Shadwell Basin is a

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether ...

and leisure complex built around a disused dock in Wapping, London. The old dock was formerly part 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 ...

, a group of docks built by the London Dock Company at Shadwell and Wapping as part of the wider docks of the

Port of London The Port of London is that part of the River Thames in England lying between Teddington Lock and the defined boundary (since 1968, a line drawn from Foulness Point in Essex via Gunfleet Old Lighthouse to Warden Point in Kent) with the North ...

. Today Shadwell Basin is one of the most significant bodies of water surviving from the historical London Docks. It is situated on the north side of the river

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

east (downstream) of the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

and

Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel. It crosses the River Thames clos ...

and west (upstream) of

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is 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 ...

. Unlike some of the London Docks which have been landfilled, Shadwell Basin, the most easterly part of the complex, has been retained. It is now a maritime square of 2.8 hectares used for recreational purposes (including sailing, canoeing and fishing) and is surrounded on three sides by a waterside housing development designed by British architects MacCormac, Jamieson, Prichard and Wright. The residential buildings are four and five storeys with façades of alternating open arches and enclosed structure, echoing the scale of traditional 19th century dockside warehouses, with a colonnade at quayside. The development, made up of

Newlands Quay Shadwell Basin is a housing and leisure complex built around a disused dock in Wapping, London. The old dock was formerly part of the London Docks, a group of docks built by the London Dock Company at Shadwell and Wapping as part of the wider ...

, Maynards Quay and Peartree Lane, was added to the National Heritage List for England by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

in 2018, part of a first-ever listing of Post-Modern buildings. Shadwell Basin has Benson Quay on its south-west corner with its south side overlooked by Riverside Mansions in Milk Yard and the Monza Building in Monza Street and, at its south-eastern end, the former Wapping Hydraulic Power Station building. On the north side of Shadwell Basin, east of Newlands Quay, St. Paul's Church, Shadwell provides a dramatic backdrop with its spire and the St Paul's Church Conservation Area extends to the water's edge with a terraced quayside that includes an outdoor gym. A Scherzer

Bascule bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- o ...

spans one of the entrances on the East side of the basin. This was built in the 1930s by the

Port of London Authority The Port of London Authority (PLA) is a self-funding public trust established on 31 March 1909 in accordance with the Port of London Act 1908 to govern the Port of London. Its responsibility extends over the Tideway of the River Thames and its ...

and was restored 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 ...

during their redevelopment of the site in the 1980s. Shadwell Basin is a popular public route for cyclists, joggers and pedestrians with a walkway alongside the water as part of the linked open spaces and canals between the river and Hermitage Basin near

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 ...

to the west.

History

The London Docks expanded eastward in the 1830s with the opening of the Eastern Dock and Shadwell Basin (built 1828–32). To provide these new docks with access to the river, a new entrance at

Shadwell Shadwell is a district of East London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets , east of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the Thames between Wapping (to the west) and Ratcliff (to the east). This riverside location has mea ...

was built. Opened in 1832, it was named Shadwell Entrance (the main entrance to the London Dock was through Wapping Entrance with a third entrance at Hermitage Basin). By the 1850s, the London Dock Company had recognised that the entrances at both Wapping and Shadwell were too small to accommodate the newer and larger ships coming into service. In 1854-58 the company built a new larger entrance (45 feet wide) and a new basin at Shadwell (the only element of the London Docks system to have survived redevelopment to this day) linked to the west part of the docks by Eastern Dock and the short Tobacco Dock. The small size of the London Docks made them outdated by the early 20th century as steam power meant ships were built too large to fit into them. Cargoes were unloaded downriver and then ferried by barge to warehouses in Wapping. This system was uneconomic and inefficient and one of the main reasons that London's western docks (St Katherine's and the London Docks)were the first to close in the 1960s. The London Docks complex closed to shipping in 1969. Purchased by the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, London borough covering much of the traditional East End of London, East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropol ...

, Shadwell Basin and the western part of the London Docks fell into a derelict state, mostly a large open tract of land and water. Acquired in 1981 by the

(LDDC), redevelopment of Shadwell Basin took place in 1987 resulting in 169 houses and flats being built around the retained historic dock.

Landmarks

(North) * St. Paul's Church, Shadwell — the Church of Sea Captains (South) * The former Wapping Hydraulic Power Station building (previously the site of the

Wapping Project The Wapping Hydraulic Power Station (built 1890) was originally run by the London Hydraulic Power Company in Wapping, London, England. Originally, it operated using steam, and was later converted to use electricity. It was used to power machi ...

arts venue and Wapping Food restaurant). *

Prospect of Whitby The Prospect of Whitby is a historic public house on the banks of the Thames at Wapping in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lays claim to being the site of the oldest riverside tavern, dating from around 1520. History The tavern wa ...

(East) * King Edward VII Memorial Park — giving access to the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

The Shadwell Basin Outdoor Activity Centre
- includin
Tower Hamlets Canoe Club
an
Docklands Dive School

People

People associated with the area: * Captain

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...

(1728–1779) lived in the area, and baptised some of his children at St. Paul's Church, Shadwell *

Jane Randolph Jefferson Jane Randolph Jefferson (February 10, 1720 – March 31, 1776) was the wife of Peter Jefferson and the mother of US president Thomas Jefferson. Born in the parish of Shadwell, near London, she was the daughter of Isham Randolph, a ship's ...

(1720–1776), mother of President of the United States

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

, was born in Shakespeare Walk (a road which ran from north to south in the middle of what is now Shadwell Basin) and was baptised at St. Paul's Church, Shadwell *

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, theologian, and evangelist who was a leader of a revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies he founded became the dominant form of the independent Meth ...

(1703–1791) preached at St. Paul's Church, Shadwell *

Sir William Henry Perkin Sir William Henry Perkin (12 March 1838 – 14 July 1907) was a British chemist and entrepreneur best known for his serendipitous discovery of the first commercial synthetic organic dye, mauveine, made from aniline. Though he failed in trying ...

(1838–1907) chemist who discovered

aniline Aniline is an organic compound with the formula C6 H5 NH2. Consisting of a phenyl group attached to an amino group, aniline is the simplest aromatic amine. It is an industrially significant commodity chemical, as well as a versatile starti ...

purple dye was baptised at St. Paul's Church, Shadwell

Neighbouring streets

North of Shadwell Basin *

— formerly Elbow Lane (in 1862) East of Shadwell Basin *Pear Tree Lane — formerly Fox's Lane (in 1862). Named after The Pear Tree, the inn where the second group of

Ratcliff Highway murders The Ratcliff Highway murders (sometimes Ratcliffe Highway murders) were two attacks on two separate families the Marr and Williamson families that resulted in seven fatalities. The two attacks occurred twelve days apart in December 1811, in ho ...

took place. West of Shadwell Basin *Maynards Quay off Garnet Street — formerly New Gravel Lane (in 1862) *Benson Quay South of Shadwell Basin starting from the west: *Milk Yard *Monza Street *

Wapping Wall Wapping Wall is a street located in the East End of London at Wapping. It runs parallel to the northern bank of the River Thames, with many converted warehouses facing the river. On this street is the Wapping Hydraulic Power Station, built in 18 ...

References & links

{{LB Tower Hamlets Geography of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets London docks Port of London Shadwell Wapping