CHAPTER XVIII - Old Blackwall
The district around `Blackwall' Stairs was known as 'Blackwall' by at least the fourteenth century, but does not
survive as a distinct area today. It was situated on the
north bank of the Thames between the River Lea to the
east and Coldharbour to the west, in a sheltered loop of
the river, before the Thames turns soutwards past the
eastern side of the Isle of Dogs. Settlement was confined
chiefly to a street, known as Blackwall, which ran parallel
to the river towards Coldharbour and was connected to
Poplar High Street by Blackwall Causeway, the route of
which is today represented by Brunswick Way. To the
east of the Causeway lay Blackwall Yard, which was
the biggest shipbuilding concern on the Thames during
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when it was the
raison d'étre of Blackwall. In character and appearance
Blackwall somewhat resembled Coldharbour (Plates 93a,
c. 942). The area was transformed during the late nineteenth century, when the streets, inns and houses were
swept away, and the original river wall now lies several
hundred feet inland.
The Development of Blackwall
The earliest known reference to the site is in a document
of 1362, in which meadow and pasture were leased at
Godelockhope (Goodluck Hope) and Blackwall. (ref. 1) In 1377
it was called Blakewall. The wall was no doubt an artificial
bank constructed beside the marsh to keep out the riverwater. (ref. 2) In 1593 John Norden stated that Blackwall took
its name from 'the blackeness or darkeness of the bankes
or wall at that place'. (ref. 3)
Until the development of the East India Docks at the
beginning of the nineteenth century, Blackwall lay to the
south-west of open fields known as the East Marsh of
Poplar. There seems to have been little early settlement
in the area, although a community of fishermen lived in
the vicinity in the fourteenth century. This lack of
development was no doubt partly due to its relative
isolation. As far as land communication was concerned it
was a dead end, for its only connection with the rest of
Poplar was along an ancient trackway called Blackwall
Causeway, which in 1725 was 1,122ft long on its west
side and 1,076ft on its east, and 26ft wide. (ref. 4) At the
southern end of the causeway were Blackwall Stairs, a
common way consisting of a slipway and staircase leading
down to the river.
In 1643 there was a complaint that the carts going
along the causeway were damaging it, and the East India
Company ordered a gate and a stile, 3ft high, to be erected
at the northern end. Giles Sheppard was employed as
a porter 'to keep the key of their gate' and no carts could
pass through without a 2d payment. The money was to
be used to repair the causeway. (ref. 5)
At the time of the Armada a proposal was put forward
to construct a barrier across the river at Blackwall to
prevent Spanish ships reaching the capital. This was
presumably a boom of masts, chains and anchors. Robert
Adams's map of the Thames of 1588 shows a barrier and
a star-shaped fort at Blackwall, but there is no evidence
that the fort was built. Similarly, some large piles running
across the river reputedly were discovered in later years,
but there is no certainty that the barrier was constructed. (ref. 6)
A more permanent structure was planned soon afterwards,
for a letter sent to Sir Robert Sydney in 1599 states that
'a bridge is to be made over the Thames at Blackwall'. (ref. 7)
This was an ambitious plan; there was no bridge down-stream of Tower Bridge until the Queen Elizabeth II
Bridge at Dartford was opened in 1991.
It was its advantage as an anchorage that was the spur
to Blackwall's development. The moorings there were
protected by Blackwall Rock, a reef about 300ft long and
150ft wide, which provided shelter for ships anchored
offshore. (fn. a) From the fifteenth century, Blackwall was the
place where travellers wishing to avoid the long journey
around the Isle of Dogs embarked and disembarked, and
it also became a victualling point for outward-bound
vessels. Its importance as an anchorage is indicated by
the fact that in the late seventeenth century it was the
most expensive one on the Thames. In 1684 the cost of
mooring a ship on one of the three river-chains at
Blackwall was 15s per week. (ref. 9)
During the sixteenth century Blackwall was the point
of departure for many of the great voyages of discovery,
including Frobisher's second voyage in search of the
North West Passage. In 1606, the Virginia Settlers in the
ships Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery set sail for
America from Blackwall. A memorial to them was erected
on Brunswick Wharf in 1928 (see page 598).
