London Docks
The London Docks were one of the many docks in the historic Port of London. They were built in 1799-1815 in Wapping downstream from central London and cost more than £ 5 ½ million Previously loaded the ships to the quays of the River Thames, but in that time more berths were needed. The London Docks were the city center nearest harbor until two decades later, the St. Katharine Docks emerged.
The London docks occupied a total area of 120,000 square meters and consisted of western and eastern basin, which were connected by the short Tobacco Dock. The west basin was with the Thames on the Hermitage Basin in the southwest and the Wapping Basin connected to the south. The eastern basin was also connected to the River Thames in the east to the Shadwell Basin. The main planners were the architects and engineers Daniel Asher Alexander and John Rennie. These docks were on the deletion of valuable trade goods, such as ivory, spices, coffee and cocoa, as well as wine and wool, specialized, what elegant wine cellars and warehouses were built. 1864, the London docks were merged with the St. Katharine Docks. The docks never had a railway connection. Together with the other port facilities in London, the London docks were taken over in 1909 by the Port of London Authority.
In 1969, the docks were finally closed to commercial traffic and sold to the district administration of Tower Hamlets, which made fill the western part of the London Docks, to make them accessible to the public housing - a project that was never realized. As the area was in 1981 sold to the London Docklands Development Corporation ( LDDC ), it was still industrial wasteland. Since then, over 1,000 private dwellings sprang up around the old Tobacco Dock and Shadwell Basin. The controversial printing Fortress Wapping Group of Rupert Murdoch's News International was built on the northern half of the infilled Western Harbour basin., 'Hermitage Basin and Shadwell Basin '' remained untouched until today, but the Wapping Basin is now a sports field and a part of the site on eastern basin is still undeveloped. A small canal runs through the southern part of the former West Basin and connects the Hermitage Basin with the Tobacco Dock.