London Canals

London's lost Westbourne river and the Ranelagh Sewer

Many underground explorers assert that the River Westbourne sewer/storm relief drain system is the best in the UK. It connects to the Tyburn, the Kings Scholar Pond sewer and amny others and its junctions and intersections are often a source of awe considering much of this was built in Victorian times. The only comparable system that comes anywhere near the Westbourne's is the Fleet sewer in the City. But the Fleet doesnt have those amazing stepped insersections as the Westbourne does

The Westbourne River has been known as the Cye Bourne/Kelebourne/Kilburn River/Kilburn Brook/Coldbourne/Bayswater Rivulet. There is some dispute as to what it was originally called. It is thought it was just the bourne, and being west of the tyburn river, it soon became the Westbourne. In Notes and Queries (Dec 28th 1901) it is suggested that the waterway may have been named after a village called Westeburne, which existed in the 13th Century. But this has never been established. Nowadays there isnt officially a Westbourne River. Instead its known as the Ranleagh Sewer.

The route of the Westbourne River

The Westbourne begins at Whitestone Pond north of Hampstead, and winds through Finchley Road, South Hampstead, Kilburn, Maida Vale, Little Venice, Paddington, Lancaster Gate, Hyde Park, Knightsbridge, Sloane Square and into the Thames at Chelsea. Its northern section is soemtimes known as the Kilburn River. See the Kilburn River north of the canal.

The Westbourne River and the Ranelagh Sewer were separate waterways, until the 1820's when Thomas Cubitt undertook major work in enlarging the Ranelagh and this work also incorporated the Westbourne south of Hyde Park.

I make no apologies for repeating the map shown above for it clearly demonstrates the relationship between the canal and the aqueduct/Westbourne River. The river comes off Clearwell Drive at left and along Formosa Street, under the canal and Delamere Terrace,then along Lord Hills Road and into the middle of the Warwick & Brindley Estates before running along Bourne Terrace (at right) towards Paddington and Lancaster Gate

A winter view of the canal at the junction of Delamere Terrace & Lord Hills Road. The red line indicates the Westbourne as it headed south

Desborough House sits on the former alignment of the Westbourne River

Looking along the approximate course of the Westbourne by these flats in Bourne Terrace. Remember land levels are much higher than in the early 19th Century

At the rear of Bourne Terrace is the parkland area known as Westbourne Green. Its of some interest to learn that Westbourne Green has migrated from the west. It used to denote the area around the Harrow Road bridge (bridge number 4 on the canal) but now describes this parkland located where fields existed in the 19th Century.

A view looking across the Westbourne Bridge approach road towards Bourne Terrace with the A40(M) viaduct above. The old river ran roughly along this alignment and thence southeastwards into what is now the environs of Paddington Station. When the railway was built the watercourse was then diverted to run in a more direct route towards Lancaster Gate. Westbourne Bridge is a misleadng name because the river no longer flows this way.

The Westbourne (aka the Ranleagh Sewer) now flows in a pipe directly from the Kilburn Aqueduct to the junction with the Harrow Road (seen in the picture above) via Lord Hills Road and then along Bourne Terrace. It then turns south directly then across the railway lines leadng to Paddington. The sewer is slung underneath the aptly named Ranelagh bridge, adjacent to the Westbourne Bridge.

It is sometimes said that Eastbourne and Westbourne Terraces mark the eastern and western banks of the Westbourne. Nothing could be further from the truth because a simple examination of these roads will show that they are much higher than the land to the west and so could never have been the old alignment of the River Westbourne!

The Ranelagh sewer then passes roughly beneath the alignment of Gloucester Terrace towards Lancaster Gate. En route it falls through a slide step junction that drops the sewer beneath the Metropolitan and Circle lines. An excellent picture of this slide step can be seen here. here it turns left to run beneath Bayswater Road as far as a point with the Albion Street junction. It then turns southeast under Hyde Park, aligned with the public pathways above. At roughly the centre of the park there is a meeting of eight footpaths. Here the sewer turns southwards and joins the Ranelagh relief sewer, which leads to the main sewer south to the Thames. It runs directly towards Knightsbridge, passing beneath the eastern end of the Serpentine Lake. At this point there is an overflow from the Serpentine into the Ranelagh/Westbourne sewer.

More pages to come soon - covering the sections through Hyde Park, Sloane Square and Chelsea

Around Little Venice: The famous part of London where three waterways meet / Canute's 'Canal': The mythological waterway that wasnt / Croydon Canal: London's shortest-lived waterway, closing completely by 1837 / Cumberland Arm: A branch off the Regents Canal to Euston / Fleet River & Canal: The former Thames - Kings Cross waterway / Grand Surrey: The canal with an ambition to reach Portsmouth! / Grosvenor Canal: The Grosvenor linked Victoria to the Thames / Kensington Canal: The canal that became a railway and an underground route / London's Canal Tunnels: There are three canal tunnels in London / Paddington Arm: The Grand Junction/Grand Union from Bulls Bridge to London / Regents Canal: This runs between Little Venice, Camden Town & Limehouse / Romford Canal: The penultimate, yet unfinished, canal to be built in London / Ruislip Feeder: The former waterway that fed the canal Westbourne River: The old waterway from Kilburn to the Thames

Attractions near the London canals: Abbey Road / Bayswater /Edgware Road / Crockers Folly / Marylebone Goods / Nash Villas / Spitfire Works / St Pancras