Sheds
North Quay Sheds, Import Dock.
Early plans for the
West India Docks omitted quay sheds because Customs
and Excise considered them a security risk. However, as
the opening of the docks approached in 1802, the dock
company turned its attention to the practicalities of
receiving goods. As the absence of cover between ship
and warehouse for unloading and sorting was seen to be
unsatisfactory, the Gwilts were asked to report on quay
sheds, and Ralph Walker submitted a model for a 'weighing shed'. (ref. 578) William Jessop intervened and gained
approval for his design for an open shed to run the full
length of the north quay. William Adam and Daniel and
Alexander Robertson built this timber structure in early
1803, although the roof was not slated until 1804. The
north quay shed was 2,640ft long, 20ft wide and 12ft
high to its eaves, with gabled crane-shelters projecting
on to the quay at regular intervals. (ref. 579) Similar sheds were
erected on the Import Dock west quay in 1805 and on
the east quay in 1811. (ref. 580)
The north quay shed's timber posts decayed rapidly,
and John Rennie urged their entire replacement. In 1817
he put up a short section of cast-iron-columned shedding
'to shew the effect' and proposed two alternatives for a
replacement shed: he suggested either a shed 60ft wide
across the whole quay, or one 34ft wide. In the event a
26ft-wide shed was built in 1818 by Thomas Johnson &
Son, with the Butterley Company supplying cast-iron
columns and caps. The cost was approximately
£18,000. (ref. 581) The east and west quay sheds were similarly
rebuilt in 1819–21. (ref. 582)
These sheds had hollow-cylindrical columns with
diameters of 7in. at the base and 5½ in. at the top
(Plates 49b, 50c; fig. 106). The columns were 10ft tall
and placed at 12ft centres with four-way arched braces
to the timber plates and tie-beams. The queen-post
roof trusses were anchored over the columns, though
the roof extended well beyond them. There were open
sides, with flaps for protection against the weather,
and adjustable screens near the roof to keep direct
sunlight off the goods. (ref. 583)
Figure 106:
North Quay Shed, West India Import Dock, north-south section. John Rennie, architect, 1818. Demolished
The conversion of No. 5 Warehouse in 1895 was
accompanied by a rebuilding of a section of the quay
shed 338ft long. An open double-floor staging was built
by William Whitford & Company, of the Royal Iron
Works, Westferry Road, to plans by H. F. Donaldson
(Plate 51a). This structure was 27ft wide and 25ft high,
with an iron frame of girders and large-diameter hollow
cylindrical columns at 12ft centres, a timber floor and a
galvanized-iron flat roof. It was equipped with electric
conveyors and, to further reduce handling, cranes
deposited frozen meat on to the top floor for chute
delivery into the cold store. (ref. 584) Both this and the remainder
of the 1818 shed were demolished in 1912–15, but the
1819–21 east and west quay sheds survived until the
Blitz. (ref. 585)
As dock business shifted from warehousing to transit
handling in the late nineteenth century, two-storey sheds
came to be seen as the best sort of quay accommodation.
Such sheds provided cover for rapidly discharged merchandise at ground level, with space for sorting above.
At the turn of the century shipowners complained that
there were too few such sheds in London. (ref. 586) The PLA's
programme of improvements of 1911 included transit
sheds of this type for the north quay of the Import Dock,
to stand on a widened quay. Initially, Frederick Palmer
proposed five sheds, each of which was to be 440ft by
50ft, but that was revised to three sheds, each 800ft by
65ft, with an estimated cost of £87,400. A. Jackaman &
Son, of Slough, began building them in 1912 (Plate
49c). (ref. 587) C and D Sheds, along the west and centre sections
of the north quay, were ready for use in early 1915, but
completion of E Shed to the east was delayed by wartime
legislation and the withdrawal of labour. In 1916 the
Admiralty certified that completion of E Shed was
'necessary for the successful prosecution of the war', and
it was ready in January 1917. (ref. 588) (fn. 1)
Figure 107:
C (later 34) Shed, North Quay, West India Import Dock, ground-floor plan, and section looking west showing the extent
of the false quay and the linking bridge to the North Quay warehouses. (Sir) Frederick Palmer, engineer, 1912–15. Demolished
These double-storey transit sheds were examples of a
building type that had been in use elsewhere for several
decades and were not in themselves innovative. However,
they were part of the first concerted large-scale application
of reinforced-concrete to building in London's docks.
