Grand Surrey Canal - History

History

During the late 1700s, there were a number of proposals for canals on the south bank of the River Thames, and several of the prominent canal engineers of the time were involved. John Smeaton looked at two possible routes for a canal between Kingston upon Thames and Ewell in 1778. Ralph Dodd, who was also involved with promoting the Thames and Medway Canal, proposed a canal with a number of branches linking Deptford, Clapham, Kingston, Ewell, Epsom, Mitcham and Croydon. A plan for a canal from Croydon to Wandsworth was thought to be impractical by William Jessop and John Rennie, because the main source of water in the area through which it would run was the River Wandle, and this supplied a number of mills which would be affected if the river was used to supply the canal. Jessop also advised on a canal from Vauxhall to Rotherhithe in 1796, while in 1799, a railway from London through Croydon to Portsmouth, using horses to pull the wagons, was suggested. Eventually, three projects were submitted to parliament for approval. These were the Grand Surrey Canal, at the time called the Kent and Surrey Canal, the Croydon Canal linking Croydon and Rotherhithe, and the Surrey Iron Railway, a horse-drawn linking Croydon to Wandsworth, and all three were authorised in 1801.

The Grand Surrey Canal was authorised by an Act of Parliament obtained on 21 May 1801, which created the Company of Proprietors of the Grand Surrey Canal, and gave them powers to raise £60,000 by issuing shares, and an additional £30,000 if required. They were authorised to build a canal from Rotherhithe, on the River Thames, to Mitcham in what was then Surrey, with branches to any places within 1,500 yards (1,400 m) of the main line. Branches to Deptford, Peckham, the Borough, and one to rejoin the Thames at Vauxhall were included, but proposals for a branch from Mitcham to Croydon, and another to Kingston, which would have created a route to bypass the Thames through London, were removed from the bill during the committee stages. Those who opposed the canal ensured that clauses restricting use of water from the Wandle were inserted.

Work began on the canal, but at the same time, the London dock system was in its early stages of development, and there were proposals by John Hall in 1802 to construct a dock at Rotherhithe, close to the lock by which the canal gained access to the Thames. The canal company agreed to construct it in 1803, and although it was poorly funded, the 3-acre (1.2 ha) basin, together with a ship lock, was completed and opened on 13 March 1807. The Croydon Canal, which had also been authorised in 1801, proposed to join the Surrey Canal near Deptford, to save having to construct a parallel route to the Thames. The prospect of rent from this arrangement helped the company to open the first 3 miles (4.8 km) of the canal, as far as the Old Kent Road, in 1807, but their resolve to complete the canal had been lost, as the docks seemed a more lucrative prospect.

However, a second Act of Parliament, obtained in 1807, authorised them to raise another £60,000, which was used to extend the canal to Memel Wharf and a basin at Camberwell. This work was completed in 1810. So far, the route had been level, but to go any further would have needed locks or inclined planes, and the expected costs of their construction did not inspire the company to proceed with them. A short branch of about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) was constructed in 1826, running from Glengall Wharf to Peckham Basin. Two further acts of parliament were obtained in 1808 and 1811 to allow new funds to be committed to the project.