Croydon Canal

Croydon Canal
A short section of the canal remains in Betts Park, Anerley
Specifications
Locks	28
Status	mostly destroyed
History
Date of act	1801
Date of first use	1809
Date closed	1836
Geography
Start point	Croydon
End point	New Cross
Connects to	Grand Surrey Canal

[ ] The Croydon Canal

Grand Surrey Canal 1 lock 2 lock bridge at New Cross Gate Station 3 lock 4-10 New Cross locks (7) Brockley Cross bridge 11-26 Honor Oak (17) (Lock 26 was a staircase of 2) Dacres Wood(Nature reserve) Sydenham Resr and feeder Penge Wharf Anerley Tea Rooms section Betts Park concrete trough Norwood Resr and feeder Norwood Wharf steam pumping station 27-28 Croydon Common locks (2) dock West Croydon basin

The Croydon Canal ran 9.25 miles (15 km) from Croydon, via Forest Hill, to the Grand Surrey Canal at New Cross in south London, England. It opened in 1809 and closed in 1836, the first canal to be abandoned by an Act of Parliament.

Authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1801, the canal was originally intended to extend northwards to Rotherhithe, but the simultaneous construction of the Grand Surrey Canal provided a convenient access route. It was 9.25 miles (15 km) long, and opened on 22 October 1809.

The Croydon Canal linked to the Croydon, Merstham and Godstone Railway (itself connected to the Surrey Iron Railway), enabling the canal to be used to transport stone and lime from workings at Merstham. The canal was never extended further south-west, as was initially intended, to reach Epsom.

The canal was originally planned with two inclined planes but 28 locks, arranged in two flights, were used instead. To keep the canal supplied with water, reservoirs were constructed at Sydenham and South Norwood; the latter still exists as South Norwood Lake in a public park.

The canal was 34 feet (10 m) wide. It had a maximum depth of 5 feet (1.5 m). By 1811 22 barges plied the canal. The barges were 60 feet (18 m) long and 9 feet (2.7 m) wide and could carry about 30 tons. The main cargo was timber.

After the initial flights of locks, most of the canal followed the 161 ft (49.1m) contour.