The new material gave strength and reliable fireproofing.
The Hennebique system was used, the contractors paying
Mouchel & Partners 4 per cent for use of the patent.
Mild steel was used for reinforcement and all arrises in
exposed positions were chamfered. Each shed was 65ft
wide, while C and E Sheds were 720ft long and D Shed
was 826ft long; each was divided into three by firewalls
(fig. 107). Clearances were 13ft on the ground floor and
10ft on the first floor. The upper storeys had clear floors,
served by continuous quayside balconies. In contrast to
the functional and 'honestly' articulated long elevations,
with brick panels in exposed concrete framing, the end
elevations were treated as architectural, if stylistically
unsettled, red-brick 'screen' facades (Plate 54c). The
internal spiral staircases were in free-standing shuttered
concrete cylinders; they were accessible at ground level
only from outside the shed, for security and fireproofing.
The roofs had continuous north lights on steel framing.
There were 20-cwt electric wall cranes, supplied by the
Chatteris Engineering Works Company, west of each
staircase on the north side, and first-floor steel bridges
to the north quay warehouses, one to each division. In
1914 C. R. S. Kirkpatrick altered the plans to include
straight staircases from the quay, chambers between the
firewall doors, and 'Kinnear' continuous roller-shutter
doors for D Shed's ground-floor openings, later replaced
with horizontal sliding doors. (ref. 590)
Figure 108:
New Billingsgate Market, West India Docks, ground-floor plan. Newman Levinson & Partners, architects, 1980–2
Bomb damage to the north quay sheds was repaired
in 1948 by Higgs & Hill, particularly at the east end of
D Shed and the west end of E Shed. (ref. 591) Redesignated
Sheds 34, 35 and 36 in 1970, they were closed in
1971. (ref. 592)
Shed 36 (E Shed) was converted as Billingsgate Market
in 1980–2. In 1976 the London Fishmerchants' Association selected the Import Dock north quay as a possible
site for the relocation of Billingsgate Fish Market, its
desire to move being prompted by changing distribution
patterns and the inconveniences of the market in the
City. The PLA agreed to lease Shed 36 for the market,
and preliminary plans were prepared in 1977. (ref. 593) Funding
was then lacking, however. The City Corporation
accepted the need for the move, but sought an interest in
the new market. In 1979 the Docklands Joint Committee
arranged that the Department of the Environment,
through Urban Aid Grant, would fund £3.6 million or
50 per cent of the project, with Tower Hamlets Borough
Council and the City Corporation providing £1.2 million
and £2.4 million respectively. The Borough Council took
a 999-year lease of a 13½-acre site from the PLA for a
premium of £663,375, and sub-let it to the City for a
nominal rent. (ref. 594) The City built the market, despite escalating costs and other financing difficulties. Work began
in June 1980, to the plans of Newman Levinson &
Partners. The contractors were Fairclough Building, and
the structural engineers Peter H. Hill & Partners. The
new Billingsgate Market opened on 19 January 1982.
The project cost £11 million. (ref. 595)
The fish merchants were keen to recive the atmosphere
of the old market. The waterside site was important in
this respect, as was the decision to convert rather than
replace the existing shed. The frame, floors and end walls
of Shed 36 were retained (fig. 108). The north extension
is structurally separate under a tubular-steel space-frame
roof suspended from 19m-tall masts, clad in yellow and
cantilevered over handling areas. The roof allows large
clear floors for the market hall, traders' shops and cold
stores. Red-brick facing unifies the elevations, with
round-headed openings towards the dock. Dolphin ornaments and weathervanes, together with a replica clock
and the bell from the old market, are incorporated as
tokens of the market's function and history. Billingsgate
Market was one of the first successes in the regeneration
of the Isle of Dogs. Within a decade, however, it had
come to seem an awkward consort for the surrounding
developments.
