A plan for a canal from Croydon to Wandsworth was thought to be impractical by William Jessop and John Rennie, because the main source of water in the area through which it would run was the River Wandle, and this supplied a number of mills which would be affected if the river was used to supply the canal.

Jessop also advised on a canal from Vauxhall to Rotherhithe in 1796, while in 1799, a railway from London through Croydon to Portsmouth, using horses to pull the wagons, was suggested.

(U.K.) c. xxxi) obtained on 21 May 1801, which created the Company of Proprietors of the Grand Surrey Canal, and gave them powers to raise £60,000 by issuing shares, and an additional £30,000 if required.

They were authorised to build a canal from Rotherhithe, on the River Thames, to Mitcham in what was then Surrey, with branches to any places within 1,500 yards (1,400 m) of the main line.

[2] Branches to Deptford, Peckham, the Borough, and one to rejoin the Thames at Vauxhall were included, but proposals for a branch from Mitcham to Croydon, and another to Kingston, which would have created a route to bypass the Thames through London, were removed from the bill during the committee stages.

The canal company agreed to construct it in 1803, and although it was poorly funded, the 3-acre (1.2 ha) basin, together with a ship lock, was completed and opened on 13 March 1807.

So far, the route had been level, but to go any further would have needed locks or inclined planes, and the expected costs of their construction did not inspire the company to proceed with them.

A short branch of about 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) was constructed in 1826, running from Glengall Wharf to Peckham Basin.

[2] In 1812, the canal was closed for two months while the company finished work on a new dock and connecting lock, which opened in November.

The scheme also included a railway along the bank of the canal from Vauxhall to Deptford, with a branch to Elephant and Castle.

A prospectus was issued for the Grand Surrey Dock, Canal and Junction Railway Company, but there was little interest in subscribing the £600,000 capital needed, and the scheme foundered.

[9] The canal was never very profitable, as stiff competition between the London dock companies kept toll rates low.

There was a railway interchange on the remains of the Croydon Canal, and South Dock was served by the Deptford Branch railway, but neither offered a real threat, and the canal continued to thrive until the expansion of road transport after the end of the Second World War in 1945.

The former canal side offices and buildings opposite Deptford Park on Grinstead Road were largely demolished and replaced by a modern Barratt development of flats called Inwen Court.

Part of the route within the London Borough of Lewisham is now the Surrey Canal Linear Park, construction of which was funded by money from nearby housing developments at Cannon and Marine Wharf and Deptford Wharves.

[13] The former Camberwell Basin and the final 0.9 miles (1.4 km) now form part of the site of Burgess Park.