Introduction
London’s version of Venice? It seems strange that one can go for a boat ride along a canal, within walking distance of the BYU Centre. However, such is the case. Situated about halfway between the BYU Centre (above Paddington) and St. Johns’ Wood are the enchanting canals of Little Venice. The name is commonly attributed to the poets Robert Browning and Lord Byron (who apparently did call the area by that name), but old-timers maintain that the name was not widely used until after World War II, when real estate agents, who wished to stimulate housing prices in the area, began using the more exotic name.The area around Little Venice has a rather checkered history. Built between 1810 and 1870, it was originally the “haunt of artists, writers, prostitutes, scientists, and London commuters.” Today it is the home of a diverse and talented community, living in relative seclusion beside a tranquil waterway, among tree-lined streets replete with restaurants—close by, but seemingly oblivious to, London’s busy West End.Little Venice, with its close proximity to Paddington Station, was originally the eastern terminus of the Grand Junction Canal, constructed in 1801 to connect London with the rest of the extensive canal network reaching into England’s industrial pockets of the north and the midlands of Birmingham. At this terminus, a basin thirty yards wide and four hundred yards long was constructed, surrounded by warehouses, a hay and straw market, and pens for livestock. Paddington was chosen as the London terminus of this canal system because of its location in relationship to central London. From Paddington, goods could be easily transported by cart to other parts of the newly burgeoning metropolis.In 1812, the decision was made to extend the waterway by the construction of Regent’s Canal, linking Little Venice to the Thames at Limehouse, just east of the city. The new canal was constructed in two stages, from Little Venice to Camden, completed in 1816, and from there to the Thames, in 1820. By the 1840s, most of the traffic was taken from the canal to the newly developed rail system, leading to unsuccessful attempts in the nineteenth century to turn sections of the canal into a railway.Rather remarkably, the last horse-drawn traffic did not end on the canals until 1956, at which time it gave way to motor tractors introduced in the early 1950s. Commercial traffic on the canals continued until the late 1960s. Since that time, the canal has been used almost exclusively for leisure.Currently, at Little Venice you will find a floating café and a puppet theatre in addition to several commercial vessels offering boat trips between Little Venice and the London Zoo or Camden Lock.
#1 Start: Warwick Avenue Tube Station
Begin this walk at the Warwick Avenue tube station, in Zone 2 on the Bakerloo Line, which you can catch at Oxford Circus, on the Central Line.At this point you are just a short distance northeast of the BYU Centre and about the same distance south of St. Johns Wood. Warrington Crescent, which joins the intersection at the Warwick (pronounced war-ick) tube station, if followed, leads eventually into St. John’s Wood. Colonnade Town House (just north of the tube station, at #2 Warrington Crescent) has a history not unlike that of the area itself. Built as two private homes in the early 1800s and called the Esplanade, it quickly gained a reputation as a house of prostitution. At the turn of the next century, however, the ladies of the night went elsewhere and Esplanade was converted into an invalid’s hospital named Warrington Lodge. Its major focus was for women of all social levels, who could have comfort and privacy unlike other London hospitals during times of confinement or operations. Its unusually shaped lift (the British preference over our word elevator) accommodated stretchers and trolleys (our gurnies), and was unusual for its time. Alan Tunring, the British mathematician who broke the Enigma Code during World War II, was born here in 1921. The breaking of the code is highlighted in the Imperial War Museum (see Westminster walk) and was the inspiration for the 2001 movie Enigma. Sigmund Freud stayed here in 1938, until moving into his home in Hampstead. Today it is has become one of the upscale hotels in the area.