Shed 35 was also re-used; its ground floor was converted as the 'Quayside Industrial Estate' in 1978–9. This
was a PLA project, developed with Tower Hamlets
Borough Council, which provided £320,000 through
government grants for Docklands development. The
small industrial units that were created were partly an
attempt to alleviate local unemployment. (ref. 596) Shed 35 survived as a reminder of this early attempt at Docklands
regeneration until it was demolished in 1989. Plans for
redeveloping Shed 34 as part of a complex with Nos 1
and 2 Warehouses were considered from 1979 (see page
289). It was acquired by Port East Developments in 1988
and demolished in 1989.
Rum Quay Shed.
The Rum Quay Shed was erected in
1813 on the south side of the Import Dock as part of a
campaign of improvements to the arrangements for handling rum. Designed to allow gauging to be done under
cover, it was an open-sided structure and a tour de force
of early cast-iron construction. Baron Charles Dupin,
who found much to admire at the West India Docks,
singled out the Rum Quay Shed, the design of which he
attributed to John Rennie, as 'le plus remarquable de
tous par sa structure'. (ref. 597) The iron, and perhaps also the
designs, for the shed were supplied by the Butterley
Company, through William Jessop, junior. William
Pillgrem supervised the erection of the shed, which cost
approximately £13,000. (ref. 598)
The Rum Quay Shed was 1,330ft long and 30ft wide
between columns placed at 15ft centres (Plate 48d; fig.
109). The columns were of hollow-circular section, with
diameters of 7½in. at the base and 5¾ in. at the head.
Each half roof truss was a single casting, bolted at the
'king post'. There were four-way arched braces and
wrought-iron tie rods just below the tie-beams. The ridgeplates and purlins were bellied to strengthen support for
the slate roof. The longitudinal members had a deliberately loose fit, anticipating the expansion and contraction of the iron. (ref. 599)
A similarly constructed lean-to roof was added in 1814
to cover the gap between the Rum Quay Shed and the
Rum Warehouses, but the main roof was showing signs
of failure. (ref. 600) There must have been some unease and
mistrust of the new materials after the collapse of the
Rum Field Shed roof in 1813 (see page 294). Rennie
altered the purlins and ridge-plates, introducing timber
spacers to permit greater movement, and tried patent
zinc roofing in place of the heavy Duchess slates, evidently
without success. (ref. 601) Despite these early problems, the Rum
Quay Shed stood.
The eastern part of the building was dismantled in
1936–7 in anticipation of the redevelopment of the site.
The remainder was taken down in 1939–40, just before
the Blitz. (ref. 602)
Mahogany Sheds.
In the first years of the docks, West
Indian mahogany was stacked on open ground at both
ends of the south quay of the Import Dock, areas that
became known as the East and West Wood Wharves.
Covered accommodation for wood was less a priority
than shelter for sugar and rum, and so it was 1806–7
before a mahogany shed was built, on the east part of
the East Wood Wharf. It was designed by Thomas Morris
and was erected by Howkins & Company for £3,509.
The shed was a twin-span timber building, just under
300ft long, with part-boarded sides. (ref. 603) To meet demand
for further mahogany shedding the east quay 'Prize Shed'
was divided and re-erected at the inner ends of both
wood wharves, to the east in 1810, and to the west in
1811 (see page 293). The work included brick walls to
separate the wood wharves from the Rum Quay. (ref. 604) In 1818
cast-iron columns supplied by the Horseley Company
replaced timber posts under the valleys of these sheds. (ref. 605)
Figure 109:
Rum Quay Shed, West India Import Dock, section looking east, also showing the lean-to roof added in 1814 to cover thegap between the shed and the warehouses. John Rennie, architect, 1813–14. Demolished
Figure 110:
Mahogany Shed (later Nos 3 and 4 Sheds), East Wood Wharf, South Quay, West India Import Dock, plan, section lookingwest (A-B), part section showing overhead hoist (C-D), and part section looking north showing the roof truss (E-F). John Rennie,architect, 1817–18. Demolished
A mahogany shed of a new and highly considered
design was erected on the East Wood Wharf in 1817-18.
