Canada Water Pedestrian Bridge and Canada Water Library 2024-11-07

Canada Water is an area of

Rotherhithe Rotherhithe ( ) is a district of South London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, with the Isle of Dogs to the ea ...

in the Docklands of south-east

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It is named after a freshwater lake and wildlife refuge. Canada Water tube, Overground and bus station is immediately north of the lake, along with Canada Water Library which overhangs the lake and Deal Porter Square. Surrey Quays Shopping Centre is also adjacent, sitting immediately to the south. The surrounding area, which forms the town centre of

, is now increasingly known as Canada Water, after the transport interchange as much as the lake itself.

History and development

The lake is named after the former Canada Dock, of which Canada Water is the surviving northern third, and which was mainly used by ships from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. As with much of the Docklands, the

Surrey Commercial Docks The Surrey Commercial Docks were a large group of docks in Rotherhithe, South East (London sub region), South East London, located on the south bank (the Surrey side) of the River Thames. The docks operated in one form or another from 1696 to ...

closed in the 1970s. During the 1980s, the London Docklands Development Corporation took over, and invested heavily in the redevelopment of the area. About half of Canada Dock was infilled and the

Surrey Quays Surrey Quays is a largely residential area of Rotherhithe in south-east London, occupied until 1970 by the Surrey Commercial Docks. The precise boundaries of the area are somewhat amorphous, but it is generally considered to comprise the southe ...

Shopping Centre built on top of it; the remainder was converted into the present lake and wildlife refuge. An ornamental canal, Albion Channel, was created (through the site of the now filled-in Albion Dock) linking Canada Water to Surrey Water, with the spoil used to create Stave Hill in nearby Russia Dock Woodland. Following the earlier

gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...

of the parts of

along the river, the extension of the

Jubilee line The Jubilee line is a London Underground line that runs between in suburban north-west London and in east London, via the West End of London, West End, South Bank and London Docklands, Docklands. Opened in 1979, it is the newest line on the ...

in 1999 moved the focus to the area immediately around Canada Water. The opening of the new Canada Water Underground station gave the area rapid connections to the rest of London, with

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is a financial area of London, England, located in the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The Greater London Authority defines it as part of London's central business district, alongside Central London. Alongside ...

one stop,

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

less than 10 minutes, and

Bond Street Bond Street in the West End of London links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. Since the 18th century the street has housed many prestigious and upmarket fashion retailers. The southern section is Old Bond Street and the l ...

around 15 minutes away by underground train. The station's connection to the

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, it now serves a large part of Greate ...

network in 2010 added a quick connection to the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, with a journey of around 10 minutes to Shoreditch High Street station, near

Liverpool Street Station Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a major central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It i ...

. The area has since been further developed, with additional residential developments, a library which opened in November 2011, and plans to redevelop the shopping mall in a first step towards creating a more traditional town centre. In 2018, architect

Allies and Morrison Allies and Morrison LLP is an architecture and urban planning practice based in London and Cambridge. Founded in 1984, the practice is now one of Britain's largest architectural firms. The practice's work ranges from architecture and interio ...

submitted a masterplan for area's continued development, but some of the plans for tall buildings were revised after

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

said the proposals would harm views of capital landmarks. Approved by Southwark Council in 2020, the masterplan was revised in 2025 to increase the height of some buildings due to fire safety requirements for second staircases. The masterplan covers a former printworks, the shopping and leisure centre, the dock offices and the former Rotherhithe police station, with tall buildings playing "a significant role in transforming Canada Water into a new town centre". The whole masterplan was expected to take about 15 years to deliver, though Allies and Morrison's plans received over 1,000 objections. In November 2024 the Canada Dock Boardwalk, a 170-meter

boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway typically built with wooden planks, which functions as a type of low water bridge or small viaduct that enables pedestrians to ...

spanning the length of the lake, was opened to the public. A parade featuring giant puppets took place on the boardwalk to celebrate its opening.

Freshwater lake

Canada Water is the only body of fresh water in London Docklands. The lake is now kept topped up with fresh water using a windpump. This arrangement was put in place following research by the landscape architect Fraser Borwick, which revealed that ground water had historically been extracted to supply various industrial processes using wind power. After checking the borehole results of the Jubilee line construction team, it was established that large amounts of potable water were available, and a borehole 80 metres long was sunk into the ground. The borehole is lined for 60 metres, and the bottom 20 metres is into chalk. The investigation of how best to keep the lake topped up with fresh water was the result of some damage to the lining of the old dock during construction works in the 1980s. Another solution considered involved securing a water supply from the flooded tunnels of London Underground, but this was considered too risky. The lake's reedbeds support a variety of

aquatic plant Aquatic plants, also referred to as hydrophytes, are vascular plants and Non-vascular plant, non-vascular plants that have adapted to live in aquatic ecosystem, aquatic environments (marine ecosystem, saltwater or freshwater ecosystem, freshwater ...

s such as lesser reedmace, and are home to a variety of

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which i ...

including

mute swan The mute swan (''Cygnus olor'') is a species of swan and a member of the waterfowl family Anatidae. It is native to much of Eurasia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is an introduced species in North America, home to ...

tufted duck The tufted duck (or tufted pochard) (''Aythya fuligula'') is a small diving duck with a population of nearly one million birds, found in northern Eurasia. They are partially migratory. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek , an unide ...

mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...

s, moorhens and

coot Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family, Rallidae. They constitute the genus ''Fulica'', the name being the Latin term for "coot". Coots have predominantly black plumage, and—unlike many rails—they are usual ...

s. A non-native

terrapin Terrapins are a group of several species of small turtle (order Testudines) living in freshwater, fresh or brackish water. Terrapins do not form a taxonomic unit and may not be closely related. Many belong to the families Geoemydidae and Emydid ...

, known locally as Señor Tortuga, has also been sighted in the lake.

Gallery

cmglee_London_Canada_Water_lake.jpg, The lake with Surrey Quays Shopping Centre in the distance cmglee_London_Canada_Water_station.jpg, Canada Water Underground, Overground and bus station cmglee_London_Canada_Water_flats.jpg, Columbia Point (left) and Regina House (right) flats Canada_Water_Library_March_2012.jpg, Canada Water Library, with the lake itself in the foreground cmglee_London_Canada_Water_library.jpg, The main floor of Canada Water Library

Places nearby

* Surrey Quays Shopping Centre * Greenland Dock *

* Russia Dock Woodland * St. Mary's Church, Rotherhithe * Stave Hill (including Ecological Park) * Norwegian Church, Finnish Church, and former Swedish Seamen's Church * Southwark Park *

Bacon's College Bacon's College is a Mixed-sex education, co-educational secondary school and sixth form located in Rotherhithe, London, England. It was previously a City Technology College, but officially changed to Academy (England), academy status in 2007. ...

* Brunel Museum * Printworks (London)

References

External links

Canada Water Redevelopment
promotional website
Canada Water Consultative Forum & Canada Water Campaign
{{coord, 51, 29, 49.31, N, 0, 2, 53.71, W, type:landmark, display=title London docks Geography of the London Borough of Southwark Redevelopment projects in London Rotherhithe