Paddington and its canals - a history
The building of the Grand Junction Canal between Braunston and Brentford brought the canal network to the River Thames, which in turn ran through the heart of London, giving direct access to the city's wharves and industry. While this was intially an acceptable state of affairs, there was a desire for a direct waterway link into the capital. Poeple had been making plans long before the Grand Junction was ever thoughtof, and there were several abortive schemes, some postualted over a century before the canal era began. The most notable of these pre canal-era projects was one from Rickmansworth via Harrow-on-Hill, to a terminus at what is now Centre Point, off Oxford Street. It was a clearly more sophisicated route than the later one via Uxbridge and Bulls Bridge. Uxbridge wasnt in a hurry to have a navigable waterway for there is some evidence that around 600 years ago the Colne was navigable from the Thames as far as a wharf in Uxbridge. But eventualy it found itself on a major water route between London and Birmingham
Paedingas
Well to the east of Uxbridge was the village of Paddington. The name is thought to have originated from the race of the Paed (a Saxon peoples), and it was originally known as Paedingas. Before the canal came it was a small village "situated in the hundred of Ossulton, scarcely a mile north of Tyburn turnpike..." In Saxon times it was known as Osulvestane. The peoples of Paedingas must have originally been forest dwellers as the area was part of the enormous forest of Middlesex. In 1218 it was "disafforested by Henry the Third." That was one of the first major changes for the people of Paddington. Perhaps the biggest, and the longest, most enduring changes, are those that began with the coming of the Grand Junction canal. Many people were against the new canal including the Bishop of London who spent considerable time campainging against the new waterway. Incidentally the name Ossulton still lives on in one of the streets sited near Euston station
One of the early views of Paddington. The church at Paddington Green before 1791. A new one was built in the 1790's
The new church at Paddington Green would have had the Regents Canal passing it if the original plans for a route closer to the Marylebone Road had been built. The new church became a focal point of the struggles against the new canal to Paddington, then later became the church for the Grand Junction Canal Company's employees since it was very near the new canal basin. The opening of the basin in 1801 brought prosperity to this part of the world, which we must remember was still merely a village just outside London
The New Canal
The act for the present Paddington Arm was passed in 1795. The works on the main canal between Brentford and Braunston had already begun under an earlier act of 1793 - "An Act for making a Navigable Cut from the Grand Junction Canal, in the precinct of Norwood, in the county of Middlesex, to Paddington, in the said county." Its engineer was Wiliam Jessop and the chairman was William Praed, whose name lives on in the street of the same name at Paddington.
The section northwards from Brentford to Uxbridge opened in 1794, further reaching Rickmansworth in 1797. Thereon after the works for the Paddngton Arm were begun starting from Bulls Bridge (aka Norwood) and heading towards London. This was a lock-free canal of 13 and half miles, with plans for the country's first ever pleasure marina (though in those days they didnt have words like marina.) This basin for pleasure boats was soon dropped in place of a much grander commercially oriented basin at Paddington. At the time the new canal was billed as a 'great liquid road' - its average width according to Baron Dupin was 59ft. The Grand Junction Canal Company held a opening dinner to celebrate the opening of the 13 mile Paddington Canal from Bulls bridge on the evening of 10th July 1801. News reports of the day claim that at least 20,000 people attended the opening ceremony at Paddington, people were lining the new canal for several miles
Above: The official opening in 1801. Right:
News of the opening. Click on image for larger version
The Canal opens
The above view depicts the opening ceremony of 10th July 1801. Today this would be a view looking from a spot by Beauchamp Lodge past the Floating Boater and straight down the Little Venice visitor moorings. Westbourne Terrace bridge was not built until much later when the area was developed. Its an interesting perspecitve because there is no Toll House. The Toll House was built possibly about 1812. The canal company must have collected its tolls at Paddington Basin or Bulls Bridge. The location is now what is Brownings Pool. This stretch of wide water did not come into existence until the Regents Canal was built. The stupendous Kilburn embankment is clearly shown
According to the Penny Magazine the canal had just 'one lock.' It was clearly a stop lock at Bulls Bridge for the one at the Harrow Road bridge (Paddington end) was not built until at least 1802 or early 1803. There was at least one major embankment and aqueduct at the London end. The embankment is clearly visible in the opening ceremony picture shown above. It still exists and parts of it can be found if one looks carefully for it at Little Venice. The aqueduct however disappeared when the Kilburn Stream was culverted, although this stream's valley can still be seen to the north of the Little Venice moorings. The other major feature was of course the Paddington basin
The basin at Paddington became a centre of important commerce for 160 years. Its larger four acre basin was added in 1805 and that basin's dimesions in 1825 were claimed to be 400 yards in length and 290 yards in breadth according to Baron Dupin in his book The Commercial Power of Great Britiain. One wonders if the basin was really 290 yards wide? I think it was an error and should have read 290 feet in width. If it had been 290 yards wide then it was a massive stretch of water wider than the Thames! Even at the lesser 290 feet width as it must have been, it was still clearly a giant compared to that weakling minnow of a basin found in today's nightmare known as 'Merchant Square!'
