London Dock Past, Present and Future June 2015
London Dock Aerial View London Dock Historic Timeline In March 2014, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets granted St George planning permission to transform the 15 acre London Dock site into a high quality mixed-use development. London Dock is also the name of the former dock system that covered 90 acres of Wapping and once formed part of London s international trading empire. Conceived in the late 18th century, and given parliamentary approval in 1800, the aim of London Dock was to create a new efficient and secure facility for London s booming shipping industry. The redevelopment of London Dock started in August 2014. It will create a fantastic new place to live, work and visit. Aerial photograph of London Dock before demolition 1805 London Dock was designed by architect Daniel Asher Alexander and built by engineer John Rennie. The quays at London Dock opened to shipping on 31st January 1805 and covered 90 acres. The opening of the dock was delayed after suffering difficulties caused by the high cost of moving residents and business from the land, as well as buying Shadwell works. Top left: London Dock, 1805 Above: Portrait by William John Huggins Tall ship entering London Dock, 1827 Left: Entrance to London Dock, 1817 2 3
1850 London Dock became a centre for valuable merchandise. Colonial wool was stored in large warehouses forming part of the London & St Katharine Docks Wool Dept. Enclosed bridges joined warehouses across Thomas Moore Street to the wool warehouses in London Dock. Goods stored at the warehouses ranged from wool and silks to ivory, coffee and fine wine. Far left: Barrels of liquor at London Dock, 1890 Left: Barrels on a barge at London Dock Below: Barrels of liquor at London Dock, 1890 1890 Above: London Dock looking West, 1831 Far right: The Great Wool Floor at London Dock, 1850 Right: Tea ship unloading cargo, 1877 London Dock had amazing cellarage with a novel system of ventilated vaulting. Large catacombs of vintage wine lay under London Dock and tasting permits were provided by wine owners for visitors to sample wine and liquor. There were 21/4 miles of quays allowing for 22 acres of vaults where wines and spirits valued at over 18 million were kept in storage. London Dock was the main warehouse of the City of London with ample room for display and sampling. By agreement with the Treasury, bonded warehouses containing liquor and tobacco could be sampled and traded prior to customs clearance. 4 5
Far left: Warehouse fires at London Dock, 1940 Left: London Dock, 1941 Below: Inside the main gate of London Dock, 1945 1960 By the 1960s goods were being discharged from large container ships and carried upstream by lighters. In 1965 London & St Katharine Docks were running at a loss of 1.25 million a year. London Dock was closed in 1969. Western Dock was filled-in and warehouses were demolished ready for docklands regeneration. 1940 London was heavily bombed from September to December the docks being an easy target for the German Luftwaffe. Over fifty percent of the warehouses in London Dock were destroyed. Large quantities of rum stored in barrels caught fire, and stores of paint and rubber were set alight. The glow of the fire could be seen as far as Guildford. In the Eastern Dock the Guinness warehouse went up in flames and was so hot that the cast iron columns melted. Barges caught fire and drifted out of control as the Thames became a sheet of flames. 6 Above: London Dock Western Basin, 1969 Top right: North Quay, Western Basin, 1970 Right: New Docklands housing at Tobacco Dock, 1980 1977 In 1977 Ove Arup & Partners produced The Wapping Plan. Tobacco Dock and Hermitage Basin were to be partially filled in and surrounded by public walks and trees. Eastern Dock and Wapping Basin having already been filled were to become playing fields, and a riverside walk with access to the Thames would also be created. The first phase of housing was built by John Laing and consisted of two and three storey houses along with low rise apartment blocks. 7
Far left: London Dock looking East, 1980 Times House Left: London Dock looking West Vaughan Way The Highway Plot D Plot E (School) Virginia Street Breezer s Hill Artichoke Hill Below: Lorries entering Fortress Wapping, 1987 Arrival Building B Pennington Street Pennington Street Warehouse Quayside Thomas More Building C2C3 Plot F Plot G Plot H Plot J Tobacco Dock Building A Gauging Building C1 Promenade Quay 430 Canal 2014 1980 In the early 1980s Rupert Murdoch purchased part of the former London Docks site and secretly built a new 80 million printing and publishing facility. Over 5,000 print workers were to be sacked with the introduction of new printing technology. When the sacked print workers besieged it by mounting round-the-clock pickets and blockades the plant was nicknamed Fortress Wapping. The protest was ultimately unsuccessful and in 1986 News International s UK operation moved from Fleet Street to Wapping. The London Dock site was aquired by St George in May 2012. In consultation with the local community, a masterplan was founded on the principles of permeability, connectivity and placemaking. The London Borough of Tower Hamlets granted planning permission for the masterplan in March 2014 which included 1,800 new homes (486 of which will be affordable), over 200,000 sq ft of commercial floorspace, land for a new secondary school and restoration of the Pennington Street Warehouse: the only substantial building to survive from the former London Dock. Top: London Dock site masterplan Top left and left: Computer generated images of the future of London Dock 8 9
London Dock The Site Today Demolition of the former News International print works and office buildings began in May 2014 and construction of the first phase of the development started in August 2014. The development will take up to 15 years and will create a vibrant and exciting new place to live, work and visit. Top and far left: Hermitage Primary School visit to London Dock and art project, March 2015 Left: East London Painting Prize exhibition inside the Pennington Street Warehouse, May 2015 Photograph by Egli Trezzi Aerial photograph of London Dock, June 2015 10 11
MANSELL ST LEMAN STREET CANNON ST RD WAPPING LN EAST SHADWELL TOWER GATEWAY ROYAL MINT ST DOCK ST CABLE ST CABLE ST THE HIGHWAY THE HIGHWAY / A1203 EAST SM I T H FIELD VIRGI N I A ST PENNINGTON ST GARNET STREET TOWER BRIDG E ST KATHARINE DOCKS ST KATHARINE S PIER ST KA THA RINE S W AY VAUGHAN WAY WAPPING HIGH ST WAPPING R I V E R T H A M E S This paper has been independently certified as meeting the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and was manufactured at a mill that is certified to the ISO14001 and EMAS environmental standards. St George City London Dock 9 Pennington Street London E1W 2BD +44 (0)20 7971 7800 enquiries@londondock.co.uk www.londondockcommunity.co.uk