Another major element in the development of Blackwall was ship-repairing and later shipbuilding. During
the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries repairs
were carried out to both private and royal ships there. In
1485 the Cely family ship, the Margaret Cely, underwent
repairs at Blackwall, and in 1512 the 450-ton Peter
Pomegranate, one of the king's ships, was re-decked and
caulked there. (ref. 10) The materials for repairing vessels of the
Henrician navy overhauled at Blackwall were brought by
barge along the Thames from London. At that date there
were no permanent docks or slips at Blackwall, and so in
1514, 30 labourers and dykers spent four days 'dykynge
and castyng' a dock for the Mary Rose when she came
to Blackwall for repairs. (ref. 11)
Nevertheless, it was not until after 1614, when the
East India Company's principal shipyard was constructed
at Blackwall, that any major building development
occurred in this part of Poplar. Although a few inns had
already been built beside the river near to Blackwall
Stairs, sixteenth-century Blackwall had not developed as
a residential community.
In 1618 William Burrell (the principal shipwright to
the East India Company) purchased the causeway at
Blackwall for £100. (ref. 12) The East India Company wished
to buy the eastern side of the causeway which lay
alongside its yard, and a protracted battle arose over its
ownership. Burrell obviously recognized the potential of
the site for the construction of homes for men working
in the yard, as he stated that he 'bought the rest with
intent to build thereuppon to leave something in certain
for the good of his children'. (ref. 13)
The Elders of Trinity House were consulted regarding
Burrell's proposal to erect dwelling houses for seafaring
men at Blackwall in case the buildings would be 'preiudiciall unto the Ryver'. In fact, they regarded the site
as a 'fitt and convenient place for houses and buildings . . .
in regard to the nearness of the East India workes and
the number of ships there continually ryding'. (ref. 14) Thus,
residential development at Blackwall commenced in
earnest during the 1620s and 1630s, and it continued
throughout the century as both the shipyard and overseas
trade prospered and the demand for labour in the area
increased.
In 1652 the East India Company sold Blackwall Yard,
and the shipwright Henry Johnson became the owner of
the premises. As the century progressed he extended
the original yard northwards and eastwards, altering its
physical appearance as the demands of the business grew
(see page 556). Prosperity and expansion continued until
1718 and the death of the younger Henry Johnson. With
the prosperity of the yard and the provisioning of ships
going to the East Indies, a sizeable community had grown
up at Blackwall by the late seventeenth century. In 1688,
when the inhabitants were ordered to cleanse the common
sewer behind their houses, there were at least 42 residents
there. (ref. 15)
Figure 206:
Old Blackwall and Coldharbour in 1740
A Samuel Hyde's yard and dry dock (formerly Henry Johnson's
upper dock): B John Rolt's former yard and dry docks
Evidence for the houses in seventeenth-century Blackwall is scanty, although an inventory of a prosperous
anchor-smith who died there in 1682 shows that at least
one of them was three storeys high. On the ground floor
was a kitchen (with a cellar), a parlour, a hall, and
possibly a shop. The dining-room, the children's chamber
and the 'best room up' were on the first floor, while there
were at least four rooms on the second floor. (ref. 16)
The decline in the prosperity of the shipyard in the
1720s caused great poverty in Blackwall. Many local
people were without work and some of those engaged in
the shipbuilding trades left to seek employment elsewhere. The area did not expand again until the revival
of the yard's fortunes later in the century and the
construction of the East India Docks at the beginning of
the nineteenth century. A map of 1740 shows the extent
of development, with buildings on both sides of Blackwall
High Street and to the western side of the causeway (fig.
206). (ref. 17)
Another feature for which Blackwall became noted was
the Whitebait Suppers served in the inns there. These
Suppers reputedly were begun at Breach House in Dagenham about 1721, by the commissioners responsible for
repairing the river wall, (ref. 18) but they soon achieved a wider
popularity and were held at Greenwich and Blackwall.
