regent’s canal fact file · little venice it runs through regent’s park, where it is overlooked...

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Regent’s Canal Fact File

This Fact File will help you to find out more about the canal that runs right through the city of London.

• Discover why it was built• Find out who built it• Hear all about a bridge explosion• Learn about famous people and places

Visiting the Regent’s Canal is like stepping into a hidden world. From the colourful collection of narrowboats at Little Venice it runs through Regent’s Park, where it is overlooked by London Zoo’s vast aviary. In Camden, it passes the craft stalls and quirky clothing shops of the famous market. It passes parks, theatres and colleges, ending in a spectacular way at the Thames. In 2020, this historic waterway celebrates its 200th birthday.

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Regent’s Canal Map

River Thames

CamdenTown

Camley StNatural Park

LittleVenice Paddington

Victoria Park

Old FordLock (Regents)

MileEnd

Kings Cross

CITY OF LONDON

IslingtonTunnel

BattlebridgeBasin

City RoadBasin

MaidaHill

Tunnel

Regent’sPark

CumberlandBasin

Regent’s Canal

CamdenLocks

PrimroseHill

SturtsLock

St PancrasBasin

Mile EndLock Johnson’s

Lock

LimehouseShip Lock

To River Lee

Hertford Union Canal or Duckett’s Cut’ Acton’s

Lock

Limehouse

KingslandBasin

LimehouseBasin

Salmon Lane Lock

Old Ford Lock (Lee)

Bow Wharf

Places of Interest Key

Commercial Road Lock

Limehouse Cut

The Lee Navigation

PaddingtonArm

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London Zoo

London Central Mosque

London Canal Museum4

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5 Old Gas Holders, Hackney

Gas Holders, St Pancras

North

South

West East

Visit the online map of our canal and river network

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Did you know?

• The Regent’s Canal is 14km long • There are three tunnels and 12 locks• The canal joins the River Thames at Limehouse. • The work to build the canal started in 1812 and it was opened in 1820. • It cost £772,000 to build (approximately £45 million in today’s money)!

Canals were being built all over Britain to carry goods such as coal and building materials. This canal was built to link the Grand Union Canal in Paddington to the River Thames at Limehouse. It meant that sailing ships arriving in London from all over the world could unload their cargo onto barges and narrowboats on the Regent’s Canal. These boats could then transport the cargo to other parts of the country by canal.

Entrance to the Regent’s Canal from the River Thames at Limehouse in 1828.

Regent’s Canal: Why was it built?

In 1825 alone, 504,000 tons of cargo was carried along the canal which is the same weight as 63,000 elephants!

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Who built the Regent’s Canal?

There were hundreds of workers, called navvies, who dug out the canal channel and built the canal. Stone masons, brick layers and carpenters also helped to build the canal.

What job would you like to have done on the canal?

Thomas Homer was one of the first to promote the building of a new canal and later became the Super Intendent of the canal company. However, later he was found stealing money so he was arrested and sentenced to 7 years in Australia! He never arrived there though, and the reminder of his life in England was a mystery.

The main architect was John Nash and the chief engineer was James Morgan. Nash also designed Regent’s Park and redesigned some of Buckingham Palace. He was friends with the Prince Regent who later became George IV. Nash persuaded the Prince to allow the canal to be called the Regent’s Canal.

Nash wanted to build the canal through Regent’s Park, however officers in the government thought the people who lived there would object to the rough trade on the canal. So, the canal was built round the edge of the park.John Nash (Achitect)

Navvie (worker)The soil that was dug out from the Maida Hill tunnel was used to make Lord’s Cricket Ground.

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What was the impact on

Victorian London?

Before the canal was built, most of the area was agricultural land, market gardens and quiet villages. The building of the canal and the railways changed them into busy industrial areas. Warehouses and factories were built next to the canal so goods did not have to be transported far.

Wharves were built to load and unload goods from the boats.People moved from the country to get work in London so houses, schools and shops were built for them.

