Regent's Canal Dock. © NMM

The Regent’s Canal and Dock Company constructed the Regent’s Canal Dock, also known as the Limehouse Basin, to connect the industrial trade from the Midlands to the City of London. It was originally constructed as a barge basin to be linked to the Grand Union Canal.

Regent’s Canal Dock was one of the few dock systems to admit colliers and by 1820, the coal trade was firmly established. Coal was transported from the north-east of England and then transhipped in lighters around the City of London. Other commodities that were imported and exported through Regent’s Canal Dock included Baltic timber, rice, Scotch soda, salt, fruit and ice.

The City Basin, Regent's Canal. © NMM

Dock gates for the Regent's Canal. © NMM

The Regent’s Canal Dock was built to assist the locking of barges between the canals and the Thames, and the transfer of goods between barge and ship. Therefore, smaller sea-going vessels frequented this dock system. It never really became a full trading dock, but was used as an ancillary dock to the larger dock systems that surrounded it.

The dock was frequented by a large number of colliers, lighters and narrow boats. This increased with the construction of ‘The New Ship Lock’, which allowed the larger steam colliers to enter the dock.

For a number of years, the British Waterway’s Board ran a passenger service from Birmingham through to Hamburg and other German and Norwegian ports using small coaster-type vessels. Today, the Limehouse Cut is used by rubbish barges going to refuse dumps in Essex.

• The Regent’s Canal Dock covered an area of 10 acres.
• The dock system consisted of a single basin. There were two entrance locks for sea-going vessels, ‘The Old Ship Lock’ and ‘The New Ship Lock’.
• The dock had its own river quay situated just east of the entrance lock and a large warehouse, known as Victoria Wharf.
• The site contained four jetties for the colliers and lighters, a number of warehouses and a granary. There were large coal-bunkers situated on the north-west and south-west quays.
• The narrow west quay was used for Baltic timber cargoes. This was transferred to furniture makers in Shoreditch and many nearby timber yards.
• A timber warehouse was situated over the eastern half of the basin, to be used by the Grand Junction Canal Company. This warehouse was also used to house rice and scotch soda before being demolished in the early 20th century.