| Summary : The Regent's Canal was built to link the Grand Junction Canal's Paddington Arm, which opened in 1801, with the Thames at Limehouse. It was propsed by Thomas Homer who approached the architect John Nash, who was building Regent's Park, to become a director of the canal company. The Regent's Canal Act was passed in 1812 and Nash's assistant, James Morgan, was appointed as the canal's engineer. The canal was opened in two stages, from Paddington to Camden in 1816, and the rest of the Canal in 1820. A shortage of water for the canal resulted in the river Brent being dammed to create a reservoir in 1835 to provide the necessary water. The dam was extended in 1837 and again in 1854. When the canal opened the main center of trade was the Regent's Canal Dock where seabourne cargo was unloaded onto canal boats. City Road basin was the second most important traffic centre, handling incoming inland freight. Competition from the railways resulted in numerous attempts to turn the Regent's into a railway during the 19th century. However, such attempts proved unsuccessful. In the late 1920s talks took place between the Regent's Canal, the Grand Junction Canal, and the Warwick Canals, resulting in a merger in 1929. The Regent's Canal Company bought the assets of the other two Company's and the new enlarged undertaking was renamed as the Grand Union Canal Company. During the Second World War traffic increased on the canal and new stop gates were installed at King's Cross to limit flooding of the railway tunnels below in the event that the canal was breached by German bombs. The last horse drawn traffic was carried in 1956 and by the late 1960s commercial traffic had all but vanished. In 1968 the Old Limehouse Lock was filled in and a new connection was built between the Regent's and the Limehouse Cut. |
More information : (TQ26108181 to TQ36348108) Grand Union Canal (Regent's Canal) [NAT] (1)
The Regent's Canal extended from a canal terminus near Paddington Station to Limehouse, where it joined up with the River Thames. Work began on the Regent's Canal (also called the North Metropolitan) in 1812 and it was opened in 1820. The canal was designed by the engineer James Morgan. The original Acts of Parliament authorising construction of the Regent's Canal are dated 1812, 1813, 1816, 1819 and 1821. The canal has 40 bridges over it and passes through 12 locks.
In 1929 the Regent's Canal was joined to the Grand Union Canal. (2,3)
Additional reference. (4)
The possibility of a commercial canal across London was raised by Thomas Homer as early as 1795, but was dropped until the development of Regent's Park became public knowledge in 1811; Homer then approached Nash and convinced him to incorporate it into his design. It was originally intended to provide visual interest in the centre of the park, crossing it from the south-west to north-east and connecting with the north-western arm of the ornamental lake. In its final form, it was re-routed around the northwern perimeter to avoid contact between the bargees and the elite residents. From a junction at the present Cumberland Basin (TQ 2828 8365), it extended eastwards to a terminus adjacent to Cumberland Market (TQ 2895 8280), one of three intended markets in the area, northwards and then eastwards to Limehouse, where it joined the River Thames, and in 1929 was extended further westwards to join the Grand Union Canal. Although Nash was responsible for the design, and the Prince Regent was responsible for much of the funding, only the sections closest to Regent's Park are now known as Regetn's Canal, the eastern stretch being the Metropolitan Canal, the western The Grand Union and the section between Cumberland Basin and Cumberland Market the Collateral Cut.
Nash's engineer was James Morgan. The original Acts of Parliament authorising the construction are dated 1812, 1813, 1819 and 1821, and the canal was eventually opened in 1820 after considerable opposition and financial difficulty.
The Collateral Cut was backfilled in 1942-3 with rubble from the blitz, though some sections of its channel survive to a depth of up to 3m; the remainder survives, with a width of between 45m and 65m and a maximum depth of 7m. (5) |