The Croydon Canal ran from

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, via Forest Hill, to the Grand Surrey Canal at

New Cross New Cross is an area in south east London, England, south-east of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham and the SE14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, Telegraph Hill, Nunhead, Peckham, Brockley, Deptford and Greenwic ...

in south

London 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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It opened in 1809 and closed in 1836, the first canal to be abandoned by an Act of Parliament.

History

Authorised by an

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 ...

in 1801, the

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 flo ...

was originally intended to extend northwards to

Rotherhithe Rotherhithe () is a district of south-east London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, as well as the Isle of D ...

, but the simultaneous construction of the Grand Surrey Canal provided a convenient access route. It was long, and opened on 22 October 1809. The Croydon Canal linked to the Croydon, Merstham and Godstone Railway (itself connected to the

Surrey Iron Railway The Surrey Iron Railway (SIR) was a horse-drawn plateway that linked Wandsworth and Croydon via Mitcham, all then in Surrey but now suburbs of south London, in England. It was established by Act of Parliament in 1801, and opened partly in 1802 ...

), enabling the canal to be used to transport stone and lime from workings at

Merstham Merstham is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It lies 25 miles south of Charing Cross and 2 miles south of the Greater London border. Part of the North Downs Way runs along the northern boundary of the town. Mers ...

. The canal was never extended further south-west, as was initially intended, to reach

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

. The canal was originally planned with two

inclined planes An inclined plane, also known as a ramp, is a flat supporting surface tilted at an angle from the vertical direction, with one end higher than the other, used as an aid for raising or lowering a load. The inclined plane is one of the six clas ...

but 28

locks Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

, arranged in two flights, were used instead. To keep the canal supplied with water,

reservoirs A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...

were constructed at Sydenham and

South Norwood South Norwood is a district of south-east London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon, Greater London and formerly in the historic county of Surrey. It is located 7.8 miles (12.5 km) south-east of Charing Cross, north of Wood ...

; the latter still exists as South Norwood Lake in a public park. The canal was wide. It had a maximum depth of . By 1811, 22

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

s plied the canal. The barges were long and wide and could carry about 30 tons. The main cargo was timber. After the initial flights of locks, most of the canal followed the contour. The final two locks at Croydon Common raised the canal to the contour, and because there was no natural source of water a steam pumping station was built at the foot of the locks to pump water up to the summit pound. In June 1830 a new pumping engine was installed on Croydon Common which was the first commercial installation of Samuel Brown's gas vacuum engine, and quite probably the first commercial

internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal c ...

in the world. The economics of the gas engine were interesting as the gas it consumed was made by turning

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

into coke. The value of the resulting coke and

coal tar Coal tar is a thick dark liquid which is a by-product of the production of coke and coal gas from coal. It is a type of creosote. It has both medical and industrial uses. Medicinally it is a topical medication applied to skin to treat psorias ...

by-products of making the gas substantially exceeded the cost of the coal, ground rent, repairs etc., so the gas vacuum engine made a profit of over £100 a year before considering the useful work it was doing. The canal was never a success and closed in 1836, the first canal to be abandoned by an Act of Parliament. Much of the alignment was used by the London & Croydon Railway Company, which had bought the canal for £40,250, for part of the railway between London Bridge and

West Croydon station West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

, which is on the site of the canal basin. The gas vacuum engine appears to have been in full working order when offered for sale in 1837. It was described as able to lift water a height of at a rate of . Tenders for its purchase (including the diameter gasometer) were to be sent to the offices of the Croydon Railway Company, which shared the same address as the London and Croydon Railway Company and dealt with the acquisition of the canal and disposal of any unwanted assets.

Today

After the canal closed, sections were retained for leisure use, and some remained in water for a considerable time. The section at the Anerley Arms, Ridsdale Road in

Anerley Anerley () is an area of south east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is located south south-east of Charing Cross, to the south of Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, west of Penge, north of Elmers End and South Norwood. ...

was used as a boating lake, and the area was called Anerley Tea Rooms. The canal in Betts Park was turned into a concrete trough in 1934, approximately 170m can still be seen at the northern corner of Betts Park. Another section exists as a long curved pond in the Dacres Wood Nature Reserve in Dacres Road, Forest Hill. This was considered for redevelopment in 1989, but research by Lewisham Council resulted in its identity being confirmed and it now forms an attractive wetland, having been returned to its former width. There is a high pavement in David's Road, Forest Hill, which is thought to be part of the towpath. Part of the wall below the path has been rebuilt with murals depicting transport in Forest Hill. The Norwood reservoir is now preserved as South Norwood Lake.

Points of interest

Gallery

File:Croydon_Canal_roads.jpg, Modern roads built over and named for the canal File:Anerley Gardens.jpg, Anerley, 1860. This part of the canal remained, after closure, for pleasure boating

Bibliography

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References