Limehouse Cut

Limehouse Cut
Looking North East along the Limehouse Cut
Location in Tower Hamlets
Specifications
Status	Open
Navigation authority	Canal and River Trust
History
Original owner	Trustees of the Lee Navigation
Principal engineer	John Smeaton Thomas Yeoman
Other engineer(s)	James Meadows Rendel Nathaniel Beardmore
Date of act	1766
Date of first use	1769
Geography
Start point	Bow Locks
End point	Limehouse Basin
Connects to	(part of) Lee Navigation

v t e Limehouse Cut
Legend
Lee Navigation Hertford Union Canal Bow Back Rivers Old Ford Lock Regent's Canal Bow Locks site of Bromley Stop Lock  A12  Tunnel N Approach Bow Back Rivers Morris Road Docklands Light Railway Upper North Street Limehouse Cut Regent's Canal  A1205  Burdett Road  A13  Limehouse site of Britannia Stop Lock Limehouse station Docklands Light Railway Limehouse Basin Limehouse Basin Lock Limehouse Lock River Thames

The Limehouse Cut is a largely straight, broad canal in the East End of London which links the lower reaches of the Lee Navigation to the River Thames. Opening on 17 September 1770, and widened for two-way traffic by 1777, it is the oldest canal in the London area. Although short, it has a diverse social and industrial history. Formerly discharging directly into the Thames, since 1968 it has done so indirectly by a connection through Limehouse Basin.

The Cut is about 1.4 miles (2.2 km) long.^[1] It turns in a broad curve from Bow Locks, where the Lee Navigation meets Bow Creek; it then proceeds directly south-west through the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, finally making a short hook to connect to Limehouse Basin.