A canal was built through Colton in the late 18th. Century by James Brindley and some local Colton people found employment on or around it. A wharf was built along the canal where it passed through the Bellamour Estate.
On the 14th. June 1839 the stretch of canal between Colton and Rugeley was the scene of a bloody murder. The body of a young woman called Christina Collins was found floating in the canal where it went through Colton on towards Rugeley. She had been raped and brutally murdered. It emerged that she had been travelling from Liverpool on the canal system intending to join her husband in London for the cost of £1. Eventually two bargees were arrested for her murder. They were tried and subsequently hung. When she was dragged out of the canal her body was carried up some steps and they came to be known locally as ‘The Bloody Steps’.
Nowadays the canal has many pleasure boats passing through Colton. If you are on one, stop off and come and take a look at Colton!