The City Canal was a short, and short-lived,
canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
excavated across the
Isle of Dogs
The Isle of Dogs is a large peninsula bounded on three sides by a large meander in the River Thames in East London, England, which includes the Cubitt Town, Millwall and Canary Wharf districts. The area was historically part of the Manor, Ham ...
in east
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, linking two reaches of the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...
. Today, it has been almost completely reconstructed to form the South Dock of the
West India Docks
The West India Docks are a series of three docks, quaysides and warehouses built to import goods from and export goods and occasionally passengers to the British West Indies on the Isle of Dogs in London the first of which opened in 1802. Follow ...
.
History
The West India Docks Act of 1799 allowed the
City of London Corporation
The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...
to construct a canal from
Limehouse Reach to
Blackwall Reach, across the Isle of Dogs.
[Canals and distribution]
/ref> It was intended to provide a short cut for sailing ships, to save them travelling around the south of the Isle of Dogs to access the wharves in the upper reaches of the river. If winds were unfavourable, this journey could take some time. The idea had been suggested by Ralph Walker in 1796. The West India merchants employed him as an engineer, and with assistance from William Jessop
William Jessop (23 January 1745 – 18 November 1814) was an English civil engineer, best known for his work on canals, harbours and early railways in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Early life
Jessop was born in Devonport, Devon, the ...
, John Foulds and George Dance, who was the City of London's surveyor, he produced the detailed plans which enabled the Act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...
to be obtained. Jessop was appointed as engineer with Walker as resident engineer, in August 1799, but Walker departed in 1802 after a disagreement with Jessop following a structural failure of part of the works. The canal was long with a surface width of and a depth of . The two locks were , with the floors built as inverted arches. The lock walls were thick, built of bricks with a stone facing. The depth over the lock cills varied between at high tide, allowing ships of up to 500 tons burden to use the canal. Banks high had to be built, because the high tide level was above that of the surrounding land, and the tops were above water level. The surrounding land also had to be raised to the same height.
One of the major contractors was John Dyson Jr., who was based at Newington near Bawtry
Bawtry is a market town and civil parish in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. It lies between Doncaster, Gainsborough and Retford, on the border with Nottinghamshire and close to Lincolnshire. The town is historically part of ...
in South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham.
In N ...
at the time. He was awarded a contract for excavation of the canal in 1800, and another for gravel extraction from 1801 to 1805. A third contract, for excavation of the west lock was awarded in 1803. He was working on the lock walls in December 1802, and had moved his family to Mile End by this date. John Torr Foulds acted as assistant engineer for part of this period, from 1800 to 1802. James Spedding was employed in 1805 to construct coffer dams to allow the wing walls at the ends of the canal to be built. A dam he had built in the previous year for the East India Dock had partially failed after four weeks, but had been repaired. The problem was one of design rather than bad workmanship, and the City Canal dam worked successfully. The canal was completed in 1805 (officially opened on 9 December that year), having incorporated at its western end the Breach Dockyard, a mast and timber laying dock formed around a large linear pond. The canal cost £168,813, including the acquisition of land.
However, access to the canal was determined by the state of the tide and the transit slow. These factors meant the canal was not a financial success since the owners did not charge tolls. It soon became a liability and was sold, for £120,000, to the West India Dock Company
The West India Docks are a series of three docks, quaysides and warehouses built to import goods from and export goods and occasionally passengers to the British West Indies on the Isle of Dogs in London the first of which opened in 1802. Followi ...
, owner of the adjacent West India Docks, in 1829.
The company bought it mainly to prevent it from falling into other hands. Proposals for collier docks immediately south of the City Canal, and the opening of the St Katharine Docks
St Katharine Docks is a former dock and now a mixed-used district in Central London, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and within the East End. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, immediately downstream of the Tower of London an ...
in 1828, had heightened the company's awareness of the threat represented by other dock interests. They added a timber dock to the south of the canal in 1832–3, the last major building work at the docks for 20 years.
Some 30 years later (1866–70), in a scheme managed by engineer Sir John Hawkshaw
Sir John Hawkshaw FRS FRSE FRSA MICE (9 April 1811 – 2 June 1891), was an English civil engineer. He served as President of the Institution of Civil Engineers 1862-63. His most noteworthy work is the Severn Tunnel.
Early life
He was born ...
, the canal was enlarged, the entrances were widened, and the complex was renamed the South West India Dock, later known as South Dock.
In 1926 it was decided that the South Dock should be connected to the West India import and export docks and to the Millwall Dock
Millwall Dock is a dock at Millwall, London, England, located south of Canary Wharf on the Isle of Dogs.
History
The scheme was developed speculatively by a partnership of John Kelk and John Aird & Co.'The Millwall Docks: The docks', in Sur ...
.[ The developments - a new South Dock east entrance lock and three passages to link the Millwall, South, Export and Import Docks - were divided into four contracts, and were completed in 1931 at a final cost of £1,311,981 for the dock works, considerably improving access to the docks.]
Today
South Dock regularly plays host to medium-sized military vessels visiting London as it is the furthest point upstream that they can be turned around - courtesy of the reconstruction worked carried out in 1926-1931. There is no longer a route for vessels across the Isle of Dogs - only the reconstructed eastern entrance remains.
Bibliography
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References
{{Unnavigable Canals of the United Kingdom
History of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
London docks
Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Canals in England
Canals in London
Port of London
Canals opened in 1805
1805 establishments in England