From Cubitt Town Pier To The Graving Docks
Cubitt Town Pier
In 1857 William Cubitt erected a timber pier roughly
three-quarters of a mile along the shore from Potter's
Ferry, and by 1858 had hired a steamboat to ferry
passengers to Greenwich and other places on the opposite
shore. This was intended to serve the new inhabitants
of Cubitt Town without diverting passengers from the
established ferry at Potter's Ferry, but it appears that the
new ferry was used mainly by dock workers, and as a
result the older one lost more than half its income
Litigation followed in the early 1860s, with the ferry
company as successful plaintiffs, although Cubitt retained
his right to ferry to and from the Isle of Dogs. (ref. 524) However,
services must have ceased well before 1891, when the
Thames Conservancy asked for Cubitt's Pier, which was
in a dilapidated and dangerous condition, to be repaired.
The pier was demolished c1892. (ref. 525)
Millwall Wharf
The current extent of Millwall Wharf and the remaining
Grade II listed warehouses there are the legacy of James
W. Cook & Company, wharfingers, lightermen and shipping agents, of the Minories. Cooks, who also held
property at Orchard Wharf, Blackwall, were occupants
of part of the present Millwall Wharf site from 1883 and
of the whole from 1900 until 1964. This extensive wharf,
reaching from (and eventually subsuming) Pier Street in
the south to London Yard to the north was originally
composed of three wharves and two inland plots. (ref. 526)
The southernmost wharf, with a river frontage of 200ft
immediately north of Cubitt Town Pier, was taken by
James Ash, shipbuilder, in 1862. (ref. 527) Ash, who had been
naval architect to both C. J. Mare and the Thames Iron
Works Company, established an impressive yard here,
with an extensive two-storey brick office and works
building. (ref. 528) In setting up the business Ash had borrowed
heavily from Overend Gurney & Company, and he was
one of the many yard-owners forced to close following
the failure of that company in 1866. (ref. 529) In 1875 the lease
was purchased by the Millwall Wharf & Warehouse
Company, (ref. 530) and James Cook took over the premises, by
then known as Millwall Wharf, early in 1883. (ref. 531) At that
time the wharf comprised four brick-built and slateroofed warehouses (sheds A-C2). Between 1883 and
1892 Cook & Company erected a further seven brick
warehouses (sheds D-J), a travelling crane, and a corrugated-iron landing-shed facing the river. (ref. 532) The wharf
was used for storage, mainly of jute and other fibres.
Immediately to the north of the original Millwall
Wharf was Plough Wharf, a combination of three plots
with a river frontage of 150½ft, leased by Cubitt to the
London Manure Company between 1853 and 1861. (ref. 533)
The wharf contained an engine house, a boiler house,
and the burners, chemical chambers and sheds required
for the manufacture of artificial manures from crushed
bones and sulphuric acid. (ref. 534) A jetty was later added for
manure barges. In 1868 the freehold of Plough Wharf
was acquired by the Millwall Dock Company as part of
its proposal for an eastern arm of the Millwall Docks
(fig. 126, page 347), (ref. 535) and the manure company's wharf
was later extended to Manchester Road by a lease of land
including Nos 8–11 London Terrace. (ref. 536) The London
Manure Company went bankrupt in 1892, (ref. 537) and James
Cook annexed Plough Wharf in 1896. Cook & Company
rebuilt two existing riverside sheds as sheds L and M of
Millwall Wharf. (ref. 538) Further redevelopment took place
between 1897 and 1900 (Sheds N-S). (ref. 539)
The third component was a wharf of over 150ft of
river frontage, occupied by the National Guaranteed
Manure Company since 1858. (ref. 540) This site was also purchased by the Millwall Dock Company, which leased a
further inland plot to the manure company in 1875. (ref. 541) In
1900 the wharf, with nine brick, iron, and wood warehouses, was taken by Cook & Company, which thus
completed its acquisition of the present-day Millwall
Wharf. (ref. 542)
Having obtained these properties, the firm embarked
upon a new building programme. In 1900 and 1901
plans for a series of riverside warehouse buildings were
prepared by Edwin A. B. Crockett, Surveyor to the
London Wharf and Warehouse Committee. Holland &
Hannen of Bloomsbury built four new pairs of brickand-slate warehouse units (Nos 1–8); Nos 1–4 were
completed in December 1901, and Nos 5–8 in February
1902, the latter apparently incorporating remnants of the