John Rennie devised 'machine sheds' with rails in the
roof for hand-operated rack-and-pinion motion trucks
with crabs, perhaps the first use of overhead travelling
cranes. These lifted mahogany logs, which weighed as
much as five tons each, from the wharf to stacks within
the shed. The estimated cost of the building was £9,000,
or £2,000 more than a shed with conventional tackle, but
its actual cost was £12,468. The contractors included
J. & W. Broomfield (brickwork), Thomas Johnson & Son
(carpentry), the Horseley Company (cast-iron columns),
and Bryan Donkin & Company, who were paid £1,450
for the six-ton truck-cranes, the costs of which were
covered by the reduced labour costs within six months. (ref. 606)
The shed was conceived as a frame for machinery,
with a simple though highly functional design (fig. 110).
There were brick walls with large arched openings on
to the quay and wharf; the south side was the perimeter
wall. The roof was 174ft 6in. long and had twin 54ft
spans. The construction of the trusses was robust, to take
the great weight of suspended mahogany logs. The roof
at the valley was supported by large hollow-circularsection cast-iron columns at 9ft 3in. centres, 20ft 6in. tall
with diameters narrowing from 1ft 9in. to 1ft 3in. from
base to head. Long 'dormers' housed the cogged iron
rails and mechanical trucks, with gangways for their
operation. (ref. 607)
The West Wood Wharf was developed in the 1820s.
A similar 'machine shed', with 60ft–span roofs, was built
next to the former 'Prize Shed' in 1821–2. (ref. 608) A zincroofed quay shed was added in 1826-7, and another
mahogany shed was formed in 1827 by the re-use of
copper-covered queen-post trussed roofs from Nos 1 and
9 Warehouses on the north quay. This shed did not have
travelling cranes. (ref. 609)
All this shedding was insufficient to keep up with the
growth of the timber trade. The East Wood Wharf
accommodation was extended further in 1828–9 with the
erection of another 'machine shed' for mahogany, so that
the eastern former 'Prize Shed', which lacked overhead
cranes, could be used for softwood. The new shed was
built by John Locke for £ 9,800, with cast-iron columns,
again supplied by the Horseley Company. It had roof
spans of 60ft and Donkin-type cranage. (ref. 610) Thus, all but
the far west end of the south quay of the Import Dock
had been covered.
Further increases in hardwood imports led to the
erection of another East Wood Wharf mahogany shed in
1845–6. This was on the site of part of the 1806–7 shed,
demolished c1840, and was built by John Knight & Son,
to plans by J. S. Adams and H. Martin, for an estimated
£ 2,680. It followed the earlier sheds in form, but was
entirely timber-built. There were 60ft-span queen-post
trusses and unsuccessful variants of the Donkin cranes. (ref. 611)
London's burgeoning demand for mahogany kept the
wood sheds and piling grounds at the West India Docks
busy. The dock company could not sell by sample at its
City office, and so buyers frequented the wood wharves
to inspect the timber. The trade was therefore closely
interested in improvements at the wharves. Timber merchants and dock officers repeatedly urged the building of
more shedding. By the early 1870s the problem was
acute, with wood piled indiscriminately on the wharves.
In 1873–4 a shed was erected at the east end of the East
Wood Wharf by George Munday, to plans by Augustus
Manning, at an estimated cost of £ 5,000. (ref. 612) This was
another entirely timber twin-roofed shed, but with a
significant departure from Rennie's prototype. The tiebeams were raised to a height of 30ft, to allow gantry
cranes to run below them on rails attached to the posts.
These longitudinal travelling cranes had crabs that could
move laterally and were thus much more flexible than
the earlier transverse cranes, the convenience of which
diminished with every eastwards extension of the sheds.
The 60ft-span trusses had wrought-iron king-bolts. The
upper parts of the sides of the building were boarded;
the lower parts were open. (ref. 613) With this addition, there
were five twin-roofed mahogany sheds stretching almost
600ft across the East Wood Wharf. They were numbered
from west to east as Nos 1-10 Sheds, each roof constituting a shed (plan B).
