Tobacco Dock

[1] After the London Docklands ceased seaborne trade, the warehouse and surrounding areas fell into dereliction until it was turned into a shopping centre which opened in 1989.

[3] The vaults beneath the tobacco warehouses resembled the crypts of a Gothic cathedral,[1] "with chamfered granite columns under finely-executed brick groins, connected with a 20-acre "subterranean city" for the storage of wines and spirits, where they could mature at a stable temperature of 15.5 °C".

Although it was rather notorious for prostitution and other nefarious activities as many of the sailors coming in from their long voyages were single men looking for drink and a woman, with plenty of cash to spare and the taverns and brothels along its length provided for their every need.

In 1600 John Stow described it as "a continual street, or filthy straight passage, with alleys of small tenements or cottages builded, inhabited by sailors and victualers".

Jamrach also owned a menagerie in Betts Street and a warehouse in Old Gravel Lane, Southwark; he was a leading importer, breeder and exporter of animals, selling to noblemen, zoos, menageries and circus owners, and buying from ships docking in London and nearby ports, with agents in other major British ports, including Liverpool, Southampton and Plymouth, and also in continental Europe.

[1] In Harper's New Monthly Magazine it was written that The London Docks were made up of more than 100 acres with space for more than 500 ships, and warehouses capable of holding 234,000 tons of goods, with the capital of the company alone exceeding £4 million.

Another reason for the virtually impenetrable walls was defence; piracy was rampant in the 19th century and professional bandits such as The River Pirates, the Night Plunderers, the Scuffle-Hunters and the Mud Larks[8] patrolled the waters and ports in search of a victim.

The huge mass of fire in the furnace is fed night and day with condemned goods: on one occasion, 900 Austrian mutton-hams were burnt; on another, 45,000 pairs of French gloves; and silks and satins, tobacco and cigars, are here consumed in vast quantities: the ashes being sold by the ton as manure, for killing insects, and to soap-boilers and chemical manufacturers.

[4]In 1990 the structure was converted into a shopping centre at a cost of £47 million; it was the intention of the developers to create the "Covent Garden of the East End", however the scheme was unsuccessful and it went into administration.

The designer was Arup and the contractor was Harry Neal Ltd.[10] From the mid-1990s the building was almost entirely unoccupied, with the only tenant being a sandwich shop, and a plan to convert it into a factory outlet did not come to fruition.

[needs update] In 1980 the upper floor of Tobacco Dock was used as the filming location for the music video "Messages" by the band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.

[citation needed] In the summer of 2012 the Ministry of Defence used Tobacco Dock as temporary accommodation for 2,500 soldiers deployed to guard the Olympic Games in London.

[12] Tobacco Dock is regularly used for large corporate and commercial events and is a smoke free venue, including its attached car park.