earlier nineteenth-century sheds of Plough Wharf (Plate
88a; fig. 200). (ref. 543) These single-storey, twin-gabled warehouses form four-fifths of the extant riverside range. The
units are divided in two by fire walls with double iron
doors, and have what were by 1901–2 rather old-fashioned
roofs of paired queen-post trusses supported on rows of
cast-iron columns. Curiously, the roof to the southern
half of Shed 7 is carried on king-post trusses. The
warehouses are devoid of any decorative features save to
the river, where each gabled bay encloses a high-set
Diocletian window framed by brick pilasters. These sheds
were bonded and used for storage, initially of sugar and
fibres. (ref. 544)
During the first quarter of the twentieth century
Cook & Company continued to expand and develop its
business. In 1907 and 1908 it annexed two areas of land
formerly belonging to Yarrow & Company to the north
of Millwall Wharf, and erected a further brick warehouse,
designated L, adjoining Sheds 1 and 2. This is of a
similar style to the earlier ones, but with the roof carried
on steel trusses and stanchions. (ref. 545) Further developments
included the rebuilding of D Warehouse following a fire
in 1908, and the erection in 1911 of a group of six further
brick warehouse units (Q—S and 10–12) inland of sheds
Nos 4–8, with a roadway for vehicles between them. (ref. 546)
Cook & Company remained in occupation of Millwall
Wharf until 1964, when the leases to the property were
assigned to Cory Associated Wharves Ltd. (ref. 547) After
lengthy negotiations the PLA sold the freehold of
Millwall Wharf to Cory Associated Wharves' parent
company, Ocean Transport & Trading Ltd, which still
owns the wharf as Ocean plc. The extensive warehouse
buildings on Millwall Wharf survived the Second World
War, but they were demolished in the 1970s, with the
exception of the riverside range, Sheds 1–8 and L.
London Yard
In 1856–7 Robert Baillie and Joseph Westwood, subcontractors and managers at Ditchburn & Mare's shipyard
at Orchard Place (see page 672) for nearly 18 years,
set up in business as shipbuilders, boilermakers and
ironworkers, in partnership with James Campbell, in a
new yard at Cubitt Town. Westwood, Baillie, Campbell &
Company's London Yard was a parcel of land between
Manchester Road and the Thames with a river frontage of
450ft, and by the end of 1857 it was already considerably
developed, with a smiths' shop, boiler shop, machine
shop, iron store, engine- and boiler-houses, furnace shed,
offices and a gridiron. The name London Yard derived
from London Street, which originally gave access to the
yard. (ref. 548) In 1859 the firm leased a smaller site adjoining
to the north. (ref. 549)
Figure 200:
Millwall Wharf, plan of the warehouse sheds, and river-front (east) elevations. Sheds 1–8, E. A. B. Crockett, architect, 1901–2; shed L was added in 1907–8
Campbell retired from the business in 1861. (ref. 550) A
lithograph by N. Newberry shows the arrangement and
extent of the yard c1862–4 (Plate 87c). Smiths' shops
and boiler shops ran west-east between Manchester Road
and the river, with offices and other buildings facing the
road, and stores, machine shops, and joiners' shops in
the yard behind. Besides shipping, a large domed structure was under construction - probably part of a palace
built by Westwood & Baillie for the Sultan of Turkey
and erected at Istanbul. (ref. 551)
In common with many other local firms, Westwood,
Baillie & Company had difficulty surviving the decline
in Thames shipbuilding of the 1860s, and the partnership
suffered a period of financial stress and reorganization.
Between 1865 and 1871 production at the yard continued
with Westwood and Baillie acting as managers for the
London Engineering & Iron Shipbuilding Company
Ltd. (ref. 552) Westwood, Baillie & Company regained nominal
control of London Yard in 1872, continuing mainly with
civil-engineering projects, in particular the construction
of prefabricated iron and steel bridges for developing
countries. (ref. 553) However, the firm was wound up in 1893
and the yard and its contents were sold at an auction at
which more than 1,300 lots were offered. The extensive
machinery, including a long range of ten radial drillingmachines and large hydraulic plate-beating presses,
revealed the magnitude of the work once handled by the
company. (ref. 554) (Westwoods continued in the engineering
industry at Napier Yard, Millwall, where a branch had
been established in 1889.)