For much of the nineteenth century the Cabinet attended
an annual Whitebait Supper at Greenwich or Blackwall,
and the Suppers became one of the events of the London
'season', patronized by such diverse bodies as the Court
of the East India Company and the Fox Club. (ref. 19) At the
height of its popularity as an eating place, during the
first half of the nineteenth century, Blackwall had at least
nine inns, five of them sited along the riverfront. They
lay next to each other, vying for trade. In 1817 the
riverside inns, westwards from the Stairs, were the King's
Arms, Coach and Horses, Britannia, Plough, Artichoke
and the George. (ref. 20) By 1837 the Royal Eagle Company
was running boats hourly during the summer months
from London to Blackwall, where whitebait was eaten by
'civilized persons, with no little gusto at the "Artichoke"
or "Plough"'. (ref. 21)
In 1844 a major fire destroyed the Britannia Tavern,
and damaged the Plough, the Artichoke, the India House
Tavern, the King's Arms, the George, and two adjoining
houses. This devastation resulted in the rebuilding of
much of the riverside during the next few years, (ref. 22) but
did not check the popularity of the inns as fashionable
eating places. Samuel Lovegrove the younger, the proprietor of the Plough (and of other prominent hostelries
in Blackwall), was described in 1857 as a 'renowned
restaurateur' and the quality of his whitebait was much
praised. (ref. 23) The inns also continued to benefit from the
custom of travellers passing through the area. In 1845
'great quantities of persons' were said to embark and
disembark to and from steam vessels at Blackwall Stairs
Floating Pier. (ref. 24) From the 1860s Greenwich seems to have
been the more popular venue, and the Whitebait Suppers
at Blackwall were discontinued in the 1880s. (ref. 25)
Raleigh's House
Blackwall was the site of an ancient timber-framed house
which became known, some time during the nineteenth
century, as 'Raleigh's House'. It stood directly opposite
the Artichoke Inn. Any association with the sixteenthcentury courtier and explorer is extremely tenuous, as is
the further claim that the same property had been the
residence of Sebastian Cabot. (ref. 26) Raleigh was indeed at
Blackwall on many occasions, while waiting to go aboard
ship or when on naval business. Many letters written by
him are signed from Blackwall, but this is not proof that
he was a permanent resident. (ref. 27)
A photograph of the house taken in 1873 shows it to
have been a jettied timber-framed building infilled with
lath and plaster (Plate 93b). (fn. b) Wooden carvings of grotesque heads decorated the facade. The floor of the house
was, by the late nineteenth century, below street level
and the main entrance was blocked. As early as 1856 it
was suggested that such a quaint house should be preserved and turned into 'a little almshouse or school'. (ref. 29)
This advice was not heeded, and pressures to develop
the area eventually led to the demolition of the building,
which had been carried out by 1881. Its site was bought
by the Metropolitan Board of Works from the London
and North West Railway Company in 1888 for the
construction of the Blackwall Tunnel. (ref. 30)
The Principal Inns
From the 1540s, if not before, a number of inns had
existed at Blackwall to serve the needs of travellers. In
1618, soon after the East India Company came to the
area, Blackwall Yard was threatened with flooding because
of the 'decaye of the wharf by the Taverne' which lay
between the yard and Blackwall Stairs. (ref. 31) In 1625 an inn
known by the 'Signe of the Three Mariners in Blackwall'
was mentioned in a case involving the theft of beef
belonging to the East India Company. (ref. 32) Blackwall had
another inn by the 1630s, when 'the signe of the Armes
of the East India Company' was run by Zachary Gilby. (ref. 33)
The Globe Tavern (named after one of the first ships
to have sailed from Blackwall Yard) was built to the north
of Blackwall Yard some time between 1643 and 1656 and
was described in 1656 as a 'messuage with stables and
hay loft'. (ref. 34) The nine cottages in the tavern yard by the
early eighteenth century had been rebuilt as twelve
cottages by the 1840s, and in 1755 six almshouses were
added there (see below).
