Docklands - the local area

The Museum in Docklands tells the story of London’s port, including the area which is now known as London’s Docklands.

This is the area which stretches along both sides of the river downstream from London Bridge.  It includes the riverside communities of Southwark, Lewisham and Greenwich on the south bank and Tower Hamlets and Newham to the north.

These areas developed because of the activities associated with the port, its shipping, industries and commerce.

Until the 17th century, London did not really extend eastwards beyond the Tower of London.  The eastward growth of the capital was the direct result of London’s development as a major world port. Shipyards, cooperages, taverns, chandler’s shops, rope works, lodging houses and more all began to spread along the river to serve the communities springing up around the port. Between 1600 and 1700 London’s population grew from 40,000 to around 600,000, and by 1800 the area east of the Tower had become densely occupied by poor housing and commercial premises.

Many of London’s docks were built in the early 19th century.  Huge areas of housing were torn down to make way for some of these.  Local people were forced to share over-crowded slum housing

Meanwhile more and more people were attracted to the area searching for work in and around the docks.  By the late 19th century, poor housing, over-crowding and low wages had contributed to the widespread poverty of the East End, resulting in disease, high infant mortality and high crime levels.

After the First World War local authorities began a systematic campaign to replace older slum areas with new housing.  The London County Council in particular built many low-rise blocks of flats which are still in existence.

During the Second World War much of the area - an obvious target for enemy planes - was devastated by heavy bombing and local communities suffered badly. Many people never returned to the dockland area after being bombed out, choosing to move further east to new housing developments in Dagenham and Barking.   In the docklands, however, various attempts were made to build housing in a more modern style that often resulted in the hated high-rise tower block.  Only in Poplar was there any real attempt to create a model new community – in the form of the Lansbury Estate.

The riverside areas, though, continued to be dominated by the old-fashioned wharves and warehouses of the port. However, in the mid-1960s the older London docks began to close: new deep-water docks had been opened east of London, which could cope with larger ships and containerised cargoes.  As the old docks closed, the industrial and commercial activity associated with the area began to decline and by 1980 the docklands area was characterised by unemployment and dereliction.