Editing Islington (section)

===Water sources===
[[File:Hugh myddleton islington green 1.jpg|thumb|upright|A statue of [[Hugh Myddelton]], creator of the [[New River (London)|New River]], surmounts a drinking fountain at [[Islington Green]]. (November 2005)]]
The hill on which Islington stands has long supplied the [[City of London]] with water, the first projects drawing water through wooden pipes from the many springs that lay at its foot, in [[Finsbury]]. These included [[Sadler's Wells]], London Spa and [[Clerkenwell]].

By the 17th century these traditional sources were inadequate to supply the growing population and plans were laid to construct a waterway, the [[New River (London)|New River]], to bring fresh water from the source of the [[River Lea]], in [[Hertfordshire]] to [[New River Head]], below Islington in [[Finsbury]]. The river was opened on 29 September 1613 by Sir [[Hugh Myddelton]], the constructor of the project. His statue still stands where Upper Street meets Essex Road. The course of the river ran to the east of Upper Street, and much of its course is now covered and forms a ''linear park'' through the area.<ref>[http://www.thameswater.co.uk/waterinschools/newriver/story.html ''The Story of the New River'' (Thames Water)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080211190732/http://www.thameswater.co.uk/waterinschools/newriver/story.html |date=11 February 2008 }}. Retrieved 12 December 2007</ref>

The [[Regent's Canal]] passes through Islington, for much of which in an {{convert|886|m|ft|0|adj=on}} tunnel that runs from Colebrook Row east of the Angel, to emerge at Muriel Street near Caledonian Road. The stretch is marked above with a series of pavement plaques so walkers may find their way from one entrance to the other. The area of the canal east of the tunnel and north of the City Road was once dominated by much warehousing and industry surrounding the large City Road Basin and Wenlock Basin. Those old buildings that survive here are now largely residential or small creative work units. This stretch has an old double-fronted pub ''The Narrowboat'', one side accessed from the towpath.

The canal was constructed in 1820 to carry cargo from [[Limehouse]] into the canal system. There is no tow-path in the tunnel so bargees had to ''walk'' their barges through, braced against the roof.<ref>Alan Faulkner "The Regent's Canal: London's Hidden Waterway" (2005) {{ISBN|1-870002-59-8}}</ref> Commercial use of the canal has declined since the 1960s.