In the early 1830s the Globe Tavern was the base
for an extensive horse-omnibus company, owned by
Onesiphorus Randall, who was to become an important
speculative builder in Poplar (see page 207). When he
sold the business in 1835 it included 26 horses, two 'well
built omnibuses' and 'six nearly new flys, for six inside
and outside passengers', as well as Blackwall Flys. (ref. 35) The
whole of the Globe Tavern site was cleared for the
construction of the Midland Railway Company's goods
station in the late 1870s.
Several of the Blackwall hostelries were small public
houses, but they included two inns of somewhat superior
status, the Plough and the Artichoke, both of which
became fashionable eating places during the middle
decades of the eighteenth century and the principal
venues for the Whitebait Suppers in the nineteenth.
The Plough, which first appears in the ratebooks in
1725, was arranged around a yard with a series of
buildings on three sides. As well as stables there were
various parlours and bars, and a tap-room. The inn could
be entered from Blackwall High Street through the yard,
or from the river via a small staircase that passed into
the Plough Yard (fig. 207). (ref. 36) Between 1838 and 1840 the
Plough underwent considerable alterations, and it was
partially rebuilt in the mid-1840s, presumably prompted
by the damage caused by the fire of 1844. (ref. 37) A plan of
1846 'for building an Extra Room over Entrance Hall'
shows a much more sophisticated layout than in 1826.
The stables had already been turned into a public room
and the upper floors on the river side of the inn were
being used as private dining-rooms and a large coffee
room. The five bay windows on the first floor enabled
the clientele to enjoy the fine prospect across the river. (ref. 38)
An elevation drawn at the same time (1846) shows an
Italianate treatment with a tripartite window (the heads
filled with shell decoration), over a Doric portico. The
architect of the Italianate additions was Henry Rose, who
also designed the Licensed Victuallers' Asylum in the
Old Kent Road and their school in Kennington. (ref. 39) The
Plough was closed by 1861 and the building was demolished during the 1880s.
The Artichoke was built c1731. Joseph Woodcock took
a 21-year lease of the building in 1744, at an annual rent
of £15. (ref. 40) In 1754 the landlord, Peter Lord, advertised
the opening of the Long Room as 'a fine place for seeing
the ships launched', and further improvements were
made in 1762. (ref. 41) During the eighteenth century the inn
was the site of a coach office. (ref. 42) In 1861 the Artichoke,
then tenanted by John Roberts, was evidently still a
prosperous place, as nine servants were employed there. (ref. 43)
It was purchased by the Metropolitan Board of Works
from Messrs Charrington & Company in 1888, and the
tenants were ordered to close the building to allow the
construction of the Blackwall Tunnel to commence. (ref. 44) (fn. c)
Figure 207:
The Plough, Old Blackwall. Demolished
a Ground-floor plan in 1826: b Ground-floor plan incorporating the alterations proposed by Henry Rose in 1846
Johnson's Almshouses. Globe Yard
In his will, drawn up in 1683, Sir Henry Johnson, the
owner of Blackwall Yard, directed that within a year of
his death his son, also Sir Henry, should build six
almshouses, at a cost of £300. Each almshouse was to
contain 'two rooms and a chimney'. They were to house
poor and aged ship-carpenters, each of whom was to
receive a weekly allowance of 2s 6d. Henry junior did not
carry out the work, however, but he did allow seven of
the nine cottages in the yard of the Globe Tavern to be
occupied rent free 'in the nature of almshouses'. The
obligation passed to John Kirby and his associates, who
acquired Blackwall Yard in 1724 and were ordered by the
Court of Chancery to erect the almshouses by the end of
that year. (ref. 46) In fact, the six almshouses specified by
Johnson were not erected until 1755, at the eastern end
of the tavern yard, facing westwards, when Blackwall
Yard was owned by Henry Crabb Boulton and Jonathan
Pytts (see fig. 210). (ref. 47) The rebuilding of c1830 mentioned
by Simmonds apparently refers to the earlier cottages in
Globe Yard and not to the almshouses. (ref. 48) The almshouses
were demolished when the Globe Tavern site was cleared
in the late 1870s.