#2 St. Mary's Church
Come out of the tube station and look to your right for Clifton Gardens. Walk that to Randolph Road, and turn right. At Blomfield Road, turn right and walk toward Warwick Avenue. Regent’s Canal is to your left. Turn left and cross the Warwick Avenue Bridge and left again when you come to Howley Place. Turn right onto Park Place Villas, which becomes St. Mary’s Terrace. Continue to St. Mary’s Square and go into Paddington Green to St. Mary’s Church.Omnibus service in London was launched from Paddington Green. A single coach, pulled by three horses, set off in 1829 to travel to its terminus at the Bank of England in the city via Marylebone Road. From this modest beginning emerged London’s vast array of buses, taxis, underground rail system, etc.St. Mary’s Church dates to 1791. Its predecessor was the church in which the painter William Hogarth was secretly married in 1729 to the daughter of James Thornhill, one of London’s most prestigious painters (see Greenwich excursion walk). It is also the burial place of Benjamin Haydon, one of London’s most tragic Victorian painters. When the House of Parliament burned in 1834, it was Haydon, one of the leading figures in the Royal Academy, who suggested that the walls of the newly reconstructed building be covered with appropriate murals. He suggested that those who paint the murals be chosen through a competition. Later, Haydon committed suicide when none of his paintings were chosen for the new structure and when he suffered the indignity of knowing that P.T. Barnum’s display of the diminutive Tom Thumb drew a significantly larger audience than Haydon’s exhibit of his own work, which was being held next door to Barnum’s show.St. Mary’s is also the burial place of Sarah Siddons, the most famous London actress at the turn of the nineteenth century. She is buried in the north end of the churchyard. Sometimes called the “Tragic Muse,” her portrait was painted (often two or three times) by nearly every major painter of the era. The list of these painters reads like a “Who’s Who” in British painting in the early nineteen century: Thomas Lawrence, Thomas Rowlandson, Henry Fuseli, Gilbert Stuart, Thomas Gainsborough, George Romney, and William Hamilton. The most famous of her portraits, however, was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds, president of the Royal Academy, whose painting of the Tragic Muse was the inspiration for the statue of Mrs. Siddons that sits in the adjoining recreational ground nearby St. Mary’s.
#3 Warwick Avenue
Retrace your path back along St. Mary’s Square and St. Mary’s Terrace to Park Place Villas. Follow that to Maida Avenue until you return to the bridge on Warwick Avenue. From this point, you will see the major layout of Little Venice, so spend some time on your own exploring around the basin.Number 19 Warwick Crescent was the home of the poet Robert Browning. His house was torn down some time ago to make room for the current apartment complex. During the nineteenth century, the basin was more commonly called “Browning’s Pond” than it was Little Venice.At the other end of Warwick Crescent is the office of the London Waterbus Company (built from an old tollhouse next to Warwick Terrace Bridge), with a floating café and an information center. Here you can book rides on the canal to London Zoo (Regent’s Park) or to Camden Town Market, which is open on Saturdays and Sundays. For the curious, however, Camden Town itself is worth the visit, since it is like one big flea market of unusual offerings. In spirit, it is much like Carnaby Street and King’s Road of earlier decades. Although the boats leave Little Venice every hour on the hour, during the winter they only run on Saturdays and Sundays. I highly recommend a ride on the canal to see a different part of London than you will see anywhere else. The canals were the way Great Britain was linked together during the industrial revolution before the advent of motorways and railroads.On the corner of Blomfield and Westbourne Terrace Road is a pub—the Bridge House Pub—the oldest building constructed after Regent’s Canal was completed. Upstairs is the Canal Café Theatre, one of the excellent theaters on the fringe. Its satirical Friday night news revue is well known among London theatre afficionados.
#4 The End: Return to the BYU Centre
When you have finished your visit to Little Venice, you may return home by one of three ways: 1) return to the Warwick Avenue tube station via Warwick Avenue; 2) take a canal ride to the London Zoo and Regent’s Park or to Camden Town; or 3) walk the canal back along Bloomfield Road or Maida Avenue to Edgeware Road and turn right on Edgeware, which you might want to explore on foot, back to Edgeware Road tube station.Clifton Villas is one of the rows of grand houses in the area. If you are interested in horticulture, you might want to stop briefly and inspect Clifton Nurseries on this road. They are rather pricey, but you will see exotic plants to match the prices. Stop, but don’t buy unless you plan to leave the plant in the UK. You can’t get them past customs at the other end.