A wharf is a man-made, level area where boats

can dock to unload goods

Throughout the Victorian era (1837 – 1901) London’s population grew as more people came looking for work. By the 1870s there were over 3 million people living in London - the biggest city in Europe.

Coal became one of the most important cargoes. The Victorians used coal to heat their homes. In their factories, coal heated water, producing steam to power machines. Coal was heated to make gas for lighting streets and homes. It was stored in big gasometer tanks, and you can still see the giant frames today.

Victorians

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The first railway station in London was built at Euston in 1837 only 17 years after the Regent’s Canal was opened. Trains could travel much faster than boats.

It took 4 days for a narrowboat pulled by a horse to get from London to Birmingham and only 4 hours for a steam train. Eventually most cargoes were carried by train and the canals were used less and less.

Arrival of the railways!

The railway from King’s Cross station goes under the canal and the railway from Euston station goes over the canal.

The railways opened up huge opportunites for

travel and transporatation.

In 1845 the canal directors received an offer of £1million to convert the canal into a railway. The money was never raised so the railway was never built.

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Little Venice

Little Venice is the point where the Paddington stretch of the Grand Union Canal joins the Regent’s Canal. It is thought that it was named Little Venice by Robert Browning, a poet who lived in the area but spent a lot of time in Italy.

How do these two images of Little Venice compare?

What is similar? What is different?

Places along the Regent’s CanalRats!

They fought the dogs and killed the cats,And bit the babies in the cradles,And ate the cheese out of the vats,

And licked the soup from the cooks’ own ladles,Split open the kegs of salted sprats,Made nests inside men’s Sunday hats,And even spoiled the women’s chats.

A poem by Robert Browning

Here is an engraved picture of Little Venice shortly after the Regent’s Canal opened in 1820

Little Venice in 1820Little Venice today

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Blow-up Bridge

In 1874 a boat carrying gunpowder exploded under Macclesfield Bridge in Regent’s Park. The explosionwas so loud that it was heard all over London.

The canal was reopened within five days of the explosion. The bridge was rebuilt using the same heavy cast iron columns. Ever since theexplosion Macclesfield Bridge has been called Blow-Up Bridge.

Early in the morning of Friday 2nd October 1874, five boats were being towed by a steam powered tug along the Regent’s Canal in Regent’s Park. One of the boats, called the Tilbury, was carrying a cargo of about five tons of gunpowder. The boat was on its way to Nottingham where the gunpowder would be used for blasting in the coal mines.Just before 5 o’clock in the morning, when the Tilbury was passing underMacclesfield Bridge, the gunpowder caught fire and there was an enormous explosion. The bridge was

completely demolished and thehouses nearby suffered damage to windows, walls, furniture and roofs. The loud explosion woke people up in their houses and they rushed outon to the streets in a panic still in their night clothes. There was thicksmoke everywhere and people thought that the end of the world hadcome. Three of the boatmen died.

Places along the Regent’s Canal

The Macclesfield Bridge in the 1820s (before the explosion).

A newspaper article about the explosion. Newspapers were very important in the past. How would an accident like this be reported today?

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There is a hidden network of underground tunnels which link the canal to the railway. The canal entrance to the tunnels is called Dead Dog Basin. Nobody knows how it got this name.


Camden

In Victorian times Camden was an important link between the railway and the canal.It was a busy industrial town with factories and warehouses. The area was covered in soot and grime from the railways.

Now, Camden is a popular tourist destination, a home to artists and musicians and the warehouses have been changed into shops, markets and restaurants.You can see plenty of evidence showing what Camden was like in the past by looking at the buildings and canal structures alongside the towpath.

These buildings are now part of Camden Lock market. They were originally timber yards and stables.

The roving bridge was built so that horses could cross over the canal to the other towpath.

Before boats had engines, they were pulled by horses walking along the towpath. The ropes attaching the horses to the boats rubbed deep grooves in the metal strips on the sides of the bridges.

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Battlebridge Basin was built using the soil dug out of the new Islington tunnel.After trading boats stopped using the Regent’s Canal, the basin lay empty except for a couple of sunken cars and plans were made to fill it in. However, in 1978 a group of boat owners managed to save it and turn it into boat moorings.

Battlebridge Basin has a number of old warehouses around it including a jam factory, saw mills and a flour mill. Although the warehouses have been redeveloped into flats, you can still see the hoists on the walls which were used for unloading goods from canal barges. You can now visit the London Canal Museum in Battlebridge Basin.


Battlebridge Basin

Carlo Gatti and the ice trade

In the 1850s Carlo Gatti opened an ice warehouse in the building which is now the London Canal Museum.In winter, Gatti gathered ice from the Regent’s Canal, and he also imported ice from Norway. People used the ice to keep food cold (and fresh) before fridges were invented.Gatti also made the eating of ice cream popular with Victorians.

You can find out more about Carlo Gatti at the London Canal Museum.

Look at this map from 1891 to locate some of the warehouses in Battlebridge Basin.

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Legging through a tunnel

About one o’clock in the morning we reached the Islington tunnel, and here we are enlightened as to another process of barge propulsion, called legging. A couple of strong thick boards, very like in shape to tailors’ sleeve-boards, but twice the size, are hooked onto places formed on each side of the barge, near the head, from which they project like two raised oars. On these two narrow, insecure platforms, the two venturesome boatmen lie on their backs, holding on by grasping the board underneath, and with their legs, up to the waist, hanging over the water.

A lantern, placed at the head of the barge, serves to light the operation which consists of moving the Stourport through the black tunnel, by a measured side-step against the slimy, glistening walls; the right foot is first planted in a half-slanting direction, and the left foot is constantly brought over with a sweep to take the vacated place, until the right can recover its footing; like the operation known as ‘hands over’ by young ladies who play upon the piano in a showy and gymnastic manner.

The Stourport, steered by its commander, Captain Randle, walks through the tunnel in the dead of night, by the aid of its four stout legs, and its four heavily hob-nailed boots, that make a full echoing sound upon the walls like the measured clapping of hands, but disturb not the sleeping inmates of houses and kitchens under which they pass; many of whom, perhaps are utterly ignorant of the black and barge loaded Styx* that flows beneath them.

* N.B. In Greek mythology, the River Styx separated the world of the living from the world of the dead, also called Hades or the underworld.

Islington Tunnel

Near Battlebridge Basin is the Islington tunnel. There is no towpath through the tunnel. When the canal was opened boats were legged through the tunnel by two men lying on their backs and ‘walking’ along the tunnel walls to move the boat.

The Islington tunnel is 875 metres in length, that’s longer than eight football pitches placed end to end!

In 1858 John Hollingshead travelled on a boat called the “Stourport” along the Regent’s Canal. He wrote about his journey for a magazine.

This is an extract from his article.

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Parks and green space

Victoria Park

Victoria Park opened in 1845 and cost £50,000 to build. In Victorian times this was a very poor part of London so the park provided a green space for local people to enjoy. They were even allowed to swim in the pond!

Victoria Park has canals along two of its sides - the Regent’s Canal and the Hertford Union Canal.

The Hertford Union Canal is one and a quarter miles long and has three locks. It was built as a short cut to the River Lee Navigation to save boats having to go on to the River Thames.

Did you know?

The Hertford Union Canal is sometimes called Duckett’s Cut after Sir George Duckett, the man who built it.

Why do you think parks and green spaces are important, even in 1845?

What do you think it would have been like in Victoria Park compared to Battlebridge Basin?

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The park follows the Regent’s Canal from Victoria Park to Limehouse Basin. Mile End Park is a haven for wildlife including birds, butterflies and bees. There are lots of things to do and places to visit in the park. You can find out more at www.towerhamlets.gov.uk

Parks and green space

Mile End

Mile End, now a park, did not always look like this. It was once a row of houses which were destroyed by bombing in the Second World War. Instead of rebuilding the houses the council decided to build a new park.

