Through Goldsmiths to Barriedale
This section of fomer canal route as far as Barriedale, is on
land belonging to Goldsmiths College and is not open for public
access. Permission for these pictures was sought from the
Goldsmiths Estate Office. A problem with surveying the old canal
route along here is the amount of spoil dumped from the adjacent
railway cuttings. It leaves one having to use their imagination
trying to envisage how far the canal was (or may still be!) beneath
this spoil. Inside the grounds of Goldsmiths College the geography
is disproportionate compared to those days the canal existed. The
canal began its first major climb through seven locks at New Cross
Gate. As old paintings or drawings have shown, it was indeed a
picturesque flight of locks, with excellent views to the
surrounding countryside.
South of New Cross Gate station, the canal entered Lock No.4,
and then made a turn to the south east to head straight for
Barriedale ascending via five locks largely in a cutting. This view
(above) looks south east towards Barriedale, and the two large
trees give reference as to the location and direction of the canal
(especially the taller one!) Notice also the low building behind
the trees up on the hillside. Around this point would have been
lock. no7. This view would have at one time looked up the cutting
with the locks climbing away towards the south east, although the
level of the canal itself would have been considerably lower.
The large tree (above) in the centre is the same as the one in
the previous picture. Take a look at the buildings on the right,
and whilst it is just speculation, it seems quite amazing that
their zig-zag alignment indeed follows the canal's alignment! A
number of buildings en route to Croydon have a knack of following
the actual alignment, but what is suprising is that even though
absolutely no trace remains of the canal's alignment at Goldsmiths,
these new buildings recently built for the college reflect it. This
would have been a view looking down towards lock nos. 7, 6 and 5,
although bearing in mind this view is from the top of what is now a
spoil heap, so Lock No.7 would have been about 40 feet below the
level of the photographer. At this position one would be standing
near the centre of the 1815 picture - but suspended in mid-air! See
the 'View from the Locks Above Deptford.' The tall tree that was
spoken of in the first picture stands to the left behind the
photographer (it can be seen in the next picture below as the
furthest tree away from the photographer) This picture was taken
standing in front of the low building previously mentioned (and
also faetured in the picture below.) The drop down from here is
quite steep, being of course spoil piled high upon the former route
of the Croydon Canal.
As we have already mentioned, in the above picture, the furthest
tall tree provides a reference in tracing the the canal route. It
stands in front of the low building (on the other side to where the
photographer is.) This picture looks in the same direction towards
New Cross Gate station, as the previous picture. It is taken on the
upper level of Goldsmiths College grounds, near Barriedale, at the
rear of the low flat building that we saw in the first picture. The
canal ran through the centre of the picture, towards the
photographer, on its way to Croydon. At this position where the
parking lot is, the canal would have just left the head of lock
no.8, although it must be remembered that the actual site of the
lock was maybe 30 feet below present ground levels.
This is a view looking north along where the longer pound
between locks 8 and 9 was, maybe 20 feet or more below the present
surface (the canal is climbing up southwards to Barridale.) The
hillsides sloping towards New Cross have been extended with spoil
from the railway, and built upon with many new facilites belonging
to Goldsmiths, so it is impossible to see New Cross from this point
compared to 200 years ago. The shadow of the tree falling across
the bottom of the picture, is that of the tree seen (below) behind
the small red tree.
The view looks towards New Cross Gate through the college gates
off Barridale. It is clear how the land has been built up with
railway spoil. The Croydon Canal was slightly lower than the level
of the road at the bottom of the picture. These gates mark roughly
the old boundary between Kent and Surrey, and this brings us to the
'View from the Locks above Deptford' (below) engraved in 1851. The
fence by the head of the lock was the boundary fence between the
two counties, and therefore the modern view is almost at the head
of Lock No.9. Modern scenes like the one above do little justice
trying to envisage how the canal looked.
- Used by permission of
Croydon Local Studies Library -
This last picture looks at the conclusion of the New Cross to
Barriedale section. The view above is from Goldsmiths College
grounds looking south east along the line of the canal. The cars
are parked in Barriedale, and the car directly behind the gates is
parked at where the tail of lock no.10 would have been. Look above
this and one can see a modern square-ish block of flats. These
flats are at an angle to Shardeloes Road, simply because property
boundaries derive from the former canal route, and these flats
reflect the canal's erstwhile alignment as it made a right hand
turn to the south to follow what is now
Shardeloes Road
