Locations over time
The docks were located in the East End of London, covering an area of over 404 hectares (4,04km²) at peak in the early 20th century. This area became known as the "Docklands". There was not an overall plan, like there would probably be today, but the docks were built one by one, with the next always trying to improve the one before.
The first docks in London
Although there are docks mentioned earlier and harbours are said to be at the Thames ever since people were setteling in London, the first "purpose-built" dock in London especially for cargo, the Brunswick Dock, was only opened in 1789.
The first built docks after the passing of the West India Dock Company Act were the West India Docks, dealing with merchandise from the Caribbean, at Blackwall in 1802 and the London Docks at Wapping in 1805. Two years later the Surrey Commercial Docks on the Rotherhithe Peninsula were built and it consisted of nine single docks, which dealt with trading goods from Scandinavia, Russia and Canada and it turned 85 per cent of the peninsula into dock waters. It is an expansion of the oldest wet dock in London, the Howland Great Wet Dock, which was already built in 1696, but it was not intended for cargo traffic, but rather for ship repair, and therefore lacked high walls and warehouses. The West India Docks, the Surrey Docks and the London Docks formed the largest assembly of wet docks in the world.
The first docks in London
Although there are docks mentioned earlier and harbours are said to be at the Thames ever since people were setteling in London, the first "purpose-built" dock in London especially for cargo, the Brunswick Dock, was only opened in 1789.
The first built docks after the passing of the West India Dock Company Act were the West India Docks, dealing with merchandise from the Caribbean, at Blackwall in 1802 and the London Docks at Wapping in 1805. Two years later the Surrey Commercial Docks on the Rotherhithe Peninsula were built and it consisted of nine single docks, which dealt with trading goods from Scandinavia, Russia and Canada and it turned 85 per cent of the peninsula into dock waters. It is an expansion of the oldest wet dock in London, the Howland Great Wet Dock, which was already built in 1696, but it was not intended for cargo traffic, but rather for ship repair, and therefore lacked high walls and warehouses. The West India Docks, the Surrey Docks and the London Docks formed the largest assembly of wet docks in the world.
Steam demands new solutions
Since more and more steam ships found their ways into trade, London needed larger and deeper docks than already existed. The marshlands between Blackwall Reach and Galleons Reach were more downstream than the locations of the previous docks, but they provided plenty of space and so the Victoria Docks opened there in 1855. Two more complexes, the Millwall Docks on the Isle of Dogs and the Tilbury Docks near Gravesend began operation in 1868 and 1886. In the meantime the existing docks got extended, deepend and supplemented by new docks, for example the Royal Albert Dock as addition to the Victoria Docks in 1880 and the Greenland Docks as part of the Surrey Docks in Rotherhithe in 1904.In 1909 the administration of the docks was taken over by the Port of London authority.
Since more and more steam ships found their ways into trade, London needed larger and deeper docks than already existed. The marshlands between Blackwall Reach and Galleons Reach were more downstream than the locations of the previous docks, but they provided plenty of space and so the Victoria Docks opened there in 1855. Two more complexes, the Millwall Docks on the Isle of Dogs and the Tilbury Docks near Gravesend began operation in 1868 and 1886. In the meantime the existing docks got extended, deepend and supplemented by new docks, for example the Royal Albert Dock as addition to the Victoria Docks in 1880 and the Greenland Docks as part of the Surrey Docks in Rotherhithe in 1904.In 1909 the administration of the docks was taken over by the Port of London authority.
Attacks during the Second World War
During the Second World War the docks got attacked by the Germans during the "Blitz" on 7 September 1940. The network of the port was chosen because it was known to provide the place for handling 41% of Britain's import and 30% of its export and therefore it was of immense importance for Britain. In addition it was the biggest port of the world at that time. After this night of attack, all of the docks and warehouses were on fire, except Tilbury, since it was further downstream and not in the centre of attack. The warehouses that had not been destroyed during the night, were targeted by German bombers the next morning. This was the first of 57 days of attack in a row and it took long to recover from this.
Containers caused redundancy
With containers finding their way into trade, which could be transfered from a ship on the road without a stopover, the warehouses at the docks were rendered redundant. The docks in the East End did not have the capacity to handle the large containers and therefore the occupancy rate decreased. This led to the closing of all of the London docks between 1968 and 1981.
Only the Tilbury docks, due to their advantageous location, could develop into a port that could compeed with others up to now.
With containers finding their way into trade, which could be transfered from a ship on the road without a stopover, the warehouses at the docks were rendered redundant. The docks in the East End did not have the capacity to handle the large containers and therefore the occupancy rate decreased. This led to the closing of all of the London docks between 1968 and 1981.
Only the Tilbury docks, due to their advantageous location, could develop into a port that could compeed with others up to now.