Warehouse of the World 1840 - 1939

In this gallery the diversity of trade that flowed with the Thames through London is brought to life.

Between 1840 and 1939 the open Quaysides, transit sheds and towering warehouses that lined the docks and riversides housed every conceivable commodity. Here were spices and drugs; grain, sugar, meat and fruit; coffee, cocoa and tea; wines, spirits and tobacco; shells, furs and feathers; leather, skins and hide; timber, paper and jute; wool, oriental carpets, and more. Imports were dominated by Empire produce.

This gallery vividly examines some of the major commodities traded through London. There is a tobacco weighing station, a recreation of a bottling vault and exhibits detailing the tobacco, timber, grain and sugar trades.

There is also a ‘cabinet of curiosities’, packed with commodities traded through London. Sample boxes allow you to use your sense of smell to identify some of the goods that formed the basis of British overseas trade – can you tell your cinnamon from your sugar? The interactive touch-screens in this gallery lets the visitor examine the more exotic trades such as those in ivory, turtle shells and ancient curios.

With these commodities came people. The London docks were a warehouse for the transient sailors and travellers who spent most of their time at sea. For part of his life the author, Joseph Conrad, was one of these waterborne nomads.

The gallery includes a display detailing this part of his life as well as one of the ships he sailed on. It also features an opium pipe confiscated from a Chinese seamen. The pipe was ingeniously hidden in a section of the sailors bunk. The British forcibly exported opium to China but its use at home was considered sinful. This pipe represents one of the darker sides of world trade and colonial expansion that the London Docks, as 'warehouses of the world', were exposed to.