- West India Docks was the largest and most expensive building project in world when built in late 18th century
- Manual workers would queue at dock gates for 'call-on' when some would be chosen to do backbreaking work
- Docks heavily bombed during the Blitz and after WWII warehouses were replaced by modern storage sheds
- Now the financial hub of Canary Wharf stands in the area across 97 acres where 93,000 people are employed
By Mark Duell
Published: | Updated:
Advertisem*nt
If you visit West India Quay today in the shadow of the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf, you’ll find a £550-a-night Marriott hotel and thousands of wealthy bankers.
But back in 19th century East London, it was a bustling storage area for goods imported from the West Indies.
The West India Docks were built to great fanfare at the end of the 18th century as a response to overcrowding and theft in the riverside quays.
Scroll down for video
Bustling area: The West India Docks of East London in 1900, with North Quay viewed from the warehouse, which is now the site of Hertsmere Road
Modern-day: West India Quay as it is now, with the £550-a-night Marriott hotel in the centre and West India Quay Docklands Light Railway station to the right of this
Old and new: Sugar being hoisted into warehouses at West India Docks in 1900 (left), where the Museum of London Docklands now stands (right)
At the time, it was the largest and most expensive building project in the world, costing £82million in today’s money and stretching for almost a mile.
The Ledger Building - now a JD Wetherspoon pub - was where dock records were kept and the original gateway was just beyond this point.
Manual workers at the docks were employed as casuals, and would queue at the dock gates for the ‘call-on’ when some would be chosen to work.
RELATED ARTICLES
- Previous
- 1
- Next
- The Pippas of their day! They were the aristocratic beauties... The wonders of the animal kingdom captured in stunning... The diamond nine is back! The Red Arrows famous formation is...
Share this article
Share
These men were often half-starved and desperate to work - but if they were picked, their jobs were backbreaking.
In addition, the abrasive sugar leaking from the sacks rubbed their necks, shoulders and hands raw - giving the quayside the old name of Blood Alley.
The docks were heavily bombed during the Blitz and after the Second World War the warehouses were replaced by modern storage sheds.
Lifted up: A group of men watch at South West India Docks in 1968 as four elephants return from a Chipperfield's Circus tour of South Africa
Hard work: The West India Docks of east London are pictured circa 1935, with bananas being loaded onto rail trucks on the North Quay of the Export Dock
From abroad: Sugar sacks are pictured at the rear of a building in this undated photo from when an era when West India Quay was a thriving area for importation
Today: The rear of the building is pictured nowadays, showing a much quieter scene than would have greeted workers there in the 19th century
These no longer exist but you can still see cranes used in the 1960s, before dock closures began in the 1970s, mainly due to containerisation.
The London upriver docks were not large enough to receive the new ships - and so the Tilbury Docks down the river in Essex were developed.
The building then became derelict - but in 2000 work began on restoring and converting the Grade I-listed building for use as a museum.
Now, the Museum of London Docklands sits in one of only two remaining warehouses erected on the north quay by the West India Dock Company.
Originally built in the 1800s by wealthy merchants and slave plantation owners, these buildings once held great cargoes of sugar, rum and coffee.
Transport: The North Quay of West India Docks in 1925. Manual workers at the docks were employed as casuals, and would queue at the dock gates for the 'call-on'
Today: Nowadays the Museum of London Docklands sits in one of only two remaining warehouses erected on the north quay by the West India Dock Company
Days gone by: The No. 1 warehouse on the North Quay of West India Docks, with the old transit sheds in front, taken in July 1913 by John H Avery and Sons
Present day: The same scene is photographed today, with the Museum of London Docklands to the left. Now more than 93,000 people work in Canary Wharf
From above today: Canary Wharf got its name from the fact that many of the imports which arrived there in the past when it was a dock were from the Canary Islands
Each storey was once a different height - dictated by the cargo's nature. The ground floors were made to store two tiers of hogsheads of ‘clayed’ sugar.
The upper floors stored a single tier of the heavier hogsheads of muscovado sugar, while the top floors held lighter cargoes such as coffee and cocoa.
Now the wider area of Canary Wharf is one of London's two main financial centres and is home to the likes of Barclays, HSBC and KPMG.
The 97-acre estate got its name from the fact that many of the imports which arrived there in the past when it was a dock were from the Canary Islands.
Around 15million sq ft of office and retail space now exist on the site, with the first tenants arriving in 1991. Now more than 93,000 people work there.
- The Museum of London Docklands is celebrating its tenth anniversary this weekend, with the opening of Estuary, an exhibition of contemporary art which brings together the work of 12 artists - each of whom have been inspired by the Thames Estuary. Entry is free, and it runs until October 27
VIDEO: A maritime historian explains the Museum of London Docklands building's history
