🚢 Limehouse Cut

The Limehouse Cut is a largely straight, broad canal in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in east 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. Its original purpose was to provide a short cut for barges bringing grain and malt from the Lee to the City of London. 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.