The area had long been associated with maritime activities: in July 1620 the Pilgrim Fathers' ship the Mayflower sailed from Rotherhithe for Southampton, to begin loading food and supplies for the voyage to New England,[1] and a major Royal Navy dockyard was located just down the river at Deptford.

The Grand Surrey Canal was opened in 1807 to link the docks with inland destinations, but proved a commercial failure and only 31⁄2 miles of it were ever built.

The decline of the docks set in after World War II, when they suffered massive damage from German air raids.

The South Dock was pumped dry and used for construction of some of the concrete caissons which made up the Mulberry Harbours used on D-Day.

When the shipping industry adopted the container system of cargo transportation, the docks were unable to accommodate the much larger vessels needed by containerisation.

Leisure facilities and a number of light industrial plants were also built, notably a new printing works for Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the London Evening Standard and the Daily Mail.