The Royal Victoria Dock is the largest of three

dock A dock (from Dutch language, Dutch ''dok'') is the area of water between or next to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore) or such structures themselves. The ex ...

s in the

Royal Docks Royal Docks is an area and a ward in the London Borough of Newham in the London Docklands in East London, England. The area is named after three docks – the Royal Albert Dock, the Royal Victoria Dock and the King George V Dock. They are mo ...

of east London, now part of the redeveloped Docklands.

History

Although, the structure was in place in the year 1850, it was opened in 1855, on a previously uninhabited area of the Plaistow Marshes. It was the first of the Royal Docks and the first London dock to be designed specifically to accommodate large steam ships. It was also the first to use hydraulic power to operate its machinery and the first to be connected to the national railway network, via the

Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway The Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway in east London connected the Royal Docks with the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR). Authorised in 1844, it opened in 1846, and was absorbed by the ECR in 1847. The ECR amalgamated with other railwa ...

section of what is now the

North London line The North London line (NLL) is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of west, north-west, north, and east London, England between Richmond in the south-west and Stratford in the east, avoiding central London. Its route is a rou ...

. It was initially known as "Victoria Dock"; the prefix "Royal" was granted in 1880. The dock was connected to the national rail network via a line which ran between

Canning Town Canning Town is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London. The district is located to the north of the Royal Victoria Dock, and has been described as the "Child of the Victoria Docks" as the timing and nature of its urbanisation ...

and

North Woolwich North Woolwich is an area in the London Borough of Newham in East London. It is located on the northern bank of the River Thames, across the river from Woolwich. It is connected to Woolwich by the Woolwich Ferry and Woolwich foot tunnel. De ...

. When the Royal Dock was first built, the railway cut along the docks; to correct this, a swing bridge over the entrance to the dock was built. This however, slowed journey time, and so a new line was built in 1855, to take the route around the north side of the dock to Silvertown, and a station at Custom House opened where it re-connected with the original line. The older southern line was kept to serve local factories, where it was known as the Silvertown Tramway. The Royal Victoria Dock consisted of a main dock and a basin to the west, providing an entrance to the Thames on the western side of the complex. The dock was deeply indented with four solid piers, each 152 m long by 43 m wide, on which were constructed two-storey warehouses. Other warehouses, granaries, shed and storage buildings surrounded the dock, which had a total of 3.6 km of quays. The dock was an immediate commercial success, as it could easily accommodate all but the very largest steamships. By 1860, it was already taking over 850,000 tons of shipping a year – double that of the

London Docks 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 L ...

, four times that of

St Katharine Docks St Katharine Docks is a former dock and now a mixed-used district in Central London, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and within the East End. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, immediately downstream of the Tower of London an ...

and 70% more than the

West India Docks 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 on the Isle of Dogs in London the first of which opened in 1802. Follow ...

and

East India Docks The East India Docks were a group of docks in Blackwall, east London, north-east of the Isle of Dogs. Today only the entrance basin and listed perimeter wall remain visible. History Early history Following the successful creation of the We ...

combined. It was badly damaged by German bombing in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, but experienced a resurgence in trade following the war. From the 1960s onwards, the Royal Victoria experienced a steady decline – as did all of London's other docks – as the shipping industry adopted

containerisation Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers and ISO containers). Containerization is also referred as "Container Stuffing" or "Container Loading", which is the pro ...

, which effectively moved traffic downstream to

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a 16th century fort and an ancie ...

. It finally closed to commercial traffic along with the other Royal Docks in 1981. In 1988, the then-dilapidated site was chosen by French electronic musician

Jean-Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompanie ...

as the site for one of his signature large-scale concerts, eventually titled

Destination Docklands Destination Docklands was an event consisting of two concerts by musician Jean-Michel Jarre on the Royal Victoria Docks, Docklands, London on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9 October 1988, to coincide with the release of Jarre's new album ''Revolution ...

. The area also inspired him to write the album ''

Revolutions In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

'' specifically for the event. The Royal Victoria Dock experienced major redevelopment initiated by the

London Docklands Development Corporation 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 a ...

in the 1990s. Developments included Britannia Village, which was carried out by

Wimpey Homes George Wimpey was a British construction firm. Formed in 1880 and based in Hammersmith, it initially operated largely as a road surfacing contractor. The business was acquired by Godfrey Mitchell in 1919, and he developed it into a constructi ...