In 1898 the property was taken over by the local
shipbuilding firm of Yarrow & Company. (ref. 555) Yarrows had
been eager to move from their small Folly Wall Yard (see
below) to larger premises, negotiating unsuccessfully with
the Millwall Dock Company for a new site before moving
to London Yard. (ref. 556) Redevelopment took place between
1898 and 1901. Some of the existing buildings on Manchester Road were retained and extended, but most of
the yard was cleared for redevelopment. (ref. 557) Dominating
the new yard was a large group of four workshop units
in a single building, over 200ft by 360ft, of brick and
cast iron, with glazed roofs (Plate 88b). They were
built by Sir William Arrol & Company, and housed the
engineers', boiler makers' and shipbuilders' departments. (ref. 558)
Yarrow's did not remain long at London Yard, however.
Alfred Yarrow's business had suffered badly during the
engineers' strike of 1897–8, and the high rates in London,
coupled with the increasing costs of materials and labour,
eventually made it impossible for him to compete with
the firms on Clydeside and Tyneside. Between 1906 and
1908 the Poplar yard was gradually shut down and the
firm moved to new premises at Scotstoun in Glasgow,
accompanied by most of its machinery and 300 of the
work-force. (ref. 559)
In 1917 the freehold wharf was purchased by C. & E.
Morton, of Millwall, manufacturers of soups, pickles and
jams. (ref. 560) Yarrow's large warehouse unit was converted into
a case-making plant, and the other buildings were used
mainly for storage. (ref. 561) Mortons decided to sell the wharf
in 1936, (ref. 562) and after the Second World War it was
acquired by D. Badcock (Wharves) Ltd of Greenwich,
which had previously occupied part of the site as a tenant
of Mortons. (ref. 563) It was then known as London Wharf. By
the early 1960s Badcocks had been joined by a variety of
other firms, all of which made use of existing buildings. (ref. 564)
By 1972 the wharf was unoccupied, derelict and badly
polluted. Despite a proposal in 1977 to transform the site
into a combined water-sports centre and boat-building
yard, London Yard was eventually acquired by the LDDC
(see page 701). (ref. 565)
Samuda's Wharf (Samuda's Yard)
Joseph D'Aguilar Samuda was born in 1813, the son of
an East and West India merchant of Finsbury. He became
an engineer, shipbuilder, MP and founder-member (and
later Vice-President) of the Institution of Naval Architects. In the 1830s he joined his brother Jacob as partner
in an ironworks and engineering yard at Southwark.
Samuda Brothers began shipbuilding in 1843 in a yard
at Orchard Place, Blackwall, and, despite the deaths in
1844 of Jacob and nine of his foremost engineers and
workmen, Joseph continued with the business, establishing the firm as iron and steel shipbuilders in a new
yard at Cubitt Town in 1852. (ref. 566)
The original yard was a plot of 370ft frontage to the
Thames with a drawdock adjoining to the north, taken
from December 1852 at £538 per annum. (ref. 567) Samuda
Brothers were pioneers in their use of steel in shipbuilding, gaining a reputation for constructing warships,
steampackets, and other special-purpose craft of iron and
steel. Expansion was an almost inevitable consequence.
In 1860 the yard was extended to the north and west to
meet Manchester Road and Davis Street, and a smaller,
irregularly shaped plot to the north of the drawdock was
added in 1862, (fn. h) giving Samuda a combined riverside
frontage of over 500ft. (ref. 568) According to P. Barry, by 1863
Samuda's Yard was producing nearly double the output
of the other London dockyards combined. (ref. 569) Many of
Samuda's orders came from emerging foreign naval
powers such as Germany, Russia and Japan, and the
specialized nature of their merchandise enabled the firm
to survive the 1866 financial crash and the subsequent
decline in Thames shipbuilding.
