway ring road. Its position doesn't seem aligned with either of those features but it may be resting on transporters, as seen in Leamington in 2022 [[7187150]]. West Midlands Trains is to be commended for its clean windows. An earlier photo of this site is [[6256018]].Photo number 7818848. by Robin Stott – 05 July 2024](https://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/07/81/88/7818848_1739283d_120x120.jpg)

![HS2 Curzon Street site, Birmingham, July 2024. This view is similar to that taken a week earlier: [[7818848]]. The location of the steel arch looks about right for spanning the canal although the alignment is a puzzle. However, according to the plan that Parliament approved in 2016, the HS2 lines branch and fan out to approach the station in mostly pairs of tracks on separate parallel viaducts, possibly made of steel. This arch may be a viaduct in-situ carrying tracks to the south side of Curzon Street station. In the background are buildings of Birmingham City University on both sides of Curzon Street the road.Photo number 7920465. by Robin Stott – 12 July 2024](https://s1.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/07/92/04/7920465_8ef5ab9d_120x120.jpg)