, the

Peabody Trust The Peabody Trust was founded in 1862 as the Peabody Donation Fund and now brands itself simply as Peabody.

and the

East Thames Housing Group East Thames Limited (formerly East Thames Group) is a subsidiary of L&Q, one of the G15, a club of the largest associations in London, housing association In Ireland and the United Kingdom, housing associations are private, Non-profit o ...

in the mid-1990s. Most of the original buildings were demolished but a few historic warehouses survived. More recent development has included the

Royal Victoria Dock Bridge The Royal Victoria Dock Bridge is a signature high-level footbridge crossing the Royal Victoria Dock in the Docklands area of east London designed by London-based architects and designers Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands. The bridge provides a d ...

completed in 1998, and the

ExCeL Exhibition Centre ExCeL London (an abbreviation for Exhibition Centre London) is an exhibition centre, international convention centre and former hospital in the Custom House area of Newham, East London. It is situated on a site on the northern quay of the ...

, constructed on the north quayside, which opened in November 2000.

Events

On 15 August 2009, the dock hosted the inaugural

Great London Swim {{Infobox , bodystyle = width:20em; , name = Infobox/doc , titlestyle = , headerstyle = , labelstyle = width:33% , datastyle = , image = , header1 = , label1 = Event Name , data1 = Great Swim , header2 = , label2 = Da ...

, a mass participation open water swim over a one-mile distance. The event has been held annually since then but on the first weekend in July. On 16 to 17 June 2018, the dock hosted the

F1H2O The Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship (also F1) is an international motorboat racing competition for powerboats organised by the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) and promoted by H2O Racing, hence it often being referred to as F1H2O. ...

Grand Prix of London won by

Erik Stark Erik Stark (born 13 November 1987) is a Swedish powerboat racing driver who races in the F1H2O World Championship and in thXCAT World Championshipfor the United Arab Emirates-owned Victory Team Victory Team is a government-owned offshore powerb ...

. Britannia Village has its own Community Foundation. Royal Victoria Dock is the starting location for the annual Docklands Head, a rowing head race hosted by

Poplar Blackwall and District Rowing Club Poplar Blackwall and District Rowing Club is a rowing club in Millwall, on the River Thames in England, on the northern bank of the Thames opposite Greenwich on the Isle of Dogs, London. Club history Poplar Blackwall and District Rowing Club was ...

. The race starts under the Royal Victoria Dock Bridge and proceeds eastwards underneath Connaught Footbridge and Connaught Road Bridge, finishing at the eastern end of the Royal Albert Dock.

Gallery

Image:Royal Victoria Dock 1973.jpg, Looking west from Connaught Road swing bridge in 1973 Image:Royal Albert dock looking west to CW.jpg, Looking west towards

Canary Wharf 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 Lo ...

Image:Royal Albert dock looking east towards city airport.jpg, Looking east to

London City Airport London City Airport is a regional airport in London, England. It is located in the Royal Docks in the Borough of Newham, approximately east of the City of London and east of Canary Wharf. These are the twin centres of London's financial ...

Image:Im1934BCI-Spil24.jpg, Spiller's

Millennium Mills The Millennium Mills is a derelict turn of the 20th century flour mill in West Silvertown on the south side of the Royal Victoria Dock, between the Thames Barrier and the ExCeL London exhibition centre alongside the newly built Britannia villa ...

in 1934. Behind is the Graving Dock Image:Royal Albert dock looking south at Spillers Mills & new dev.jpg, Looking south: some new development but Spillers Mills in need of renovation Image:Royal Victoria Dock looking south at cranes.jpg, Looking south: some new development and cranes as memory of the past Image:Tatefromspillers.jpeg, Looking east-south-east from the top of Spillers Millennium Mills Image:Royal Victoria Dock London.jpg, Looking east towards the

Image:08-14-05 Royal Victoria Dock.jpg,

The O2 The O2 is a large entertainment district on the Greenwich peninsula in South East London, England, including an indoor arena, a music club, a Cineworld cinema, an exhibition space, piazzas, bars, and restaurants. It was built largely withi ...

and

from the Royal Victoria Dock

References

External links

Royal Docks Forum

Britannia Village Residents Forum

London Landscape TV episode (6 mins) about Royal Victoria Dock

Royal Docks Information
{{Commons category, Royal Victoria Dock Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Newham Geography of the London Borough of Newham London docks Port of London

History

Events

Gallery

See also

References

External links