Samuda's main yard was well arranged; the firm had
built steadily on the site in the 1850s and 1860s, (ref. 570) and
by c1871 there were long ranges of workshops, masthouses and rigging shops to the north and south flanking
a large open yard for construction work. A further group
of buildings faced Manchester Road. A plan of c1884
shows the riverside section of the yard, with the travelling-cranes, slipways and jetty used in the construction
and launching of vessels. (ref. 571)
Samudas continued in business until Joseph's death in
1885. Once existing contracts had been honoured the
yard was closed and, although an attempt was made to
sell the business as a going concern, the yard and its
contents were sold as 1,300 separate lots at a five-daylong auction in 1893. (ref. 572) The wharf was subsequently
occupied by the Haskin Wood Vulcanizing Company,
specialists in the 'vulcanizing, seasoning, or preserving
of wood'. They remained at Samuda's Yard until c1912–13, when the lease of the premises reverted to the
landlord. (ref. 573)
The tenancy of the site during the early twentieth
century was complex, with as many as five separate
industries sharing buildings on the premises at one time.
Among these were the Star and Sterling Manufacturing
Companies, which produced toys, prams and domestic
appliances in a complex of factory buildings bordering
Davis Street and the drawdock; and the Motor Packing
Company, a subsidiary of Claridge, Holt & Company,
which occupied the central area of the wharf. Coventrybuilt automobiles were driven to Cubitt Town, where
they were dismantled, packed in crates and shipped
abroad. This site was dominated by a packing warehouse
unit of brick, with segmental corrugated-iron roofs on
timber trusses. Riverside cranes with a lifting capacity of
18 tons enabled as many as eight barges to be loaded
simultaneously. (ref. 574)
Samuda's Wharf was badly damaged by enemy action
in August 1941, and all but a handful of the buildings
were demolished. After the war the wharf was used by
various companies for the storage of fibres and other
goods. (ref. 575) In the 1950s the vacant site was purchased by
the LCC for new housing, (ref. 576) and it is now occupied by
the Samuda Estate (see page 542).
The Folly House Tavern, Folly Wall
In August 1753 Thomas Davers, esquire, of the Middle
Temple, acquired the copyhold of 1½ acres of the Osier
Hope, a parcel of riverside land south of Blackwall, where
he built, 'at vast expense, a little fort . . . known by the
name of Daver's folly'. (ref. 577) In financial difficulty, Davers
surrendered his property in August 1754. (ref. 578)
The first occupant to sell liquor was Henry Annis,
who became copyholder in 1755 and obtained a licence
in 1758. (ref. 579) The name Folly House first occurs in 1763. (ref. 580)
Nothing is known of the original structure, which was
apparently altered by Annis by 1757. (ref. 581) Additional buildings for the accommodation of 'Friends and Customers'
were erected in the mid-1760s by William Mole, who
also made use of the surrounding foreland as a garden. (ref. 582)
Perhaps because of its convenient riverside location
between Greenwich and Blackwall, the Folly House was
a popular venue for whitebait suppers throughout the
late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. (ref. 583)
When the property was auctioned by Mole's widow
around 1788 it contained a variety of rooms 'for the
accommodation of genteel company', an extensive
pleasure- and kitchen-garden, a paved causeway, and a
landing-place leading to a terrace of 186ft in front of the
river. (ref. 584)
In 1800 possession of the Folly House and surrounding
land passed to Benjamin Granger, the Blackwall coal
merchant, who appears to have added to the existing
group of buildings almost immediately. (ref. 585) A plan of 1817
shows the public house, its outbuildings and gardens
(which at the time included a cockpit), (ref. 586) with smaller
buildings flanking to the north and south. (ref. 587) Pictorial
representations of the Folly House of this period are
somewhat inconsistent and the tavern may have been
considerably altered or even rebuilt on a number of
occasions. However, the evidence indicates that it was a
two-storey main building of three bays facing the river,
with a shallow gable roof surmounted by a balustraded
balcony. The building was extended to the south, further
away from the riverside, where the terrace featured a row
of triangular shelters or bowers for patrons (Plate
89c). (ref. 588)
Further alterations and additions to the property in
the 1830s and 1850s included the building of a new
causeway, 60ft long. (ref. 589) The tavern enjoyed a resurgence
in business with the growth of shipbuilding yards on the
riverfront in the 1850s and 1860s, until it was closed in
1875 (Plate 88c).
