EAST INDIA DOCK

 

HISTORY

 

East India Docks, designed by Ralph Walker, was built by the East India Dock Company created by an Act of Parliament in 1803, and was completed in 1806. It covered 18 acres and incorporated the old Brunswick Dock which had specialised in fitting and repairing ships. Whilst by no means the biggest dock built in London, it had enough capacity, at its peak, to deal with 1000 tons and up to 250 ships at any one time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

East India Dock 1806                                      In its heyday circa 1900

 

Dealing primarily with imports from India, as its name suggests,  it was an immediate commercial success, and probably would have remained so for some time had it not been for the ferocity of the competition between the docks which proved costly to all. The East and West India Companies merged in 1883, and all the ports were taken over by the Port of London Authority in 1909.

 

The Twentieth Century saw an acceleration in the decline of the London ports as ships became larger and, therefore, unable to use the Thames or its facilities. By the Second World War, during which all the ports suffered serious damage from bombing, East India Docks was reduced to maintaining dredger equipment and dealing with traffic from the Channel Islands. Towards the end of the century the London docks began to close and East India Docks was first to succumb in 1967.