London Docks

[1] Traditionally ships had docked at wharves on the River Thames, but by the late 1700s more capacity was needed.

The principal designers were the architects and engineers Daniel Asher Alexander and John Rennie.

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).

The controversial "Fortress Wapping" printing works of Rupert Murdoch's News International corporation was constructed on the northern half of the infilled Western Dock.

A map of the London Docks in 1831
A birdseye view dated 1845
At the London Dock in the 1820s, the Customs employed around 250 men and the Excise around 200.
Port wine from Oporto being unloaded on a London Docks quayside, circa 1909.
Spirit Quay in Wapping - a canal remnant of the London Docks