Plaque

Islington Tunnel - east - new

Inscription

Through the heart of Angel
Rather than building a flight of locks to climb the hill at Angel the Regent's Canal Company held a competition to design a tunnel.

The entries were disappointing, so the chief engineer James Morgan ended up designing this tunnel himself. It took three years to build, from 1815 to 1818 and was dug by a band of navvies using explosives, wheelbarrows, horses and sheer physical strength.
The Regent's Canal - Canal & River Trust

We note that the plaque, twice refers to 'Angel', not 'the Angel', and realise that we are not sure which usage is correct.

Site: Islington Tunnel - east (2 memorials)

N1, Grand Union Canal near Colebrooke Row

2019: we found the new plaque had replaced the old. Oddly, there is a second, identical, plaque placed on the east side of the nearby Danbury Street bridge. We haven't been to check but suspect that the plaque at the west end of the Islington Tunnel has also been replaced. Possibly all those erected by British Waterways London have been replaced with Canal & River Trust plaques, as part of a re-branding exercise.

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This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Islington Tunnel - east - new

Subjects commemorated i

Islington Tunnel

960 yards (878 metres) long, designed by James Morgan, built over the three y...

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Regent's Canal Company

Created following the passing of the Regent's Canal Bill in July 1812, to cut...

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James Morgan

Probably born in Carmarthen, south Wales. Architect and engineer. Employed by...

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This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Islington Tunnel - east - new

Created by i

Canal & River Trust

From their website: "We're the charity who look after and bring to life 2,000...

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This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Islington Tunnel - east - new

Also at this site i

Islington Tunnel - east - lost

Islington Tunnel - east - lost

Two points about the wording on this plaque. 'Navies' were the men who built...

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