The Regent’s Canal next to Mile End Park. You can see the tall towerblocks of Canary Wharf in the background.

Did you know you can walk underneath some trees on the Mile End Road? Local people decided they wanted a bridge to connect two areas of Mile End Park on either side of the road. The bridge was planted with trees and plants. It was opened in 2000. It’s real name is ‘The Green Bridge’ but people often call it the Banana Bridge as it is yellow underneath!

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There have always been people from different nationalities living and working in the area. In the 1880s Chinese people began to settle here and opened businesses bringing new cultures and languages to the city.

Limehouse Basin

Limehouse Basin was opened in 1820. It was originally called Regent’s Canal Dock. It was built to link the River Thames with the Regent’s Canal. Ships arriving in London from all over the world unloaded their cargoes onto narrowboats which then travelled by canal to factories across London and throughout England.

What was Limehouse like in the past?Limehouse has always been an important area linked to shipbuilding on the River Thames. In the eighteenth century it was a busy place full of industries including rope making, sail making, barge building, and rigging and mast making.

During the 1930s, dockers crowded Narrow Street, next to Limehouse, each morning hoping to get work unloading the cargo from the ships.

Limehouse Basin is now a quiet area away from the noisy traffic on busy Commercial Road. There are no factories or warehouses – instead there are high rise flats surrounding the basin and it’s a smart place to live.

Many of the boats in the marina have travelled from

other countries, reminding us of

Limehouse’s important link to the sea.

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Look at these pictures of

Limehouse Basin in the 1800s

Images from the past

Images of the canal today

Can you list 5 things that have changed from the past?

Can you list anything that is still the same?

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Timeline: Important dates in the history of the Regent’s Canal

1812: Act of Parliament passedallowing the Regent’s Canalto be built

1857: Carlo Gatti opened an ice

warehouse at Battlebridge Basin

1820: Regent’s Canal completed on 1st August. Cost £772,000 tobuild (approx £45 million today)

1821: 195,000 tons of cargo carried on the Regent’s Canal in its first year

1828: London Zoo opened in Regent’s Park - only for scientists to study exotic animals from overseas

1874: A boat carrying gunpowderexploded under Macclesfield Bridge in Regent’s Park.

1837: Euston station built. The railway goes over the canal

1840: London to Birmingham

takes four hours by train, but

four days by boat

1847: London Zoo opened to the public. It costs one shilling to visit

1852: Kings Cross station built. The railway goes under the canal

1948: Cumberland Basin filled in

with bomb rubble after the

Second World War

Here are some important dates in the history of the Regent’s Canal but they have been muddled up.Cut them out, sort them into the correct order, and stick them onto the timeline.

1930s: By now boats with

engines were becoming more

common place

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1801: Paddington Arm of the Grand Junction Canal opens, linking London to the canal network

1956: Last horse-drawn cargoboat travels along the canal

1801 1956

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1801: Paddington Arm of the Grand Junction Canal opens, linking London to the canal network

1812: Act of Parliament passedallowing the Regent’s Canalto be built

1820: Regent’s Canal completed on 1st August. Cost £772,000 tobuild (approx £45 million today)

1821: 195,000 tons of cargo carried on the Regent’s Canal in its first year

1828: London Zoo opened in Regent’s Park - only for scientists to study exotic animals from overseas

1837: Euston station built. The railway goes over the canal

1840: London to Birmingham takes four hours by train, but four days by boat

1847: London Zoo opened to the public. It costs one shilling to visit

1852: Kings Cross station built. The railway goes under the canal

1948: Cumberland Basin filled inwith bomb rubble after theSecond World War

1956: Last horse-drawn cargoboat travels along the canal

1801 1956

1857: Carlo Gatti opened an ice warehouse at Battlebridge Basin

1874: A boat carrying gunpowderexploded under Macclesfield Bridge in Regent’s Park.

1930s: By now boats with engines were becoming morecommon place

regent’s canal fact file · little venice it runs through regent’s park, where it is overlooked...

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