Limehouse Basin facts for kids

The Limehouse Basin in Limehouse, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets provides a navigable link between the Regent's Canal and the River Thames, through the Limehouse Basin Lock. A basin in the north of Mile End, near Victoria Park connects with the Hertford Union Canal leading to the River Lee Navigation. The dock originally covered an area of about 15 acres (60,703 m²). The Basin lies between the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) line and historic Narrow Street. Directly to the east is a small park, Ropemaker's Fields.

History

The Regent's Canal Dock, 1828

The Basin, built by the Regent's Canal Company, was formerly known as Regent's Canal Dock and was used by seagoing vessels and lighters to offload cargoes to canal barges, for onward transport along the Regent's Canal. Although initially a commercial failure following its opening in 1820, by the mid 19th century the dock (and the canal) were an enormous commercial success for the importance in the supply of coal to the numerous gasworks and latterly electricity generating stations along the canal, and for domestic and commercial use. At one point it was the principal entrance from the Thames to the entire national canal network. Its use declined with the growth of the railways, although the revival of canal traffic during World War I and World War II gave it a brief swansong.

The Docklands Light Railway is carried on a viaduct originally built for the London and Blackwall Railway above the original wharves along the north side of the basin. Beyond these, the Commercial Road Lock leads to the Regent's Canal.

To the east of the canal entrance, behind a viaduct arch is the octagonal tower of a hydraulic accumulator, 1869, replacing an earlier and pioneering structure dating from the 1850s by William George Armstrong, engineer and inventor. This regulated the hydraulic pressure of the extensive network of hydraulic mains around the basin supplying the coal-handling machinery. The associated steam raising plant and hydraulic pumps have been removed. The building was converted by Dransfield Owens de Silva for the London Docklands Development Corporation to function as a viewing platform. It (and the basin itself) is now owned by the British Waterways Board; and is a Grade II listed building, and is open every year during Open House Weekend, usually the third weekend in September.

In the 19th century, as steam-power gained dominance, Limehouse's facilities became too small for the new, larger steamships.

The history of the connection of the Basin to the River Thames and the Limehouse Cut is complex. Originally the Basin had three entrance locks to the Thames to separate ship and barge traffic. The smaller upstream entrances were later closed and filled. In 1968, a short stretch of new canal was constructed to reconnect the Limehouse Cut to the Basin, replacing the Cut's old direct link with the Thames. It was closed to commercial traffic in 1969, with one quay at the Basin retained for the use of pleasure craft.

Images for kids

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  Limehouse Basin , Canary Wharf in background, October 2015

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  Newcastle colliers, tough workhorses of the coal era, struggled to unload in the congested Thames (H. Carr: Shipley Art Gallery).

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  Ceremonial opening,The Times, 2 August 1820

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  Accumulator tower and chimney, with visitors

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  Morning Post 6 April 1835

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  S.S. Sviet, one of the first oil tankers, visited Limeihouse Basin 1886

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  Old Customs House, now a Gordon Ramsay gastropub

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  Sailing ships in Limehouse Basin 1924, Commercial Road lock in foreground

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  Limehouse Cut (left foreground) discharging into Limehouse Basin beside Victory Place, Thames in background

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  River entrance to Limehouse Marina with swingbridge, old customs house on left

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  From the west, 2004

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  DLR viaduct: Robert Stephenson and George Bidder's fine arches

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  Limehouse Basin lock (from river) built inside 1869 shiplock

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  Limehouse Basin lock and swing bridge, River Thames in background.

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  Marina office, Limehouse Basin

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  Birds in the Basin: four cormorants and some geese

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  Luftwaffe He 111 bomber, 1940, its wingtip pointing at Limehouse Basin

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  Limehouse Basin 1827 with shipping and barges; notice the sloping banks

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  Horwood's map 1819 (black arrow = Limehouse Basin, white = Limehouse Cut)

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  Artist's impression of Thames entrance, 1826 with its capstan-operated swing-bridge

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  Coal-whippers. Four men could lift 100 tons of coal a day.

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  The Basin's Thames entrance in 1850 with its protective timber structure

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  The London & Blackwall viaduct (1840), now carrying the DLR, crossing the Commercial Road Lock

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  Enlargement (top-hatted directors posing, early 1867). Note sailing ships — held back by temporary earth dam.

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  Limehouse Basin in its heyday. The new slantwise shiplock is in the centre; old ship and barge locks on left.

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  The north quay jetty drawn by Gustave Doré. Notice hydraulic cranes.

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  1880 Plan issued by Regent's Canal Company to advertise their dock. The old ship lock has been closed off.

See also

In Spanish: Valle de Limehouse para niños