Former name | Museum in Docklands |
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Established | 2003 |
Location |
|
Coordinates | 51°30′27″N0°1′25″W / 51.50750°N 0.02361°W |
Visitors | 324,438 (2019) [1] |
Director | Sharon Ament |
Public transit access | West India Quay |
Website | londonmuseum |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
Official name | Warehouses and general offices at western end of North Quay |
Designated | 19 July 1950 |
Reference no. | 1242440 |
The London Museum Docklands (known from 2003 to 2024 as Museum of London Docklands), based in West India Quay, explains the history of the River Thames, the growth of Port of London and the docks' historical link to the Atlantic slave trade. The museum is part of the Museum of London and is jointly funded by the City of London Corporation and the Greater London Authority.
The museum opened in 2003 in grade I listed early-19th century Georgian "low" sugar warehouses built in 1802 on the north side of West India Docks, a short walk from Canary Wharf. [2] [3]
Much of the museum's collection is from the museum and archives of the Port of London Authority, which became part of the port and river collections of the Museum of London in the 1970s. These were put into storage by the Museum of London in 1985. [4] The museum includes videos presented by Tony Robinson, and it houses a large collection of historical artifacts, models, and pictures in 12 galleries and a children's gallery (Mudlarks), arranged over two floors. Visitors are directed through the displays in chronological order. [3] The periods covered range from the first port on the Thames in Roman times to the closure of the central London docks in the 1970s and subsequent transformation of the area with commercial and residential developments. [5] [6]
London Museum Docklands has a lecture theatre and meeting rooms and hosts talks and events connected with the docks. Several workers who worked on the docks in the 1960s take part in these events, including one from the Pentonville Five. The reading room and Sainsbury's Study Centre house the archives.[ citation needed ]
The museum acquired several historic vessels for preservation over its existence. Among these were the tugboats Knocker White and Varlet, both acquired in 1986. [7] [8] By the 2010s the museum had decided to rationalise its collection of vessels, one was transferred to a local group, and another, the Wey barge Perseverance IV , to the National Trust. The last two vessels, Knocker White and Varlet, were transferred to Trinity Buoy Wharf in November 2016. [9] [10]
In 2007, the museum celebrated the bicentenary of the British abolition of slavery by opening a £14 million Heritage Lottery Funded exhibition entitled London, Sugar, Slavery about the practice. [11] [12] In March 2016, the museum opened an exhibit relating to the building itself. The building was originally called No.1 Warehouse, and was built in 1802 during the expansion of West India Docks. [13] In September, the museum displayed Dick Moore's George Cross medal for bravery during the London Blitz. [14] In 2017, the museum opened an exhibit displaying archaeological findings discovered during Crossrail work. [15] In 2020 it plans to put the Havering hoard on display. [16]
Service | Station/Stop | Lines/Routes served | Distance from London Museum Docklands |
---|---|---|---|
London Buses | Westferry station | 135, 277, D3, D7 | |
London Underground | Canary Wharf | 800 metres walk/15 minutes | |
London Underground | Canary Wharf | 500 metres walk/10 minutes | |
Docklands Light Railway | West India Quay | 260 metres/5 minutes walk [17] | |
London River Services | Canary Wharf Pier | Commuter Service Rotherhithe to Canary Wharf Service | 650 metres/12 Minutes walk |
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 bounded on three sides by a large meander in the River Thames in East London, England. It 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.
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.
Silvertown is a district in the London Borough of Newham, in east London, England. It lies on the north bank of the Thames and was historically part of the parishes of West Ham and East Ham, hundred of Becontree, and the historic county of Essex. Since 1965, Silvertown has been part of the London Borough of Newham, a local government district of Greater London. It forms part of the London E16 postcode district along with Canning Town and Custom House.
The Port of London is that part of the River Thames in England lying between Teddington Lock and the defined boundary with the North Sea and including any associated docks. Once the largest port in the world, it was the United Kingdom's largest port as of 2020. Usage is largely governed by the Port of London Authority ("PLA"), a public trust established in 1908; while mainly responsible for coordination and enforcement of activities it also has some minor operations of its own.
The London Museum is a museum in London, covering the history of the city from prehistoric to modern times, with a particular focus on social history. The Museum of London was formed in 1976 by amalgamating the collection previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall Museum and that of the London Museum. From 1976 to 2022, its main site was in the City of London on London Wall, close to the Barbican Centre, part of the Barbican complex of buildings created in the 1960s and '70s to redevelop a bomb-damaged area of the city. In 2015, the museum revealed plans to move to the General Market Building at the nearby Smithfield site. Reasons for the proposed move included the claim that the current site was difficult for visitors to find, and that by expanding, from 17,000 square metres to 27,000, a greater proportion of the museum's collection could be placed on display. In December 2022, the museum permanently closed its site at London Wall in preparation for reopening in 2026 at Smithfield Market. The museum changed its name and branding to the London Museum in July 2024 in advance of the move.
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.
Limehouse Basin is a body of water 2 miles east of London Bridge that is also a navigable link between the River Thames and two of London's canals. First dug in 1820 as the eastern terminus of the new Regent's Canal, its wet area was less than 5 acres originally, but it was gradually enlarged in the Victorian era, reaching a maximum of double that size, when it was given its characteristic oblique entrance lock, big enough to admit 2,000-ton ships.
The Pool of London is a stretch of the River Thames from London Bridge to below Limehouse.
Royal Docks is an area in the London Borough of Newham in the London Docklands in East London, England.
The Royal Victoria Dock is the largest of three docks in the Royal Docks of east London, now part of the redeveloped Docklands.
Canary Wharf is an Elizabeth line station in Canary Wharf in East London, England. The station forms an artificial island in the West India Docks. The five upper levels of the station are a mixed-use development known as Crossrail Place. It is on the Abbey Wood branch of the Elizabeth line between Whitechapel and Custom House. Construction began in May 2009, and the station opened on 24 May 2022 when the section between Paddington and Abbey Wood stations began services. During the project's development the station was named Isle of Dogs, before the current name was adopted. The station was developed under a fixed price contract of £500 million with £350 million provided from the Crossrail budget and £150 million from the Canary Wharf Group with Crossrail spending an additional £80 million on safety improvements before it was opened.
Trinity Buoy Wharf is the site of a lighthouse, by the confluence of the River Thames and Bow Creek on the Leamouth Peninsula, Poplar. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The lighthouse no longer functions, but is the home of various art projects such as Longplayer. It is sometimes known as Bow Creek Lighthouse.
SS Robin is a 350 gross registered ton (GRT) steam coaster, a class of steamship designed for carrying bulk and general cargoes in coastal waters, and the oldest complete example in the world. One of a pair of coasters built in Bow Creek, London in 1890, the ship was built for British owners, but spent most of her long working life on the Spanish coast as Maria.
Uber Boat by Thames Clippers is a set of river bus services on the River Thames in London, England.
Knocker White is a Dutch-built tugboat, currently preserved as a museum ship at Trinity Buoy Wharf. She was built in 1924 by T. van Duivendijk, Lekkerkerk, Netherlands for Harrisons Lighterage Company, under the name Cairnrock.
A statue of Robert Milligan was installed at the West India Docks in London, in 1813. Milligan was a merchant, and was largely responsible for the construction of the West India Docks. After being put in storage in 1943, it was re-erected by the London Docklands Development Corporation in 1997.