The GJCCo's Water Company
The canal company established its own waterworks company in 1811, and built a series of reserviors around the Paddington area for drinking water. It supplied water to a substantial part of London and had its own pumping station at Kew (now the Kew Bridge steam museum.) Between 1842 and 1851, the three reservoir sites were given over to development. The old St Mary's hospital buildings are on the site of the Northern reservoir. Norfolk Square was where the southern reservoir stood. Part of this now forms the open air section of Paddington (Circle and District Lines) station. The third, and smallest reservoir, is now Talbot Square. They are shown below in this extract from the Topographical Survey Of The Borough Of St. Marylebone 1834. The later Metropolitan Underground Railway of 1863 passed under the short bit of canal that is seen stretching from Paddington Basin to the top edge of South Wharf Road
Proposals for the waterworks in 1810. Right: The canal's reservoirs in 1834
The coming of the railway to the area meant a revival in the basin's fortunes as it now formed an important interchange facility between canal and railway. The first station was at Bishops Bridge, on what now stands the Sheldon Square (Paddington Central) development. Bishops Bridge remained in service as a goods station until the 1980's. The main terminus, Brunel's magnificent station, was not opened until 1854. In 1863, the world's first underground railway, the Metropolitan Line, commenced at platforms adjacent to the basin on its four mile journey to what was then known as Farringdon and Holborn station
The decline in commercial canal traffic led to a lengthy debate on the future of Paddington Basin. Some thought it should be filled in whilst others had the view that it was a valuable water space amenity for London. Many years in 'limbo' ensued and as the basin entered its 200th anniversary, it had gained a new, if somewhat rather un-canal related future. The increase in boating pleasure activity has ensured that at least there is ample moorings in the basin area for visitors. This is not a new feature actually, it is what Paddington Basin was originally meant to be! What essentialy happened is that the original objective for pleasure provision was modified and the idea eventually adapted to form the attractive pool that constitutes the hub of Little Venice
The Kilburn Aqueudct
In an area such as Little Venice it would be a surprise to most to find that there was a major embankment and aqueduct there at one time. The embankment is still there if one looks for it at the north end of Little Venice although the ground has been built up and major housing development has reduced the impact of the broad Westbourne Valley. The aqueduct was sited about a third of the way along the Little Venice straight. The structure was a very low brick slung affair supporting a massive embankment, and it crossed the Westbourne River (this was originally known as the Kilburn River/the Coldbourne.) Despite not being sited in Kilburn itself, the aqueduct and its embankment may have owed its name to the forty acre Kilburn Bridge farm which stood to the north
The above news item from the Gentlemans Magazine of 1803 describes one of the many breaches that occured as a result of the very large Kilburn embankment, which stretched nearly all the way from what is now Bishops Bridge Road as far as Westbourne Green bridge (the Harrow Road) a distance of about a mile. The writer is teling us that the waters broke on the west side of the embankment and the waters rushed down to the valley and then through the canal's aqueduct ('the tunnel') flooding the fields to the north. It must be reminded that the Kilburn Aqueudct was actually a large earthen structure with a diminutive brick arch tunnel through it for the Westbourne River. The breach of 1803 was well documented, however as the item below shows the media may have mis-representedthe extent of damage. It ascribes the wind as being the cause of the breach
1803 news cutting mentioning the breach and the Kilburn Aqueduct
Note: Some may wonder how the canal could empty its waters into the Westbourne River at the site of Bishops Bridge Road rather than by the Kilburn Aqueduct. The simple explanation is that the land occupied by Paddington Station (which clearly sits well below the level of the canal) is much lower than the canal. There was a stream that headed across this land towards the Westbourne and it is by means of this watercourse that any breaches in the canal would find their way into the Westbourne
