Map of Surrey Commercial Docks, 1882

German montage of bomber over Surrey Docks, 1940

Greenland Dock, Surrey Quays

Greenland Dock Pier and view of Canary Wharf

The Surrey Commercial Docks were a large group of docks in Rotherhithe on the south bank (the Surrey side) of the Thames in east London. The docks operated in one form or another from 1696 to 1969. Most were subsequently filled in and redeveloped for residential housing, and the area is now widely known as Surrey Quays, and politically as Surrey Docks. Download high resolution version (562x822, 208 KB)Map of Surrey Commercial Docks, 1882 This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Download high resolution version (562x822, 208 KB)Map of Surrey Commercial Docks, 1882 This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... German photomontage of bomber over Surrey Docks, c. ... German photomontage of bomber over Surrey Docks, c. ... Greenland Dock, Surrey Quays, London, around 1995(?). Courtesy of Southwark Photo Library - http://www. ... Greenland Dock, Surrey Quays, London, around 1995(?). Courtesy of Southwark Photo Library - http://www. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Summary View of Canary Wharf from Greenland Pier Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Summary View of Canary Wharf from Greenland Pier Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Thames Clippers are a water-bus service operating in London on the River Thames. ... Rotherhithe is a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames in east London in the London Borough of Southwark, facing Wapping and the Isle of Dogs on the north bank. ... Surrey is a county in southern England, one of the Home Counties. ... Several places exist with the name Thames, and the word is also used as part of several brand and company names Most famous is the River Thames in England, on which the city of London stands Other Thames Rivers There is a Thames River in Canada There is a Thames... The Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster, which contains Big Ben London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... The year 1696 had the earliest equinoxes and solstices for 400 years in the Gregorian calendar, because this year is a leap year and the Gregorian calendar would have behaved like the Julian calendar since March 1500 had it have been in use that long. ... 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday For other uses, see Number 1969. ... Surrey Quays is a name given to a largely residential area of Rotherhithe in south-east London, occupied until 1970 by the Surrey Commercial Docks. ...

History

The sparsely populated Rotherhithe peninsula was originally wet marshland alongside the river. It was unsuitable for farming, but its riverside location just downstream from the City of London made it an ideal site for docks. The area had long been associated with maritime activities: the Pilgrim Fathers had departed from Rotherhithe in 1620 aboard the Mayflower, and a major Royal Navy dockyard was located just down the river at Deptford. In 1696, Howland Great Wet Dock (named after the family who owned the land) was dug out to form the largest commercial dock of its time, able to accommodate 120 sailing ships. The City of London is a small area in Greater London. ... This article is about the colonists of North America. ... Events September 6 - English emigrants on the Mayflower depart from Plymouth, England for the future New England and arrive at the end of the year. ... The Mayflower was the ship which transported the Pilgrim Fathers from Plymouth, England to North Virginia (in what was later to become the United States of America) in 1620, leaving Plymouth on September 6 and dropping anchor near Cape Cod on November 11. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the senior service of the British armed services, being the oldest of its three branches. ... Deptford is an area of the London Borough of Lewisham, on the south bank of the River Thames in south-east London. ... The year 1696 had the earliest equinoxes and solstices for 400 years in the Gregorian calendar, because this year is a leap year and the Gregorian calendar would have behaved like the Julian calendar since March 1500 had it have been in use that long. ...

By the mid-18th century the dock had become a base for Arctic whalers and was renamed Greenland Dock. However, by the 19th century an influx of commercial traffic from Scandinavia and the Baltic (principally tinder) and Canada (foodstuffs for London's population) led to Greenland Dock being greatly expanded and other docks being dug to accommodate the increasing number of vessels. Eventually, 85% of the peninsula, an area of 460 acres (1.9 km²), was covered by a system of nine docks, six timber ponds and a canal. Several of the docks were named after the origins of their customers' cargos, hence Canada Dock, Quebec Pond, Norway Dock and Russia Dock. The Grand Surrey Canal was opened in 1807 to link the docks with inland destinations, but proved a commercial failure and only 3½ miles of it were ever built. (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Greenland Dock is the oldest of Londons riverside docks, located in Rotherhithe in the area of the city now known as Docklands. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Scandinavia, Fennoscandia, and the Kola Peninsula. ... The Baltic Sea The Baltic region (sometimes briefly The Baltics) is an ambiguous term used to denominate an arbitrary region connected to the Baltic Sea (also called The Baltics). ... The Grand Surrey Canal was a canal constructed in south London during the early 19th century. ... 1807 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