Industrial Sites
The presence of Blackwall Yard stimulated a number of
other maritime-related developments in the area. From
the early seventeenth century to the early nineteenth, the
west side of Blackwall Causeway was occupied by a
ropeground, over 1,200ft long and some 200ft in width.
In 1678, on the death of the ropemaker John Bennett, it
was valued at £40, including the sheds and warehouses. (ref. 49)
Gascoyne's map of 1703 shows a single ropewalk here
(see fig. 1, page 3). In 1728 the ropewalk's dimensions
were given as 1,122ft by 28ft. (ref. 50) By the end of the
eighteenth century a second ropewalk had been added
and a third was built in the early nineteenth century.
Horwood's map of 1813 shows the three ropewalks, but
by then the whole of the ropeground had been handed
over to builders for development (see page 624).
Apart from the activities of Blackwall Yard, ship-building and repair were undertaken at a smaller yard
next to the Plough Inn. This small yard was held from
c1717 until 1730 by the local shipbuilder John Rolt (see
page 602). (ref. 51)
Also depicted on the map of 1703 is a shipyard called
Johnson's Upper Dock. This was a small yard with just
one single dry dock. During the seventeenth century it
was called Coldharbour Dock and Henry Johnson held it
on lease from William Stevens, the East India Company's
shipwright. In 1678 Johnson and his partner William
Christmas applied to the Conservancy Court for permission 'for a wharf incroached into the river of Thames
at Coleharbour nere Blackwall'. (ref. 52) An earlier tenant had
been James Avery, who had undertaken repairs for the
Navy in 1671. (ref. 53) During the eighteenth century the yard
was held by Samuel Hyde and, after 1785, by Richard
Govey. Under the West India Dock Act, Johnson's Upper
Dock, or Govey's Dock as it was now known, became
the Blackwall Entrance to the West India Docks. (ref. 54)
Lying to the east of Blackwall Causeway, beside Blackwall Yard, was a wharf, which is shown on the map of
1703 (where it is numbered 4), and more clearly on a
plan of 1812. During the late eighteenth century the
wharf and accompanying 1½ acres were held as copyhold
of the manor of Stepney by Thomas Newte. His executors
auctioned the premises (called Lower Wharf) c1807. At
that date the estate comprised 'a range of 4 warehouses,
rigging houses, stable, other buildings, excellent crane'
and 'a capital wharf 90 feet frontage to river'. (ref. 55)
A plan of 1834 shows the premises to be largely
unchanged from the time of Thomas Newte. But a change
of ownership had occurred, and the premises were now
in the possession of Messrs J. Ashton & Sons. (ref. 56) Joseph
Capp Ashton, a ship-chandler, remortgaged the premises
for £3,410 in 1835, when it was stated that the warehouses
and buildings had been built by Charles Raymond,
esquire, on the site of the East India Arms. (ref. 57)
The End of Old Blackwall
Charles Booth's researchers visited Blackwall Harbour
in 1887, when they reported that all the houses were
condemned and that it was a wretched place inhabited
by very poor people, except for 'a doubtful character at
the coffee house'. Another man received special mention
as he had the dubious occupation of selling 'opera glasses
on race courses'. (ref. 58)
In 1897 Blackwall Highway was described in the
Municipal Journal as being in a sorry state:
this riverside highway has fallen upon decadent days. The
shops are small, and many of them tenantless; and little is left
to suggest the sea. One or two general dealers still pose as
ships' outfitters, and one or two shops remain as marine stores:
but all in vain do they strive to preserve the old traditions. (ref. 59)
Much of old Blackwall was cleared for the construction
of the Blackwall Tunnel, and the original river wall was
extended several hundred feet into the river, creating a
new riverfront by 1893. (ref. 60)