New Union Wharf (Folly Wall Yard)
The shipbuilding firm of Yarrows, one of the successful
businesses in Cubitt Town in the late nineteenth century,
was established by Alfred Fernandez Yarrow (1842–1932)
in the mid-1860s. The inventiveness which he displayed
as a young man developed into considerable engineering
skills - he served an apprenticeship with the marine
engineers Ravenhill & Salkeld - and he supervised both
the technical and business sides of the firm. (ref. 590)
In 1866 Yarrow established a small engineering firm
in partnership with Robert Hedley. The partnership
became increasingly uneasy, however, and was dissolved
in 1875. Following the withdrawal of Hedley, the firm
became Yarrow & Company; it was converted into a
private limited company in 1897. (ref. 591)
In 1866 the partners took a lease of a barge-builder's
yard between the river and the Folly Wall which had
been briefly occupied by Joseph Temple. Known as Hope
Yard, this plot had a river frontage of only a little over
90ft and the further drawback that a right of way ran
across it to the Folly House. The freehold of both the
yard and the adjoining area on which the Folly House
stood was purchased in 1875, however, and the residue
of the lease of the public house was acquired soon after.
The yard then became known as Folly Shipyard. (ref. 592) A
lease of the ground between the yard and Samuda Street,
taken in 1866, was renewed in 1878, with the addition of
a strip of ground along the southern edge of the premises. (ref. 593) The yard was further enlarged by the purchase in
1875 of the residue of the lease of land to the north from
the widow of Nathaniel John Hudson, a barge-builder. (ref. 594)
Hudson had acquired the lease in 1861 from Charles
Ross, who had used the land as a stone-wharf. (ref. 595)
Figure 201:
Yarrow & Company's Yard, Stewart Street (Folly
Shipyard), site plan c1883
The original site was constricted and contained two
cottages and some sheds, all in a fairly dilapidated
condition. An engineers' shop was erected, using some
salvaged timber, galvanized iron and glass. In 1872–3 the
land on the west side of the Folly Wall was enclosed and
an office was built upon it. (ref. 596) Despite the disadvantages
of the yard, the firm quickly established itself as a builder
of steam launches and achieved an 'unrivalled position'
in the production of such vessels, which it still held in
the 1890s. (ref. 597)
The premises were substantially redeveloped following
the acquisition of the extra land in 1875 (fig. 201). Much
of the building work was carried out by Harris & Wardrop
and W. Whitford & Company, both of Limehouse. Workshops were erected on the southern part of the site and
open sheds over the boat-building slips. (ref. 598) The Folly
House was initially used by the firm, with the front
rooms becoming its drawing offices, but by 1881 it had
been demolished (Plate 88c). (ref. 599) The development of the
foreshore included the construction of a small dock and
the reclamation of some additional ground. (ref. 600)
The enlargement of the yard in 1875 also coincided
with a broadening of the range of vessels constructed by
the company, with the production of river steamers and
gunboats, especially for service in Africa and South
America. Yarrows was also a leading builder of torpedoboats, which developed in the early 1890s into destroyers;
the firm supplied the Royal Navy's first two destroyers
in 1893. Both torpedo-boats and destroyers were sold to
many foreign navies, as well as to the Admiralty. (ref. 601)
The problem of space was eased when that part of
Samuda's Yard as far south as the drawdock was leased
following the death of Joseph Samuda in 1885, increasing
the river frontage by 150ft. (ref. 602) Nevertheless, even larger
premises were needed and in 1898 a lease of London
Yard was acquired and the business was transferred there,
the Folly Shipyard being completely vacated. (ref. 603)
Yarrows successor was the Union Lighterage Company
of Blackwall, with the name of the premises changed to
New Union Wharf. (ref. 604) The new occupiers used the wharf
for the repair of their boats, gradually replacing most of
the buildings. (ref. 605) The alterations included, in 1923, the
construction of three slipways, for repairing barges, and
their roofing over. (ref. 606)
That part of the wharf formerly held by Samuda was
occupied by Messrs Joseph F. Ebner, who took a 40-year
lease from the Union Lighterage Company. (ref. 607) Ebners let
part of the wharf for commercial storage (ref. 608) and used the
remainder for their manufacture of parquet and woodblock flooring. A drying-shed was built in 1901 by
H. Groves of Greenwich (ref. 609) and other sheds were extended
or replaced. (ref. 610) There were fires at the premises in 1917
and 1927. (ref. 611)
Ebners left their part of the wharf during the early
1940s and the lighterage company occupied the whole
until they vacated it c1970. (ref. 612)
John Stewart & Sons, Blackwall Iron Works
The Blackwall Iron Works was established by John
Stewart in the 1850s for the manufacture of marine
engines. The business specialized in engines for tugboats,
but also engaged in shipbuilding.
