The Wenlock Basin, is a 320 metre long

canal basin A canal basin is (particularly in the United Kingdom) an expanse of waterway alongside or at the end of a canal, and wider than the canal, constructed to allow boats to moor or unload cargo without impeding the progress of other traffic, and to al ...

on the

Regent's Canal Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in ea ...

, in the

Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. It was Historic counties of England, historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. Hoxton lies north-east of the City of London, is considered to be a part of London's East End ...

area of the

London Borough of Hackney The London Borough of Hackney ( ) is a London boroughs, London borough in Inner London, England. The historical and administrative heart of Hackney is Mare Street, which lies north-east of Charing Cross. The borough is named after Hackney, Lond ...

, United Kingdom. The

City Road Basin The City Road Basin is an English canal basin and part of the Regent's Canal in Central London, owned by the Canal & River Trust. It opened in 1820, and made a large contribution to the prosperity of the Regent's Canal. By the 1950s, its surro ...

lies just to the west of Wharf Road and is in the neighbouring

London Borough of Islington The London Borough of Islington ( ) is a London borough, borough in North London, England. Forming part of Inner London, Islington has an estimated population of 215,667. It was formed in 1965, under the London Government Act 1963, by the amalg ...

. There are private residential moorings at the North end, with their own entrance gate and entryphone on Wharf Road. The basin itself narrows considerably towards the South - and is not deep enough to be navigable by anything other than canoe. Unlike the

and

, Wenlock Basin is not owned or managed by the

Canal & River Trust The Canal & River Trust (CRT), branded as in Wales, holds the guardianship of 2,000 miles of canals and rivers, together with reservoirs and a wide range of heritage buildings and structures, in England and Wales. Launched on 12 July 2012, the ...

History

The basin was constructed in 1826 and is close to the entrance of the

Islington Tunnel The Islington Tunnel takes the Regent's Canal under Islington, as the longest such tunnel in London. The way for short boats and barges only opened in 1818; the pavements above are waymarked so the otherwise discontinued towpaths are connecte ...

, where a tug service operated until the 1930s. The opening of the basin went badly wrong, with the cofferdam separating it from the Canal collapsing, prematurely filling the basin and leading to the water level of the canal falling by 13 inches. Traffic on the canal was halted until rainfall could restore the water levels. The basin took the name of Wenlock Barns, a local farm. The name Wenlock was used by an electoral ward of the former

Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch The Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch was a metropolitan borough of the County of London between 1899 and 1965, when it was merged with the Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington and the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney to form the London Borou ...

, it was also, for a time, the name of a ward in the

Residential developments

Wenlock Basin is accessible only to residents. The development consists of the following buildings: * The Royle Building, one of the earliest schemes on the basin, originally the Royle printworks at the junction of the Regent's Canal and Wenlock Basin. Converted to almost 100 loft apartments with a small number of bachelor apartments newly built on the roof during the conversion. * The Canal Building, next to the Royle Building and extending more directly along Regent's Canal, is an art-deco style warehouse originally refurbished and sold as 79 shells. * Union Wharf, A development of 90 loft-style apartments and live/work units designed and built by Persimmon Homes (formerly the Beazer Group). * Estilo, A

mixed-use development Mixed use is a type of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning classification that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions ...

of 43 one, two and three-bedroom units overlooking Wenlock Basin completed in 2006 by Telford Homes. * Micawber Wharf, a development of 18 studios, flats and live work/units completed in 2008. Designed by Stephen Davy Peter Smith Architects, and developed by Isotop. *The Wenlock Building, New mixed use development of 82 units on the west side of the basin at its junction with the

. Design by Johnson Naylor Architects, developed in a joint venture between Londonewcastle and Modern City Living, completed in late 2008.Wenlock Building
Sales Website

Businesses

While no longer serving the original cargo handling and warehousing business, a number of modern businesses have office space on ''Wenlock Basin'', either in the ground floor business units of the larger residential developments - or in their own property directly backing on to the basin. They include the

Victoria Miro Gallery The Victoria Miro Gallery is a British contemporary art gallery in London, run by Victoria Miro. Miro opened her first gallery in 1985 in Cork Street, before moving to larger premises in Islington in 2000 and later opening a second space in St ...

, a leading British contemporary art gallery in London run by

Victoria Miro Victoria Marion Miro (born 1 July 1945) is a British art dealer, "one of the grandes dames of the Young British Artists, Britart scene"Husband, Stuart"Go see... the Victoria Miro gallery" ''The Observer'', 3 December 2000. Retrieved 27 September 2 ...

, and the

British Ecological Society The British Ecological Society is a learned society in the field of ecology that was founded in 1913. It is the oldest ecological society in the world. The Society's original objective was "to promote and foster the study of Ecology in its widest ...

, a

learned society A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to al ...

in the field of

Ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

Gallery

References

External links