By the 1830's when the area was under development, the Westbourne had its course diverted and straightened out to parallel close to the southern end of Westbourne Terrace. The site of Paddington station was the valley of the aforementioned stream, and which had to be culverted round the station site. Although no records are shown, it may have possibly been via what is now the alignment of London Street and Sussex Gardens and thence into the Westbourne. One clue to the whereabouts of this is that the canal has an emergency overflow near Bishops Bridge Road, and this empties into this very culvert
I have recently discovered that the canal company was forced to build an overflow hereabouts and this may be it. This injunction against the GJCCo was clearly designed to ensure that the Westbourne Valley and the dwellings, as well as the farm land, that lay in it had the best protection possible. By way of this overflow surplus canal water therefore would find its way into the Thames via the Westbourne and the Serpentine. Since Bazalgette's scheme the Westbourne has been diverted around the Serpentine due to health fears. The matter was much discussed in Parliament in August 1859, and Hansard has a record of the debate. The culvert into which the overflow falls may possibly have been the course of the Titchbourne, which originated on the high ground near St Johns Wood before passing under Edgware Road
The Westbourne's course thro Lt Venice. Shirland Rd at left, Bourne Terr at top right. Picture shows the Kilburn Aqueduct
The Kilburn Aqueduct actually runs under the Little Venice visitor moorings. It is not diagonal to the canal which means the southern end is further east than the northern end, as shown on the map above. The lie of the land led to some confusion to the actual site of the aqueduct when it was first written about in London Canals. As the map shows, the confusion is because the course of Westbourne turns sharp southeastwards and runs through the Delamere Terrace estate, rather than in a southwest direction. I think the Westbourne's conduit (the Ranelagh Sewer as it is nowadays known) runs under Lord Hills Road and then along Bourne Terrace
(The picture of the aqueduct comes from the remarkable set of photographs by Mr John Doe, to whom the credits and copyright are acknowledged under Flickr's creative Commons License. Mr John Doe's main page and profile is here at Flickr)
The end of the aqueduct was heralded in the early days of the canal when locals complained of the smell emanating from the Westbourne River. One of the ironies of this was that in times gone past the Westbourne was a source of water beneficial to health, with the springs at Kilburn being especially noted. The increase in population meant that the rivers of London were being used to deposit discharged sewage, and this is the major reason that the minor London rivers were all bricked over and built upon. As already implied, the solution, in light of the breaches and complaints of smells, was to culvert the Westbourne River for a considerable distance either side of the aqueduct and the embankment by 1823
Some sources claim it was culverted in 1850-1860 as part of Bazalgette's work, but the aqueduct and the culverted section of river either side is clearly pre-Bazalgette. A major result of the works undertaken to culvert the Westbourne resulted in further breaches and considerable damage as clearly documented in news reports from May 1823. Joseph Bazalgette culverted the remainder of the river as part of his master plan to improve London's sewerage and drainage system. The Westbourne now runs in a culvert all the way from Kilburn to the Thames, except for a stretch through Hyde Park. Few now know of the Westbourne's exact course as it makes its way underground from Kilburn past Carlton Vale, Paddington recreation ground, Shirland Road, Formosa Street, Blomfield Road, the canal itself, Delamere Terrace, Paddington, Lancaster Gate before running alongside the Serpentine at Hyde Park, across the tube at Sloane Square and into the Thames at Chelsea
The Paddington Packet Express Passenger Boat service
The canal before Brownings Pool was built. The express passenger boat has just departed Paddington Basin and passed the Harrow Road bridge
