Surface fails because there is a channel underneath?

A hole has appeared in the towpath at Slough Basin at this exact position a number of times, committee members recall seeing and reporting it before. This time brickwork depicting a man-made edge can be seen, with signs of another brick line a short distance away.

This has lead to speculation that therre has been in the past a water channel leading from the canal into neighbouring premises on the south side where the Travis Perkins site now stands. We have heard suggestions that there might have been a steam engine or similar just off the canal which needed a supply of water.

Can anyone else shed any light on what was here in the past?