Kensington Canal

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The Kensington Canal was a canal in London, which led from the River Thames at Chelsea to Kensington, where there was a basin, near Warwick Road, opening in 1828. There was one lock, at the entrance, and the canal was 1.75 miles in length.

[edit] History

Throughout its operation, the canal was many times beset by problems with silting and mud, making navigation difficult, especially at low tide. Eventually the canal was sold to the Bristol Birmingham and Thames Junction Railway in 1836, who proceeded to build a rail-line from the north to the canal basin for the exchange of goods. The railway company, now renamed the West London Railway, leased the rail-line to the London and Birmingham Railway in 1846, leaving the West London Railway owning only the canal. The original canal company was wound up in the same year. An Act of Parliament of 1859 authorised a joint venture of several railways companies to extend the railway south from Kensington and in so doing close a part of the canal to use as a track bed. Only a short stretch of canal then remained, its principal customer being a gas works. The canal continued to carry traffic until 1967.

[edit] Current status

The West London Line from Willesden railway station to Clapham Junction now runs along the former bed of the canal, as is the case with several former canals in London, such as the Croydon Canal.