In 1779, the Stroudwater canal opened and terminated at Wallbridge, until 1789, when a basin and two locks were built, to accommodate a junction with the Thames and Severn canal. In 1954, this basin was later filled in. The Canal Company Agent's House (HQ of the Stroudwater Canal 1797) still survives today.

In 1885, the Midland railway went across Wallbridge by viaduct, part of which still survives. Then in 1825, the Cainscross Road opened, giving Stroud a more direct route. Stroud's southern bypass, Dr Newton's Way, was built on the site of the former railway in the 1980s.