 Origins
THE Royal Victoria Dock, which was opened in 1855,
was the first dock built expressly for steam ships and the first to
be planned with direct rail links onto the quay. The Royal Albert
Dock, which was designed to take vessels of up to 12,000 tons, was
opened in 1880. By 1886 there were 7 enclosed dock systems within
the Port of London, namely the London and St Katherine's Docks, the
Surrey Docks, the West India Docks, the Millwall Docks, the East India
Docks, the Royal Docks and Tilbury Docks. The over-provision of dock
facilities gave rise to financial difficulties for the dock companies,
and the East and West India Docks Company went into receivership in
1886. Low financial returns led to a lack of investment in new facilities
and, at a time of rapid advances in technology, the ports' facilities
became increasingly obsolescent and inefficient.
A Royal Commission was appointed in 1900 to look
into these problems and as a result the Port of London Act was passed
in 1908. The Port of London Authority (PLA) came into being the following
year and took over the powers of all the existing companies. The PLA
began an immediate programme of modernisation, including the construction
of a new dock able to take ships of up to 30,000 tons. Following a
considerable debate on the merits of enclosed docks as opposed to
deep water berths the PLA decided to build an enclosed dock south
of the Royal Albert Dock. The King George V Dock was opened in 1921,
completing the Royal group of docks which, as a whole, formed the
largest area of impounded water in the world.
The Royal Albert Dock is 1.25 miles long and contains
some 16,500 ft of quays. The King George V Dock is. 4,500 ft long,
500-700 f t wide and has some 3 miles of quays. Its entrance lock
is about 800 ft long x 100 ft wide. The depth below impounded level
of the dock water areas varies between 28 ft and 38 ft. Allowing for
adequate under-keel clearance, the maximum loaded fresh water draught
of vessels using the dock was 32 ft 6 ins. The entrance was big enough
to accommodate the 35,655 ton Mauretania in 1939.
Over the period 1910-1950 the Royal Docks were relatively
prosperous. The docks' layout permitted trans-shipment of break bulk
cargos from ship to rail, to road and lighter transport or into warehouses
for storage. Most of the cargo passing through the dock group was
from deep sea trades, particularly with the British Commonwealth.
Top of Page
Decline
Traffic through the Royal Docks reached its peak
in the 1950s and early 1960s. After that containerisation and other
technological changes and a switch in Britain's trade following EEC
membership led to a rapid decline. By 1978 the financial losses incurred
by the upper docks, and the Royals in particular, had brought the
PLA to the brink of insolvency. On consulting the Government the PLA
were told to prepare restructuring proposals with a view to achieving
commercial viability. The PLA's initial solution, known as the Radical
Approach, was to close the upstream docks which were losing £9m a
year without any prospect of paying their way.
However, in view of the severe impact of implementing
the Radical Approach, a modified plan was put forward which involved
further manpower reductions, changing working practices to improve
productivity, and transferring the PLA cargo handling operations from
the Royal Docks to the West India and Millwall Docks and Tilbury Docks.
This recommended strategy was agreed by the Government except for
the transfer of cargo handling away from the Royals, and £35m was
granted to the PLA to implement the rest of the strategy. Further
financial assistance was made conditional on keeping the upper docks
operational.
Top of Page
 Closure
It soon became clear that the funds provided by the
Government were draining away. Losses in the Royal Docks, excluding
interest and central overheads, increased from £4.6m per annum in
1978 to £6.7m per annum in 1981, and in consequence the decision was
taken to close the West India and Millwall Docks in 1980. One of the
conditions of further Government support was that the PLA operations
had to be self-supporting by 1983. The Royal Docks were closed for
general cargo handling at the end of 1981.
A number of activities remained in the Royal Docks
after cargo handling operations were transferred to Tilbury. One of
these was the 'laying up' of vessels not in use which involved considerable
costs in impounding, lock operation and maintenance including dredging.
Since the revenues received did not cover these costs, the PLA decided
to cease providing water access to the Royal Docks by the end of 1982.
It was decided to keep the lock entrance at the east end of the King
George V Dock in good condition so that it could be opened again in
future if necessary.  However,
a willingness by the users to pay higher charges and a reduction in
personnel costs by the PLA enabled them to keep the water access open
until the end of 1983 for 'laying up' and ship repairs. The PLA received
about £0.25m per annum from the laying up of ships.
Other residual activities were the PLA's Comclear
groupage operation and the Spillers Mill, both located on the south
side of the Royal Victoria Dock. The SLIC depot groupage and transport
operation on the south side of the King George V Dock was also still
active. Scrap export operations continued until the Spring of 1983
before transferring to Tilbury. At this time the PLA were operating
a temporary letting policy to meet the running costs of the docks.
Only short term leases were offered, capable. of termination at 6
months notice.
Top of Page
Regeneration
Such was the situation when in mid 1981 the London
Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) was established to secure
the regeneration of the area. The proposal to build London City Airport
- a radical break with the past - was put to the LDDC in November
1981- see separate article.
Top of Page
More Information
See a video clip from the Airport's 2001 CD "Delivering the Vision" (657kb)
For a fuller account of the history of the area visit
the Royal
Docks history page of the Royal
Docks Trust (London).
For more on the regeneration of the area our Regeneration
Page and also the LDDC
History Pages.
See also the website History of Stratford, West Ham, Canning Town, Silvertown etc & lots of historical London Pubs and the Times Past page at West Silvertown Online
Top of Page
|