This was a out and return service between Cowley and Paddington. Two outwards and return trips were provided on Sundays. Oddly there were no trips on Fridays. In 1816 the first boats began sailing down the Regnts Canal and there is some evidence the Paddington Packet boats experimentaly travelled as far as Camden Town, but it was not successful due to the tight constraints of the Maida Hill tunnel. This underground passageway ran under the hill of the same name and this was the highest point in Paddington at 120ft
The Paddington Packet express boat service briefly formed part of a passenger transport link between Uxbridge and the City via Hayes and Norwood in 1829-30 by means of a connection with the country's first omnibus service. The only downside was that the Paddington Packet was nearly at the end of its days, and the Omnibus service just beginning its. The Paddington Packet was somewhat an inefficent service because of the circitous nature taken by the canal, clearly no doubt done to save money taking an easy route into London. This built-in inefficiency gave the Paddington Packet express boats little hope of competiting with road coaches. Ultimately this route gave the later Grand Union Canal Company a somewhat hopeless task in competing with the more direct railway route to Birmingham, and was partially responsible for the abandonment of its major canal improvement scheme of the 1930's
Paddington packet times published in 1810 (above) and drawing of a packet boat (right) at Maida Hill in 1816
Clearly the Paddington Packet boats had a hopeless task in fighting the competiton. Its only advantage over road was a superior level of comfort, including tea and coffee, and a far smoother journey. The major disadvantage of the packet service was its time of over three hours from Cowley to Paddington was exceedingly slow. On top of that was the time expended by its passengers having to make their way from Uxbridge to Cowley in order to join the service. Adjacent road services were direct and offered much more flexibity and faster travel times. Even before the canal had opened the Uxbridge to London Road was known as being one of the busiest in the country. To give an indication of the competiton the Paddginton Packet was up against, the fastest road coach services travelled between Oxford and London in about three hours and twenty minutes, against the packet's three hours from Cowley to Paddington. By the time the Paddington Packet ended, there were at least 52 road coach services between London and Uxbridge. Forty of these services headed for Oxford and the western parts of the country
The Paddington Packet basin entrance at Cowley on the main Grand Union Canal route, where the express boats started out for London
The history of the place name known as 'Little Venice'
Little Venice is that well known area tucked away in W2 between Paddington and Maida Vale, with its white stuccoed Victorian mansions and numerous celebrities. But it wasnt always seen as a 'pretty' part of London, in fact in Robert Browning's time Little Venice was not so salubrious and there were names for the area that today's locals would not like to see being used again. Despite popular opinion, Browning never ever coined the name Little Venice, and this myth is constantly perpetuated to this day
The arrival of the canal in 1801 saw this part of London, known as being at Paddington, then just a village on the outskirts of London. It soon become an important transport hub and was always called Paddington. Old paintings and photographs always describe it as Paddington. After the second world war the name Little Venice began to come into use. It is often said that Browning dreamt up the name. What happened is that Byron (not Browning) compared this part of Paddington to Venice in Italy and wished that this part of London, with its waterways, was so much more like Venice, instead of being a dirty, run down surburb of London
The area did have its merits prior to becoming Little Venice. In the Victorian era many houses were built around the canal, especialy along the Blomfield Road stretch and north towards Maida Vale. The Church Commissioners owned a lot of the properties and they saw to it that the clientele were middle class or upper class. The influence for this came from the exclusive Nash houses that were found along the Regents canal at North and South Bank, Park Villages East and West, and so many of the houses and mansions along the canal to the west of Maida Hill tunnel were built to a similar style. And there were splendid italinate style houses on the east side of Brownings Pool. With the demolition of so many splendid buildings, Little Venice is ironically far less of a 'Venice' than it was in the 1930's!
