Regent's Canal Fact File

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. 1 Regent’s Canal Map Camden North Locks Primrose Hill Regent’s T Kingsland h Canal e West East L Cumberland Basin e e Basin N St Pancras a v i Basin Sturts g Paddington 2 a South 1 3 Lock t i Arm Camden Old Ford o Islington n Hertford Union Canal Regent’s Town Lock (Regents) 4 Tunnel Acton’s or Duckett’s Cut’ Park Lock Camley St Victoria Natural Park Park Old Ford Lock (Lee) 5 Maida Hill Kings Cross Bow Wharf Little Paddington Tunnel Battlebridge City Road Venice Basin Basin Mile Mile End End Lock Johnson’s Lock CIT F LNDN To River Lee Limehouse Cut Salmon Lane Lock Limehouse Commercial Road Lock Places of Interest Key Limehouse Ship Lock 1 oo et osue 2 Tham Limehouse oo oo River es Basin 3 s oes St s 4 oo useu 5 s oes e Visit the online map of our canal and river network 2 Regent’s Canal: Why was it built? 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. In 1825 alone, 504,000 tons of cargo was Entrance to the Regent’s Canal carried along the canal which is the same from the River Thames at weight as 63,000 elephants! Limehouse in 1828. 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)! 3 Who built the Regent’s 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 John Nash (Achitect) edge of the park. 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? The soil that was dug out from Navvie (worker) the Maida Hill tunnel was used to make Lord’s Cricket Ground. 4 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 A wharf is a the canal so goods did not have to be transported far. man-made, level area where boats Wharves were built to load and unload goods from the boats. can dock to People moved from the country to get work in London so houses, unload goods schools and shops were built for them. 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 5 Arrival of the railways! The first railway station in London was built at Euston in1837 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. The railway from King’s Cross station goes under the canal and the railway from Euston station goes over the canal. The railways In 1845 the canal directors received an offer of £1million to convert opened up the canal into a railway. The money was never raised so the railway huge was never built. opportunites for travel and transporatation. 6 Places along the Regent’s Canal Rats! Little Venice They fought the dogs and killed the cats, And bit the babies in the cradles, Little Venice is the point where the Paddington stretch And ate the cheese out of the vats, of the Grand Union Canal joins the Regent’s Canal. And licked the soup from the cooks’ own ladles, It is thought that it was named Little Venice by Robert Split open the kegs of salted sprats, Browning, a poet who lived in the area but spent a lot A poem by Made nests inside men’s Sunday hats, of time in Italy. Robert Browning And even spoiled the women’s chats. How do these two images of Little Venice compare? What is similar? What is different? Here is an engraved picture of Little Venice shortly after the Regent’s Canal opened in 1820 Little Venice today Little Venice in 1820 7 A newspaper article about the Places along the Regent’s Canal explosion. Newspapers were very important in the past. How would an accident like this be Blow-up Bridge reported today? In 1874 a boat carrying gunpowder exploded under Macclesfield Bridge in Regent’s Park. The explosion was so loud that it was heard all over arly in the morning of London. FridayE 2nd October 1874, five boats were being towed The canal was reopened within five by a steam powered tug days of the explosion. The bridge was along the Regent’s Canal rebuilt using the same heavy cast in Regent’s Park. One of the iron columns. Ever since the boats, called the Tilbury, was explosion Macclesfield Bridge has carrying a cargo of about five tons of gunpowder. been called Blow-Up Bridge. The boat was on its way to Nottingham where the completely demolished and the gunpowder would be used houses nearby suffered damage to for blasting in the coal mines. windows, walls, furniture and roofs. Just before 5 o’clock in the The loud explosion woke people up in morning, when the Tilbury their houses and they rushed out was passing under on to the streets in a panic still in their Macclesfield Bridge, the night clothes. There was thick gunpowder caught fire and smoke everywhere and people there was an enormous thought that the end of the world had explosion. The bridge was come. Three of the boatmen died. 8 The Macclesfield Bridge in the 1820s (before the explosion). Places along the Regent’s Canal Camden There is a hidden network of underground In Victorian times Camden was an important link tunnels which link the canal to the railway. between the railway and the canal. The canal entrance to the tunnels is called It was a busy industrial town with factories and Dead Dog Basin. Nobody knows how it got this name. warehouses. The area was covered in soot and grime from the railways. Before boats had engines, Now, Camden is a popular tourist destination, they were pulled by horses a home to artists and musicians and the walking along the towpath. warehouses have been changed into shops, The ropes attaching the markets and restaurants. horses to the boats rubbed You can see plenty of evidence showing what deep grooves in the metal Camden was like in the past by looking at the strips on the sides of the buildings and canal structures alongside the bridges. towpath. The roving bridge These buildings are now was built so that part of Camden Lock horses could cross market. They were originally over the canal to timber yards and stables. the other towpath. 9 Places along the Regent’s Canal Battlebridge Basin Battlebridge Basin has a number of old warehouses around it including a jam factory, saw mills and a flour mill.

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