// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did the London Docks ship say? "Dock" to my schedule.
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The London Docks were one of several sets of docks in the historic Port of London.
They were constructed in Wapping, downstream from the City of London between 1799 and 1815, at a cost exceeding £5½ million.[1]
Traditionally ships had docked at wharves on the River Thames, but by the late 1700s more capacity was needed. They were the closest docks to the City of London until St Katharine Docks were built two decades later.
London Dock Company
[edit]| Port of London Improvement Act 1800 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
.svg) | |
| Long title | An Act for making Wet Docks, Basons, Cuts, and other Works, for the greater Accommodation and Security of Shipping, Commerce, and Revenue, within the Port of London. |
| Citation | 39 & 40 Geo. 3. c. xlvii |
| Territorial extent | United Kingdom |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 20 June 1800 |
| Commencement | 20 June 1800[a] |
| Repealed | 5 November 1993 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| London Docks (Warehousing of Goods) Act 1804 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
.svg) | |
| Long title | An act for warehousing Goods within the Limits of certain Docks made under an Act, passed in the thirty-ninth and fortieth Year of his present Majesty, intituled, "An act for making Wet Docks, Basons, Cuts, and other Works for the greater Accommodation and Security of Shipping, Commerce, and Revenue within the Port of London;" and to make Regulations relating to the said Docks. |
| Citation | 44 Geo. 3. c. 100 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 28 July 1804 |
| Port of London Improvement and London Dock Company Act 1806 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| |
| Long title | An Act to alter and amend several Acts, passed in the Fortieth, Forty fourth, and Forty fifth Years of His present Majesty, for making Wet Docks, Basons, Cuts and other Works, for the greater Accommodation and Security of Shipping, Commerce and Revenue, within the Port of London; and for other the Purposes in the said Acts mentioned; and for enlarging the Powers thereby granted to the London Dock Company. |
| Citation | 46 Geo. 3. c. lix |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 9 June 1806 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by |
|
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| London Dock Company Act 1807 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| |
| Long title | An Act to enable the London Dock Company to purchase certain Water Works in the Parishes of Stratford, Westham, Bow, Bromley, Mile End, and Stepney, and other Parishes adjacent; and to amend the several Acts for making Wet Docks and other Works for the Accommodation of Shipping, Commerce, and Revenue, within the Port of London. |
| Citation | 47 Geo. 3 Sess. 2. c. v |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 25 July 1807 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by |
|
Status: Repealed | |
| London Dock Company Act 1809 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| |
| Long title | An Act to alter and amend several Acts passed in the Fortieth, Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth, Forty-sixth, and Forty-seventh Years of His present Majesty, for making Wet Docks, Basons, Cuts, and other Works, for the greater Accommodation and Security of Shipping, Commerce, and Revenue, within the Port of London, and for other the Purposes therein mentioned relating thereto, and to enlarge the Powers and Authorities by the said Acts granted to the London Dock Company. |
| Citation | 49 Geo. 3. c. clvi |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 10 June 1809 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by |
|
Status: Repealed | |
| London Dock Company's Rates (Wines and Spirits) Act 1811 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| |
| Long title | An Act for regulating the Rates and Charges to be received by the London Dock Company, upon Wines and Spirits landed and warehoused in the London Docks. |
| Citation | 51 Geo. 3. c. xlix |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 6 May 1811 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by |
|
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| London Docks Act 1812 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| |
| Long title | An Act for allowing further Time for the Completion of the Docks, Entrances and other Works and Buildings, belonging to the London Dock Company. |
| Citation | 52 Geo. 3. c. cxiv |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 20 May 1812 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by |
|
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| London Docks Act 1814 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| |
| Long title | An Act for enlarging and amending the Powers and Provisions of the several Acts for making the London Docks. |
| Citation | 54 Geo. 3. c. xl |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 18 May 1814 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by |
|
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| London Dock Company Act 1823 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
.svg) | |
| Long title | An Act to allow further Time for the Completion of the Docks and other Works belonging to the London Dock Company. |
| Citation | 4 Geo. 4. c. cxxiv |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 10 July 1823 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by |
|
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| London Docks Act 1828 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| |
| Long title | An Act to consolidate and amend the several Acts for making the London Docks. |
| Citation | 9 Geo. 4. c. cxvi |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 15 July 1828 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| London Docks Act 1853 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
.svg) | |
| Long title | An Act to authorize the London Dock Company to make a new Entrance to their Docks from the River Thames and other Works, and to augment their Capital Stock; and for other Purposes connected with the said Docks. |
| Citation | 16 & 17 Vict. c. cvi |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 4 August 1853 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| London Docks Act 1856 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| |
| Long title | An Act to enable the London Dock Company to raise a further Sum of Money. |
| Citation | 19 & 20 Vict. c. i |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 29 April 1856 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| London Docks Act 1858 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
| |
| Long title | An Act to enable the London Dock Company to raise a further Sum of Money, and to augment their Capital Stock; and for other Purposes connected with their Docks. |
| Citation | 21 & 22 Vict. c. xxxv |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 14 June 1858 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | |
Status: Repealed | |
The London Dock Company was formed by the Port of London Improvement Act 1800 (39 & 40 Geo. 3. c. xlvii), and work on the docks began in 1801.[2] They were amalgamated with St Katharine Docks to form the London and Saint Katharine Docks Company by the London and Saint Katharine Docks Act 1864 (27 & 28 Vict. c. clxxviii).
Physical description
[edit]The London Docks occupied a total area of about 30 acres (120,000 m2), consisting of Western and Eastern docks linked by the short Tobacco Dock. The Western Dock was connected to the Thames by Hermitage Basin to the south west and Wapping Basin to the south.
The Eastern Dock connected to the Thames via the Shadwell Basin to the east. The principal designers were the architects and engineers Daniel Asher Alexander and John Rennie.
The docks specialised in high-value luxury commodities such as ivory, spices, coffee and cocoa as well as wine and wool, for which elegant warehouses and wine cellars were constructed. The docks were served by rail at East Smithfield Station, opened in 1864 by London and Blackwall Railway and remained in use until September 1966[3]. The Port of London Authority took over the London Docks together with the rest of the enclosed docks in 1909.
After containerisation of commercial shipping
[edit]
The docks were closed to shipping in 1969 and sold to the borough of Tower Hamlets. The western portion of the London Docks was filled in with the (unrealised) intention of turning them into public housing estates. The land was still largely derelict when it was acquired in 1981 by the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC). It was subsequently redeveloped with over 1,000 individual properties centred on the old Tobacco Dock and Shadwell Basin.
The controversial "Fortress Wapping" printing works of Rupert Murdoch's News International corporation was constructed on the northern half of the infilled Western Dock. Hermitage Basin and Shadwell Basin survive. Wapping Basin is now a sports pitch and some of the Eastern Dock site is open space. A small canal runs across the southern part of the Western Dock site from Hermitage Basin to Tobacco Dock.
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ↑ Deane, Phyllis (1965). The First Industrial Revolution. Cambridge University Press. pp. 80. ISBN 978-0-521-09363-7.
- ↑ "A walk in the footprint of the London Docks". Thames Facing East. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
- ↑ Connor, J.E.; Phillips, Charles (1 August 1998). Mitchell, Vic (ed.). Fenchurch Street to Barking. Middleton Press Ltd. 37: East smithfield. ISBN 9781901706208.
Further reading
[edit]- Ben Weinreb & Christopher Hibbert (1995). The London Encyclopaedia. Macmillan. p. 486. ISBN 0-333-57688-8.