The pool that formed the junctions of the canals was the 'bug' in the system. The area suffered nick names which illustrated what the true working class locals and working boatmen thought of the area. There was a considerable social divide between the top hat and tailed Victorian gentry and the boatmen and their familes who lived in the back cabins of their boats. It was this particular aspect that caused Byron to comment upon, wishing that there was a more brighter outlook like that found in Venice, where he envisaged gaily decorated boats punted by smartly dressed sailors. Robert Browning NEVER coined the term Little Venice!
A view of Delamere Terrace before WW2. The Toll House can be seen on the extreme left. This stretch of canal is now Little Venice visitor moorings
The name 'Little Venice' is one of those mechanisms designed purely to entice tourists. As long ago as 1853 it was clear that it was recognised Lord Byron was responsible for the term of 'Venice' but the locale was clearly Paddington which wasnt as salubrious as Venice itself. Somewhere along the line it has been distorted so that it is Robert Browning instead of Byron who is given the credit (see next paragraph.) After the second world newspapers described the area as looking like something from Bruges, but then gently remined their readers that "despite its continential atmopsphere..." the area was actually Maida Vale! Nowadays purists try to argue that Little Venice and Maida Vale are entirely separate areas, which is also something of a punter's choice again depending on which roads one lives in, and what side of those roads one lives on
Browning's Pool is another popular getrification of the area, in an attempt to up the area's class. The isle in the middle of the Little Venice pool was christened Brownings Island replacing a far more cruder name that revealed the class divisions of the area. Strangely enough in terms of tourism it is a popular area but tourism is something that is kept slightly and purposedly muted by the residents. It is allowed but it is not allowed to flourish to the extent that it becomes the area's main industry and so despite being a popular tourist destination, the commercial trappings of tourism are kept to a low profile. Thankfully this has somewhat enabled the area to retain a charm that most other parts of London have lost. Anyhow, Robert Browning did live here at Paddington opposite the pool itself in the years 1861-68 at 19 Warwick Crescent (now replaced by those no so grand council flats.) No 19 was where much of his work was written
Lord Byron's description of the area as 'Venice' began to gather influence after the 1930's, and it soon became known as 'Little' Venice, apparently following a council decision to save Beauchamp Lodge. But it was not until the 1950's that the area was officially recognised as such and gained wide acceptance. This letter to the Telegraph (opens new window) by Lord Kinross published in 1966 makes it absolutely clear that Browning never called the locale Little Venice, and Kinross shows his annoyance at the contantly perpetuated myth
A description of a journey through London by canal in 1885 describes the entry into Little Venice with some apparent trepidation: "Passing under Harrow Road bridge, we burst into a silent sea of shabby gentility, drearier in its assumption than all that has gone before. A pretentious terrace stretches away on either hand, faced with a make-belive massive balustrade, cracked and broken; the heavy houses fronting upon it are stuccoed shams, semaed and shabby; its few disconsolatetrees seem tired of trying to keep up appearances..." The boaters relate further their relief as they escaped this "region of high walls and stuccoed gentility" and entered the more normal "world of warehouses, of saw-mills and of foundries" that made up Camden
Coach and omnibus services to the City
Upon arrival at Paddington travellers on the express boat service had the choice of a walk to the City or the use of privately operated coaching service eastwards. One of these was a single coach run by a Mr Miles from about when the canal opened and clearly some decades before George Shillibeer even thought of his service. Miles charged outside seated passengers 2 shillings whilst those inside the coach were charged 3 shillings. It wasnt a terribly efficient service for Miles also delivered parcels to various establishments and he sometimes took up to three hours to reach the City of London. Other spurious notables operated similar dodgy and unreliable services. It was much quicker to walk!