In 1854 Stewart acquired a block of land 120ft long
between the river and the Folly Wall. He added a narrow
strip to the south in 1858, and larger ones to the north
in 1860 and 1864, bringing the river frontage to 395ft. (ref. 613)
The ground on the west side of the Wall was also acquired
in a number of stages. A lease was taken of a small parcel
in 1857 and, by further leases of 1860, 1862 and 1864,
Stewart became tenant of all of the ground between the
two short streets off the east side of Stewart Street,
with a frontage of 503ft along the western side of the
property. (ref. 614)
Figure 202:
Blackwall Iron Works, Stewart Street, site plan in1902
The buildings were mostly erected in the late 1850s
and early 1860s, reportedly to Stewart's own designs.
The principal ones were a large three-storey workshop
of brick and tile described as an 'engine factory', 150ft
by 120ft, built by John Morris & Son in 1861, and a
boiler foundry, constructed on the east side of the Folly
Wall in 1863. (ref. 615) There were a few additions to the buildings in the late nineteenth century, (ref. 616) and an erectingshop of brick, roofed in sheet iron, was built following
the negotiation of a new agreement with the Cubitt
Town Estate Company in 1900. (ref. 617) There was a rough
ision on the site between the boiler-making functions
se to the river and the engine manufacturing workshops
on the west side of the Folly Wall (fig. 202).
In 1893 Stewarts acquired the shipyard of Thomas
Westbrook to the north. (ref. 618) This comprised a strip of
ground with a river frontage of 272ft which Westbrook
had purchased in two parcels, in 1843 and 1845, for
£2,035. (ref. 619) His father, also Thomas, had been part-occupier of the ground from at least 1817. (ref. 620) The elder
Thomas was also tenant of a plot of a little over an acre
between the Folly Wall and Manchester Road, which his
son retained on a yearly tenure until 1860. (ref. 621) The two
men were in partnership as builders of wooden ships
until the father's death in 1839 and Thomas junior
continued the business thereafter. (ref. 622)
The area of Westbrook's yard was increased slightly
by the embankment of the river front, licensed in 1850, (ref. 623)
which added approximately 17ft to the width of the site,
which was originally only 75ft wide. The embanking
included the provision of two slips.
The few buildings erected on the site included a boiler
shop (1857), a blacksmiths' shop (1860), angle and plate
furnaces (1885), and a house and office. (ref. 624) This left most
of the wharf empty for shipbuilding, although its limited
area restricted the size of the vessels that could be
constructed.
By 1888 the company was trading as Steward &
Latham, although Westbrook remained the owner until
the sale to Stewarts. (ref. 625)
In 1891 Stewarts had acquired Pitcher's former yard,
north of the Folly Wall (see page 601). This, and the
acquisition of Westbrook's, considerably extended the
company's river frontage and, with the two dry docks on
Pitcher's site, greatly increased its shipbuilding and shiprepairing capacity. In 1912 the PLA bought the premises,
when Stewarts went into liquidation, as part of its
proposals to improve the entrance to the South Dock of
the West India Docks, but a new company, John
Stewart & Sons, operated there as its tenants. (ref. 626) The
works closed in 1924 and the contents were auctioned
early in the following year. (ref. 627) The remaining buildings
were demolished by the end of 1926. (ref. 628)
Ovex Wharf
The southern part of the Blackwall Iron Works site was
occupied from c1910 by the Ovex Fuel Company, which
carried out some repairs and building, but left c1913. (ref. 629)
In 1920 the Ross Smith Steamship Company was using
part of the wharf for storage, although the buildings were
by then 'rather dilapidated'. (ref. 630)
The newly formed Thames Plaster Mills Ltd described as a manufacturer and dealer in plaster of Paris,
cements and 'ceramic ware of all kinds' - took a lease of
the wharf in 1931. (ref. 631) It surrendered the lease in 1938,
however. A new one was then granted to Robert Abraham
Ltd, but damage by enemy bombing in 1940 rendered
the wharf 'unfit for the purposes' for which it had been
let, and the remaining buildings were hit by a V1 flying
bomb later in the war. Abraham's successor was the Rye
Arc Welding Company, a ship-repairing and engineering
firm, which moved on to the site in 1946 and was granted
a new lease in 1947. (ref. 632) It carried out a redevelopment,
erecting some new buildings and reconstructing 181½ ft
of wharf frontage. (ref. 633) The company remained at the wharf
until c1973 (see page 542). (ref. 634)
