Burrells Wharf is a riverside residential estate, owned by its leaseholders, in London, England. It is situated in Docklands on the Isle of Dogs and the North bank of the River Thames (facing Deptford). The residential estate is one of 18 buildings or groups of buildings on the peninsula to be architecturally listed as buildings of special interest or importance.
For centuries all of Millwall and Cubitt Town was an occasionally flooded but fertile meadow land, supporting a small Middlesex fishing, watermen and farming community. By the 19th century Millwall Iron Works had been built on this land. From 1855 to 1858 Sir William Fairbairn built early iron ships here and undertook the model tests for the development of the box girder original Britannia Bridge [1] which connected Anglesey until damaged by fire and replaced with a different type of tall bridge.
John Scott Russell bought the works and was instrumental in building here The SS Great Eastern , where it was launched. This was a steam and sail ship designed by engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and the largest ship in the world for its time, when built in 1858. The ship may not have lasted long in its commercial use, but the shipyard and site where it was launched have fared better. [2]
Some of the land developed in the 20th century into a pigment/dye factory, having immediate access to the various imports required in Poplar. According to local lore, the local bird-life would get into the factory buildings and become contaminated with the dyes: it was reputedly common to see pigeons in various unusual colours flying around the area. The factory relocated elsewhere in the late 1980s, with the decline of the Poplar docks as a functioning commercial port in favour of larger facilities for container ships.
In 1988 Burrells was converted to residential use and consists of c. 400 apartments with central leisure facilities.
Two structures in the Burrells Wharf estate are listed at Grade II:
The eye-catching former water tower and surrounding building, once part of the Millwall Ironworks which also included the Forge building on the other side of Westferry Road (also with a Grade II listing, but not forming part of the Burrells Wharf estate).
This administration block served the former iron works and Burrell's Colours business in the latter 20th century. Inlaid with various depth brickwork, this three-storeyed stock brick block is arranged parallel to the above units, separated by Burrells Wharf Square where a construction dock once stood. Upper floors have glazing bar sash windows with flat-gauged arches and stucco sills.
Burrells Wharf is owned and managed by Burrells Wharf Freeholds Ltd (BWFL), a company formed by and wholly composed of leaseholders of the estate. Currently some 80% of leaseholders have taken up a share in the freehold company. BWFL has a Board of Directors, all of whom are shareholders on the estate and act in a voluntary capacity; they have appointed managing agents whose role includes the management of all supply contracts; the collection of service charges; the placing of any contracts to meet the capital investment programme, and advice to the Directors of BWFL on the setting of budgets. BWFL also employ a team of staff for the day-to-day running of the estate, including a 24-hour concierge service through the Estate Office and management of contractors such as cleaners, plant and electrical maintenance, gardening, decorating and general estate management duties.
In addition to the amenity of its central square, where an annual communal barbecue is held, the estate has a leisure centre with a gym and swimming pool, and a Function Room open for residents and non-residents to book for a range of activities, such as yoga groups, mother and toddler groups, private parties and so on. A social committee organises various events through the year. There is a website and a Facebook group for residents to share comments and discussions, lost and found and items for sale, and the like.
Masthouse Terrace Pier is located beside the estate as well as the Santander Cycles dock, “Napier Avenue, Millwall”. Within a short walk are Millwall Park and Mudchute Park and Farm, Island Gardens, and the foot tunnel to Greenwich. At 1 mile (1.6 km) north are the multiple shops and restaurants of Canary Wharf.
London Docklands is the riverfront and former docks in London. It is located in inner east and southeast London, in the boroughs of Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Lewisham, Newham and Greenwich. The docks were formerly part of the Port of London, at one time the world's largest port. After the docks closed, the area had become derelict and poverty-ridden by the 1980s. The Docklands' regeneration began later that decade; it has been redeveloped principally for commercial and residential use. The name "London Docklands" was used for the first time in a government report on redevelopment plans in 1971 and has since been almost universally adopted. The redevelopment created wealth, but also led to some conflict between the new and old communities in the area.
The Isle of Dogs is a large peninsula. It is bounded on three sides by a large meander in the River Thames in East London, England, which includes the Cubitt Town, Millwall and Canary Wharf districts. The area was historically part of the Manor, Hamlet, Parish and, for a time, the wider borough of Poplar. The name had no official status until the 1987 creation of the Isle of Dogs Neighbourhood by Tower Hamlets London Borough Council. It has been known locally as simply "the Island" since the 19th century.
Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is 3.9 miles (6.3 km) east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through its riverside public houses and steps, such as The Grapes and Limehouse Stairs. It is part of the traditional county of Middlesex. It became part of the ceremonial County of London following the passing of the Local Government Act 1888, and then part of Greater London in 1965.
