City Road Basin

City Road Basin
City Road Basin from Graham Road Park
Specifications
Status	Open
Navigation authority	Canal & River Trust
History
Date completed	1820

[ ] Regents Canal Basins
To Paddington Kings Cross Station A5200 York Way Battlebridge Basin A5203 Caledonian Road Pentonville Islington Tunnel (960 yd) A1/Islington High Street Danbury Road bridge City Road Lock City Road Basin Wharf Road bridge Wenlock Basin Packington Square footbridge Sturts Road Lock A1200 New North Road Bridge To Limehouse

Coordinates: 51°31′52″N 0°05′50″W / 51.531140°N 0.097321°W / 51.531140; -0.097321 The City Road Basin is an English canal basin and part of the Regent's Canal in London, owned by the Canal & River Trust. It opened in 1820, and made a large contributuion to the prosperity of the Regent's Canal. By the 1950s, its surroundings were largely derelict, but a programme of regeneration began in 2004, involving several large-scale residential developments, and public access to the basin was provided for the first time in 2009. The basin is used for canoeing by the Islington Boat Club.

Following the completion of the Grand Junction Canal's branch to Paddington Basin in 1801, various plans to link it to the River Thames further to the east were suggested. A scheme to build a canal to the Thames at Limehouse was eventually agreed, and an Act of Parliament was obtained on 13 July 1812 to authorise the Regents Canal. The canal was opened from Paddington to Camden Town in 1816, and work on the Islington Tunnel had started, but the company was chronically short of money, as they had failed to raise the original capital, and the cost of construction was anticipated to be much more than the first estimate of £400,000. A third Act of Parliament, (there had been a second one in 1813 to authorise the building of Cumberland Basin), increased the authorised capital to £600,000, but the company had only raised £254,100 of the original amount, and failed to raise any more.