The Wenlock Basin, is a 320 metre long

canal basin A canal basin is (particularly in the United Kingdom) an expanse of waterway alongside or at the end of a canal, and wider than the canal, constructed to allow boats to moor or unload cargo without impeding the progress of other traffic, and to al ...

on the

Regent's Canal Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in eas ...

, in the

Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. As a part of Shoreditch, it is often considered to be part of the East End – the historic core of wider East London. It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. I ...

area of the

London Borough of Hackney London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

, United Kingdom. The

City Road Basin The City Road Basin is an English canal basin and part of the Regent's Canal in Central London, owned by the Canal & River Trust. It opened in 1820, and made a large contribution to the prosperity of the Regent's Canal. By the 1950s, its surro ...

lies just to the west of Wharf Road and is in the neighbouring

London Borough of Islington The London Borough of Islington ( ) is a London borough in Inner London. Whilst the majority of the district is located in north London, the borough also includes a significant area to the south which forms part of central London. Islington has ...

. There are private residential moorings at the North end, with their own entrance gate and entryphone on Wharf Road. The basin itself narrows considerably towards the South - and is not deep enough to be navigable by anything other than canoe. Unlike the

and

, Wenlock Basin is not owned or managed by the

Canal & River Trust The Canal & River Trust (CRT), branded as in Wales, holds the guardianship of 2,000 miles of canals and rivers, together with reservoirs and a wide range of heritage buildings and structures, in England and Wales. Launched on 12 July 2012, the ...

History

The basin was constructed in 1826 and is close to the entrance of the

Islington Tunnel The Islington Tunnel takes the Regents Canal, Regent's Canal under Angel, London, Angel, Islington, as the longest such tunnel in London. The way for short boats and barges only opened in 1818; the pavements above are waymarked so the otherwis ...

, where a tug service operated until the 1930s. The opening of the basin went badly wrong, with the cofferdam separating it from the Canal collapsing, prematurely filling the basin and leading to the water level of the canal falling by 13 inches. Traffic on the canal was halted until rainfall could restore the water levels. The basin took the name of Wenlock Barns, a local farm. The name Wenlock was used by an electoral ward of the former

Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch The Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch was a Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, Metropolitan borough of the County of London between 1899 and 1965, when it was merged with the Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington and the Metropolita ...

, it was also, for a time, the name of a ward in the

Residential developments

Wenlock Basin is accessible only to residents. The development consists of the following buildings: * The Royle Building, one of the earliest schemes on the basin, originally the Royle printworks at the junction of the Regent's Canal and Wenlock Basin. Converted to almost 100 loft apartments with a small number of bachelor apartments newly built on the roof during the conversion. * The Canal Building, next to the Royle Building and extending more directly along Regent's Canal, is an art-deco style warehouse originally refurbished and sold as 79 shells. * Union Wharf, A development of 90 loft-style apartments and live/work units designed and built by Persimmon Homes (formerly the Beazer Group). * Estilo, A

mixed-use development Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some ...

of 43 one, two and three-bedroom units overlooking Wenlock Basin completed in 2006 by Telford Homes. * Micawber Wharf, a development of 18 studios, flats and live work/units completed in 2008. Designed by Stephen Davy Peter Smith Architects, and developed by Isotop. *The Wenlock Building, New mixed use development of 82 units on the west side of the basin at its junction with the

. Design by Johnson Naylor Architects, developed in a joint venture between Londonewcastle and Modern City Living, completed in late 2008.Wenlock Building
Sales Website

Businesses

While no longer serving the original cargo handling and warehousing business, a number of modern businesses have office space on ''Wenlock Basin'', either in the ground floor business units of the larger residential developments - or in their own property directly backing on to the basin. They include the

Victoria Miro Gallery The Victoria Miro Gallery is a British contemporary art gallery in London, run by Victoria Miro.Husband, Stuart"Go see... the Victoria Miro gallery ''The Observer'', 3 December 2000. Retrieved 22 April 2008. Miro opened her first gallery in 1985 ...

, a leading British contemporary art gallery in London run by

Victoria Miro Victoria Marion Miro (born 1 July 1945) is a British art dealer, "one of the grandes dames of the Young British Artists, Britart scene"Husband, Stuart"Go see... the Victoria Miro gallery" ''The Observer'', 3 December 2000. Retrieved 27 September 2 ...

, and the

British Ecological Society The British Ecological Society is a learned society in the field of ecology that was founded in 1913. It is the oldest ecological society in the world. The Society's original objective was "to promote and foster the study of Ecology in its widest ...

, a

learned society A learned society (; also learned academy, scholarly society, or academic association) is an organization that exists to promote an discipline (academia), academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and s ...

in the field of

Ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

Gallery

References

External links