The docks evolved a distinctive working culture, quite different to that of the Isle of Dogs across the river. A characteristic sight of the docks were the "deal porters", dockers who specialised in carrying huge baulks of deal (timber) across their shoulders and wore special headgear to protect their heads from the rough wood. Isle of Dogs is also a play by Thomas Nashe and Ben Jonson. ... Deal porters in the Surrey Commercial Docks Deal porters were a specialist group of workers in Londons docks. ...

The decline of the docks set in after World War II, when they suffered massive damage from German air raids. The South Dock was pumped dry and used for construction of some of the concrete caissons which made up the Mulberry Harbours used on D-Day. When the shipping industry adopted the container system of cargo transportation, the docks were unable to accommodate the much larger vessels needed by containerization. They finally closed for lack of custom in 1969. The Grand Surrey Canal was closed in 1971 and was subsequently drained and filled in. World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was by far the bloodiest, most expensive, and most significant war in... A caisson is: In engineering, a retaining structure used, for example, to work on the foundations of a bridge pier. ... Remains of Mulberry B at Arromanches A Mulberry Harbour was a type of temporary harbour developed in World War II to offload cargo on a beach during the Allied invasion of Normandy. ... Land on Normandy In military parlance, D-Day is a term often used to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. ... Containerization is a system of intermodal cargo transport using standard ISO containers that can be loaded on container ships, railroad cars, and trucks. ... 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ...

The area remained derelict for over a decade, with much of the warehousing demolished and over 90% of the docks filled in. The only surviving areas of open water were Greenland Dock, South Dock, remnants of Canada Dock (renamed Canada Water) and Norway Dock, and a basin renamed Surrey Water. In 1981, the Conservative government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher established the London Docklands Development Corporation to redevelop the former dockyard areas of east London, including the Surrey Docks. South Dock is the only surviving fully operational dock in the former Surrey Commercial Docks in Rotherhithe, London. ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Conservative Party is the largest political party on the centre-right in the United Kingdom. ... The Right Honourable Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (born October 13, 1925), is a British stateswoman and was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990, also Leader of the Opposition from 1975, and the only woman to date to hold the former... The London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) was a quango set up in 1981 to regenerate the Docklands area of east London. ...

Surrey Docks today

During the 1980s and early 1990s, the Surrey Docks were extensively redeveloped. Over 5,500 new homes were built, ranging from individual detached housing to large apartment complexes. South Dock was converted into a marina - now the largest in London - and a watersports centre was constructed on Greenland Dock. Canada Water and the infilled Russia Dock became wildlife reserves, with a woodland planted on the latter site. Leisure facilities and a number of light industrial plants were also built, notably a new printing works for Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the London Evening Standard and the Daily Mail. // Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 60s and 70s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but otherwise retaining the same mindset. ... For other uses of this word, see Marina (disambiguation). ... Headlines of the Evening standard on the day of London bombing on July 7, 2005, in Waterloo station The Evening Standard is a newspaper published in London. ... The front page of the Daily Mail on February 7, 2005. ...

In October 1988, the Surrey Quays shopping centre was opened as the centrepiece of the redevelopment of the Surrey Docks. The nearby London Underground station was renamed as Surrey Quays a few months later, though this was not very popular with many local people. The entire area is now widely known as Surrey Quays, which estate agents and urban planners appear to regard as being a more "marketable" name. 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Categories: Stub | United Kingdom shopping malls | London shops ... Slight modifications to the famous London Underground roundel indicate the name of each station on platform and some outdoor signs. ... Suck my cock, wank me off. ...

Links and references

• LDDC Completion Booklet - Surrey Docks