Poplar is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is an inner-city suburb located five miles (8 km) east of Charing Cross and lays on the western bank of the River Lea and is part of the London Docklands.
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a borough of London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and includes much of the regenerated London Docklands area. The 2019 mid-year population for the borough is estimated at 324,745.
Canary Wharf is an area of London, England, located near the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Canary Wharf is defined by the Greater London Authority as being part of London's central business district, alongside Central London. Alongside the City of London, it constitutes one of the main financial centres in the United Kingdom and the world, containing many high-rise buildings including the third-tallest in the UK, One Canada Square, which opened on 26 August 1991.
The West India Docks are a series of three docks, quaysides, and warehouses built to import goods from, and export goods and occasionally passengers to the British West Indies. Located on the Isle of Dogs in London, the first dock opened in 1802. Following their commercial closure in 1980, the Canary Wharf development was built around the wet docks by narrowing some of their broadest tracts.
Blackwall is an area of Poplar, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, East London. The neighbourhood includes Leamouth and the Coldharbour conservation area.
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of Rotherhithe, west of Cubitt Town, and has a long shoreline along London's Tideway, part of the River Thames. It was part of the County of Middlesex and from 1889 the County of London following the passing of the Local Government Act 1888, it later became part of Greater London in 1965.
The London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) was a quango agency set up by the UK Government in 1981 to regenerate the depressed Docklands area of east London. During its seventeen-year existence, it was responsible for regenerating an area of 8.5 square miles (22 km2) in the London Boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets and Southwark. LDDC helped to create Canary Wharf, Surrey Quays shopping centre, London City Airport, ExCeL Exhibition Centre, London Arena and the Docklands Light Railway, bringing more than 120,000 new jobs to the Docklands and making the area highly sought after for housing. Although initially fiercely resisted by local councils and residents, today it is generally regarded as having been a success and is now used as an example of large-scale regeneration, although tensions between older and more recent residents remain.
Crossharbour is a light metro station on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) Bank-Lewisham Line in Cubitt Town, East London. The station is situated on the Isle of Dogs and is between Mudchute and South Quay stations and is in Travelcard Zone 2.
Cubitt Town is a district on the eastern side of the Isle of Dogs in London, England. This part of the former Metropolitan Borough of Poplar was redeveloped as part of the Port of London in the 1840s and 1850s by William Cubitt, Lord Mayor of London (1860–1862), after whom it is named. It is on the east of the Isle, facing the Royal Borough of Greenwich across the River Thames. To the west is Millwall, to the east and south is Greenwich, to the northwest Canary Wharf, and to the north — across the Blue Bridge — is Blackwall. The district is situated within the Blackwall & Cubitt Town Ward of Tower Hamlets London Borough Council.
South Quay is a Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station on the Isle of Dogs, East London, England. The station is between Crossharbour and Heron Quays stations and is in Travelcard Zone 2. South Quay is in Millwall and is located on the southern shore of the South Dock of the West India Docks; the current station platforms sit astride the channel connecting Millwall Dock to the West India Docks.
Millwall Dock is a dock at Millwall, London, England, located south of Canary Wharf on the Isle of Dogs.
Mudchute Park and Farm is a large urban park and farm in Cubitt Town on the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, just south of Canary Wharf. It is a Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation.
London Buses route 277 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Cubitt Town and Dalston, it is operated by Stagecoach London.
The A1206, also known as the Isle of Dogs Distributor Road, is a crescent-shaped ring road around the Isle of Dogs, in the East End of London. It is made up of Westferry Road, Manchester Road and Prestons Road and is the main road through the area, connecting parts of the London Docklands.
The Millwall Iron Works, London, England, was a 19th-century industrial complex and series of companies, which developed from 1824. Formed from a series of small shipbuilding companies to address the need to build larger and larger ships, the holding company collapsed after the Panic of 1866 which greatly reduced shipbuilding in London. Subsequently, a recovery was made by a series of smaller companies, but by the later 19th century the location was too small for the building of ships on the scale then required. Most of its buildings, being near the apex of the peninsula in the Isle of Dogs, survived the Blitz and have been made into apartment blocks in a residential estate, Burrells Wharf.
Coldharbour is a street and wider conservation area in Blackwall, lying on the north bank of the River Thames, east of Canary Wharf. The area is said to be "[t]he sole remaining fragment of the old hamlet of Blackwall" and "one of the last examples of the narrow streets which once characterised the river's perimeter".
Cascades Tower is a 20-storey residential building and a distinctive local landmark on the Isle of Dogs in East London. It was designed by Rex Wilkinson, a partner in the celebrated architectural firm CZWG, and built in 1987–88.