When the canal was built at the turn of the nineteenth century, the valley of the River Westbourne ran through what were known as the Kilburn Fields. To span the valley, the new canal was placed on a 30 foot high embankment to cross the river.

In a report dating from 1814 it is said of the aqueduct that “it is formed over the valley to an elevation of 30 feet above the natural surface of the ground; a brick aqueduct here… being made for the conveyance of the canal over the Serpentine River or Westbrook.”

Progressive development of the area since the canal was built meant the Westbourne river was now becoming an open sewer. Around the early 1820s locals complained the awful smell emanating from the Westbourne. It was culverted for a considerable distance either side of the aqueduct by 1823.

By the 1830s when the area was under development, especially with regards to the railway, the Westbourne had its course diverted and straightened out onto a parallel close to the southern end of Westbourne Terrace, and culverted beneath that road. The site of Paddington station was built within the old river valley.

A new overflow was built (it can still be seen by the A40(M) Westway.) It connects to the Titchbourne culvert which in turn links with the Ranleagh Sewer somewhere under Bayswater Road. The Titchbourne originated on the high ground near St Johns Wood and passed under Edgware Road near Boscobel Street. The lower end of its course can still be seen today in the form of the valley that stretches south from Bayswater past the Royal Parks head offices towards the Serpentine.

Joseph Bazalgette culverted the remainder of the river as part of the master plan to improve London’s sewerage system. The river now runs in a culvert all the way from Kilburn to the Thames and as a result few now know of the Westbourne’s exact course. Few also now know where the Kilburn Aqueduct stands.




Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence