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| Looking along the Ornamental Canal towards The Shard. |
Just to the east of St Katherine Docks and Marina you will find Hermitage Basin, a small oasis amid a now residential area. This basin is all that is left of the London Docks, which were filled in for redevelopment in around 1983.
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| The old walls of the London Docks. |
To keep the history of the London Docks alive a canal was designed, that would link Hermitage Basin to Shadwell Basin. This canal was not designed for river traffic and so was built as an ornamental reminder of bygone times.
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| Not navigable, but full of wildlife. |
The former dock walls were used as features along the Ornamental Canal, which would pass alongside Tobacco Dock, the only warehouses to survive the redevelopment, as it made its way in a north-easterly direction towards Shadwell Basin.
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| The Tobacco Dock warehouses were built in 1812. |
As the canal nears Shadwell Basin it passes beneath Wapping Woods, so the towpath leads you up through this wonderful little park, before rejoining the canal near Shadwell Basin.