The other service, introuduced by George Shillibeer and said to be the first UK timetabled bus service, was a short walk from Paddington Basin. This service began on 4th July 1829 using three coaches carrying 22 passengers apiece. The fare was 1 shilling to Islington or 2 shillings to Bank. Buses started at 9am, 12, 3, 6 and 8pm from Paddington and commenced from Bank an hour later. Travellers on the Paddington packet could use Shilibeer's service from 1829 to 1830 when both transport modes overlapped. Unfortunately at this time the Paddington Packet was almost at the end of its days, whilst the Omnibus service was just beginning its. The service was operated by George Shillibeer from the Yorkshire Stingo Inn, near the present Edgware Road station, along the 'New Road' through Euston and Kings Cross to Bank. Although the Yorkshire Stingo has long gone, the road in which the horses and carriages were stabled still exists and is now known as Shillibeer Place (see picures below)
The Yorkshire Stingo Public House
There does not seem to be any record of when the Yorkshire Stingo was built, although it was certainly sometime in the mid 18th Century. The name seems quite strange but it is explained by the fact that stingo was old slang for very strong beer. An admission charge was made to visitors, thereby excluding the poor from using it. Ironically in 1786, the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor made the Yorkshire Stingo one of its major centres for distributing alms to the many Black and Asian people who had worked on the East India Company's ships as servants, and then had been left stranded in London. In 1790 the pub became the temporary home of a cast iron bridge designed by Thomas Paine (he who write Rights of Man and other celebrated political works.) The structure was cast in Sheffield and brought down to the pub for erection in its grounds. Thomas Paine had several prospective buyers but eventually the project fell through due to lack of funds. The parts of the bridge that had been cast ended up as part of a bridge across the River Wear. The public house had gardens added later and it became the terminus for the first omnibus service in the country (as detailed above.) Little is known of its history over the next hundred years or so but it finally closed in 1964
The Yorkshire Stingo featured on the Plan Of The Intended New Road From Paddington To Islington
January 1756 and Cary's New And Accurate Plan
Of London And Westminster 1795 (middle.) The Stranger's Guide Through The Streets Of London & Westminster 1814 (right) shows the existence of the new canal basin at right but no Yorkshire Stingo. However the Inn was modified and lasted until the 20th Century, finally closing in 1964. Bell Lane still exists and is adjacent to the Edgware Road (Bakerloo Line) station. On the latter map one will spot the green area that is entitled cricket ground. This was the early site for the MCC in Dorset Square before it moved to nearby Lisson Grove. The building of the Regents Canal forced it further north to its present location at Lords
The Yorkshire Stingo (shown above) was strongly associated with the canal from its earliest days, for this is where the Grand Junction Canal Company held its inagural dinner on 10th July 1801
Rembrandt Gardens
The Gardens were opened in the early 1950's. The original name was Warwick Avenue Gardens. It was built upon the site of some Italinate houses. The name was changed in 1975 when the City of Westminster was presented tulips by the City of Amsterdam. An opening ceremony was held with the Dutch in full national dress to celebrate the new links between the two cities and the place became rembrandt gardens in honour of one of Hollands finest painters. For the opening ceremony and some time after the gardens had a direct footbridge connection across the canal to the towpath on the Blomfield Road side of the Little Venice Pool
Brunel's bridge
This was an early Brunel structure, predating the major works at Paddington Station by several years. The castings were made in Deptford and put together on site in 1838 and the structure officially opened in 1839. It was moulded within a new brickwork structure in 1906 and forgotten until the 21st century. Steven Brindle - Inspector of Ancient Monuments from English Heritage discovered documents relating to the bridge which described load bearing tests on it. He realised thatt he bridge was an unique iron built structure by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and steps were put in place to ensure the bridge was not demolised as part of the Paddington redevelopment
The bridge was a very unusual example of a structure that relied on gravity to hold it together. No other examples of this type were built by Brunel. The advantage of this design was that it was not bolted together and could be dismantled easily. This was done carefully in 2004 and the structure put into store at English heritage's Portsmouth depot. Here's a detailed account from Paddington & Madia Vale Waterways Society on the history and rescue of the bridge by Steven Brindle. One wonders if the iron arches were brought by river and canal to Paddington, it seems quite logical
Page Two - Railways of Paddington