Storm Water Pumping Station, Stewart Street
The lack of adequate drainage on the Isle of Dogs and
the consequent flooding of houses from the overcharged
sewers prompted the Metropolitan Board of Works to
erect a storm-water pumping station beside the river. A
site on the east side of Stewart Street was purchased in
1886. (ref. 635) The buildings were designed by the MBW
Engineer's department and built by Perry & Company
of Bow, on their contract of £16,100. (ref. 636) J. Watt &
Company of Birmingham provided the engines and
machinery. (ref. 637) As a temporary arrangement, two small
engines were set up in a shed at Cubitt Town, until the
permanent station was completed in 1888, at a cost of
£21,000. (ref. 638)
The engine house was a tall severe Italianate brick
building with a louvred roof, oriented east-west with the
gable-end facing the river. Adjoining this to the south
was a smaller brick boiler house of the same design,
aligned north-south. Both buildings were lit by simple
round-headed windows. From the boiler house a flue led
south to a fluted chimney, 120ft high. A workshop and
store-sheds completed the group (Plate 85c). (ref. 639)
The machinery included a pair of steam-driven pumps
capable of lifting 70 tons of water per minute, but by
1911 they were found to be inadequate. The LCC decided
to enlarge the pumping station, proposing two extra gasdriven centrifugal pumps in a second building adjoining
the station to the south. (ref. 640) The work was begun in 1914,
but the First World War and difficulties with contractors
delayed the completion of the new plant and building,
executed by Mowlem & Company, until 1928. (ref. 641) The
extension has square windows and a steel-truss and
timber roof containing a glass skylight. This simple low
brick building forms the southern half of the present
group.
The extension of the station involved the truncation
and reconstruction of the original engine- and boiler
house, and in the 1930s two further sets of engines and
centrifugal pumps were added in the new pump house. (ref. 642)
By December 1953 the engine house was vacant and
the chimney had gone, with all the work being done by
electric machinery in the extension building. (The boiler
house was used as a coal store.) (ref. 643) The plant was obsolescent by 1969, when the GLC decided to construct a
new pumping station for the Isle of Dogs on an adjoining
site. (ref. 644) The old engine house was demolished in the
1980s.
The GLC's plans did not mature and it was the
LDDC, in association with Thames Water, that commissioned the replacement building, which was erected
in 1987–8 to the designs of John Outram at a cost of
£4 million, including equipment. The main contractors
were Peter Birse and the engineers Sir William Halcrow &
Partners.
The windowless steel-framed building, designed to be
vandal-proof, has the air of a mausoleum and can be
best described as Post-Modern Egyptian Monumental,
featuring columns, capitals, pediment and overhanging
eaves, and having an overall symmetry (Plate 59b). It is
very colourful, with the capitals of the columns picked
out in red, yellow and green and the walls having bands
of striped brickwork of yellow, red and purple. The roof
is of glazed clay pantiles.
The overall effect is of a grand, if somewhat unconventional, structure. But the grand architectural features
are both decorative and functional: the fat half-columns
that rise to the pediment carry the steps and ducts
connected with the gantry that runs the length of the
turbine hall, and the roundel in the pediment is a gently
rotating propeller-like fan which extracts methane gas
from the building. Externally, the building echoes and
develops themes explored by Outram in the refurbishment of the Harp building at Swanley, Kent, completed in 1987. (ref. 645)
The interior is arranged in three bays. The pump
room, a subterranean chamber 30ft deep, occupies the
central bay and houses 14 large water pumps that pump
water to the large surge tank, housed in the western bay
on ground-floor level, which drains into the Thames. An
electricity control room and staff areas on two floors fill
the third bay. Durable materials and bright colours
continue inside the building, with exposed facing brickwork, terrazzo floor tiles and brightly painted steel work.
The station was designed to appear half submerged in
symbolic recognition of both its function as a 'temple to
summer storms' and the machinery hidden beneath it. (ref. 646)
It stands within a gated walled compound which also
contains a smaller transformer building. The new
pumping station attracted a Civic Trust Award in 1989.