Orchard House Yard

Last updated April 29, 2019

Orchard House Yard (known as Orchard Yard and Hercules Wharf) was an English shipbuilding yard located at Leamouth, on the River Lea at Bow Creek . Forming part of the Orchard House estate, a number of shipbuilders occupied the site over time:

Leamouth is a mixed-use development in Poplar, and historically a wharf in the Port of London. It lies on the west side of the confluence of the Bow Creek stretch of the Lea, and the River Thames.

The River Lea originates in the Chiltern Hills, England, and flows southeast through east London where it meets the River Thames, the last looping section being known as Bow Creek. It is one of the largest rivers in London and the easternmost major tributary of the Thames. Its valley creates a long chain of marshy ground along its lower length, much of which has been used for gravel and mineral extraction, reservoirs and industry. Much of the river has been canalised to provide a navigable route for boats into eastern Hertfordshire, known as the Lee Navigation. While the lower Lea remains somewhat polluted, its upper stretch and tributaries, classified as chalk streams, are a major source of drinking water for London. A diversion known as the New River, opened in 1613, abstracts clean water away from the lower stretch of the river for drinking. Its origins in the Chilterns contribute to the extreme hardness of London tap water.

The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf on the west side and at Canning Town on the east side. Its main activity was shipbuilding, but it also diversified into civil engineering, marine engines, cranes, electrical engineering and motor cars.

The only known surviving vessel built at the yard is SS Robin, a 300-ton steam-powered coaster which is part of the National Historic Fleet and the last of her type still in existence. She was built at Orchard House Yard in 1890 by Mackenzie and is currently located a short distance away in the Royal Victoria Dock.^[2]^[3]

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.

The National Historic Fleet is a list of historic ships and vessels located in the United Kingdom, under the National Historic Ships register. National Historic Ships UK is an advisory body which advises the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and other public bodies on ship preservation and funding priorities. As part of this remit, National Historic Ships maintains the National Register of Historic Vessels (NRHV), which as of September 2014 listed over 1,000 vessels. The National Historic Fleet is a sub-grouping of this register, the vessels included on this list are distinguished by:

The Royal Victoria Dock is the largest of three docks in the Royal Docks of east London, now part of the redeveloped Docklands.

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Blackwall is a area of Poplar in East London, located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and also forms part of the Port of London. The southern conservation area of Coldharbour is a part of the Isle of Dogs.

Millwall is a district of east London, England, on the southwestern side of the Isle of Dogs, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Limehouse and Poplar, which includes part of the Canary Wharf estate, and has a long shoreline along London's Tideway, part of the River Thames. Millwall had a population of 23,084 in 2011.

North Greenwich is a 19th century name for a triangular locality of Millwall in Greater London, England. It is situated at the very southern tip of the Isle of Dogs, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the south of the commercial estates of West India Docks including Canary Wharf and has a short shoreline along London's Tideway part of the River Thames.

Cubitt Town is a district on the Isle of Dogs in London, Greater London, England. It is on the east of the Isle, facing Greenwich across the River Thames. To the west is Millwall, to the southwest is North Greenwich, to the northwest Canary Wharf and to the north, across the Blue Bridge, Blackwall. It is in Blackwall & Cubitt Town Ward of Tower Hamlets London Borough Council.

Samuda Brothers was an engineering and ship building firm at Cubitt Town on the Isle of Dogs in London, founded by Jacob and Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda. The site is now occupied by Samuda Estate.

All Saints' Church, Poplar, is a church in Newby Place, Poplar, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, and is the Church of England parish church of Poplar. It was built in 1821-3 to serve the newly created parish.

Ephraim Reinhold Seehl was an apothecary and chemist of German background, born in Sweden. He was known as a manufacturer of green vitriol.

HMS Warspite was a 70-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched in 1666 at Blackwall Yard. This second Warspite was one of the five ships designed to carry more provisions and lower deck guns higher above the water than French and Dutch equivalents. In 1665 the Second Anglo-Dutch War had begun and on 25 July 1666 Warspite was one of 23 new English warships helping to beat a Dutch fleet off North Foreland, Kent. She won again distinction on Christmas Day 1666 as senior officer's ship out of five sent to protect an important convoy of naval stores from the Baltic. Warspite next took part in the first action of the Third Anglo-Dutch War on 28 May 1672 off Southwold Bay, Suffolk. This desperate 14-hour battle, generally known as Solebay, was a drawn fight; but Warspite successfully fended off a pair of Dutch fire ships exactly as she had done off North Foreland. By 1685, she was mounting only 68 guns.

Blackwall Yard is a small body of water that used to be a shipyard on the River Thames in Blackwall, engaged in ship building and later ship repairs for over 350 years. The yard closed in 1987.

Poplar Dock is a small dock in Poplar on the Isle of Dogs northern edge. It connects to the Blackwall Basin of the West India Docks and, although independent of this system, has never had a direct connection to the Thames.

Brunswick Wharf Power Station was a coal- and oil-fired power station on the River Thames at Blackwall in London. The station was built by Poplar Borough Council for the British Electricity Authority (BEA) after the Second World War.

Dundee Wharf is a residential development in Limehouse in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in London. The modern buildings occupy the site of a former shipyard known as Limekiln Dockyard. John Graves established this shipyard in 1633 and then expanded his holdings with Dundee Wharf itself. By 1650 George Margetts developed a ropemaking yard including a ropehouse, storehouse and a ropewalk on the site. A modern wharf with electric cranes was constructed in the 1930s. This was used by the Dundee, Perth & London Shipping Company to operate a twice-weekly service between Leith and London.

Westwood, Baillie and Co was a Victorian engineering and shipbuilding company based at London Yard in Cubitt Town, London.

London Yard was a shipyard in London, in use between around 1856 and 1908 by various shipbuilding companies, including Westwood, Baillie and Yarrow Shipbuilders.

J & W Dudgeon was a Victorian shipbuilding and engineering company based in Cubitt Town, London, founded by John and William Dudgeon.

Coldharbour, Tower Hamlets area of London

Coldharbour is a street and wider conservation area in Poplar, 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".

John Perry was the founder of the Blackwall Yard, where he built ships largely for the East India Company.

Shipbuilding in Limehouse started in the fourteenth century. Limehouse is a district located on the northern bank of the River Thames 3.9 miles (6.3 km) east of Charing Cross. Its name arose from the lime kilns established here around the same time. It became a centre for shipbuilding and related trades such as ropemaking, with some entrepreneurs shifting the focus of their activity through their careers.

References

↑ "'Leamouth Road and Orchard Place: Individual wharves and sites', Survey of London: volumes 43 and 44: Poplar, Blackwall and Isle of Dogs". 1994. pp. 655–685. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
↑ "SS Robin: her story". S S Robin Trust. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
↑ "Robin". National Historic Ships UK. Retrieved 12 June 2013.

Orchard House Yard

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