The City Road Basin is a canal basin

Canal basin

A canal basin is an expanse of waterway alongside or at the end of a canal, and wider than the canal, constructed to allow boats to moor or unload cargo without impeding the progress of other traffic, and to allow room for turning, thus serving as a winding hole...

 and part of the Regent's Canal

Regent's Canal

Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal, just north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in east London....

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, owned by British Waterways

British Waterways

British Waterways is a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom, serving as the navigation authority in England, Scotland and Wales for the vast majority of the canals as well as a number of rivers and docks...

. There are currently several large-scale residential developments in progress.

This section of the canal was built after the Camden Town

Camden Lock

Camden Lock, or Hampstead Road Locks is a twin manually-operated lock on the Regent's Canal in Camden Town, London Borough of Camden. The sign on each of the twin locks reads "Hampstead Road Lock 1"...

 to Paddington arm

Paddington Basin

Paddington Basin is an area of Paddington, London named after the nearby canal basin.The junction of the Regent's Canal and the Grand Junction Canal is close to this point but the basin itself is the terminus of the Paddington Arm of the Grand Junction Canal. It was opened in 1801...

, in 1820. This basin, the nearest to the City of London

City of London

The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...

 soon eclipsed the Paddington Basin in the amount of goods carried, principally for coal and building materials. Goods that were being shipped locally, in contrast to the canal's original purpose of transshipping imports to the Midlands. The opening of the London and Birmingham Railway

London and Birmingham Railway

The London and Birmingham Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway ....

 in 1838 actually increased the tonnage of coal carried by the canal. However, by 1929, with the Midlands trade lost to the railways, and more deliveries made by road, the canal – and this basin, fell into a long decline.

See also

• Canals of the United Kingdom
  Canals of the United Kingdom
  The canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a colourful history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's role for recreational boating...
  
  
• History of the British canal system
  History of the British canal system
  The British canal system of water transport played a vital role in the United Kingdom's Industrial Revolution at a time when roads were only just emerging from the medieval mud and long trains of pack horses were the only means of "mass" transit by road of raw materials and finished products The...
  
  
• List of canal basins in the United Kingdom

External links

• Islington Council Website: City Road Basin Masterplan
• British Waterways: Exciting new future secured for City Road Basin- London Borough of Islington adopts masterplan
• Waterscape: Full public access a step closer for City Road Basin