More changes were made in 1874–5 in an extensive
remodelling that was intended to maintain the dock
company's monopoly of the storage of mahogany imports
and to reduce its dependence on manual labour. They
included the conversion of the deal piling ground at the
east end of the Export Dock to covered accommodation
for mahogany by the building of Nos 14 and 15 Sheds,
comparable in form to Nos 9 and 10 Sheds. Teak was
transferred from the east to the west side of the Junction
Dock, to be handled by six timber-framed open gantries
with travelling cranes. Merritt & Ashby, builders for this
work, also extended Nos 5-10 Sheds to the south, and
the East Wood Wharf was re-equipped with steam quay
cranes, trucks, hydraulic capstans, railways, turntables
and weighbridges. The older sheds were refitted with
6-ton travelling steam cranes, some of which were supplied
by Appleby Brothers of East Greenwich. (ref. 614)
Still more mahogany sheds were needed: 8,200 mahogany logs were imported through the West India Docks
in 1876, compared with only 700 in 1869. (ref. 615) In 1876
£ 10,000 was spent on an additional shed on the East
Wood Wharf (No. 11) and two more sheds on the east
quay of the Export Dock (Nos 12 and 13). These too
were built by Merritt & Ashby and were similar in form
to the others of the 1870s. (ref. 616) The final stage of the
redevelopment, in 1877, was the roofing over for mahogany of three of the teak gantries to make Nos 16, 17 and
18 Sheds. The work was carried out by Merritt & Ashby
for an estimated £7,160. (ref. 617) The teak business moved back
to the east side of the Junction Dock. The 1870s East
Wood Wharf improvements were applauded by the timber
trade, and the West India Docks were credited with
having the most efficiently managed wood business in
the Port. (ref. 618)
To retain the monopoly on the warehousing of London's furniture hardwood, the shedding had to be
improved again in 1891. Nos 1–4 Sheds were extended
to the south, and the three remaining open gantries on
the west side of the Junction Dock were roofed over to
form Nos 19–21 Sheds, all for £8,000, including travelling
cranes. A Mr Maddison built these sheds to the 1870s
type. (ref. 619) No. 22 Shed was added at the south-west corner
of the Junction Dock in 1893–4 for £1,500. It was timberbuilt, with a 70ft-span Belfast-truss roof covered with
galvanized corrugated iron. (ref. 620)
In 1916 a fire destroyed Nos 3–6 Sheds, the first
'machine shed' of 1817–18 and its neighbour of 1828–9.
They were not rebuilt, because the PLA intended to
carry out a general redevelopment of the East Wood
Wharf. (ref. 621) Nos 1 and 2 Sheds (the former 'Prize Shed')
were demolished and No. 6 Shed was reinstated, with a
steel frame and corrugated-iron roof, by Charles Brand &
Son in 1926–8 as part of the contract which included the
formation of the Bellmouth Passage through the East
Wood Wharf. (ref. 622) The losses were made up in 1929–30
with four new hardwood sheds north and south of those
at the east end of the Export Dock, built by A. Jackaman &
Son to plans prepared by Frederick Palmer. These sheds,
designated Nos 12A, 15A, 15B and 16A Sheds, were steelframed and iron-clad with 60ft-span roofs. Associated
improvements included electric gantry and quay cranes,
hydraulic capstans and railway turntables. (ref. 623) The West
Wood Wharf sheds were demolished in 1936. A steelframed shed (previously at No. 35 Berth, Royal Albert
Dock) was re-erected in 1937 near the north-east corner
of the South Dock as No. 15c Shed. (ref. 624)
Bombing in the Second World War damaged many of
the mahogany sheds. The more recent steel and iron
sheds (Nos 6, 12A, 15A-C, 16A) survived. The other
sheds were cleared in 1948–50, excepting Nos 12 and 16
Sheds, which were repaired, only to be demolished in
1961. (ref. 625) Various redevelopment proposals were considered
from 1954 until 1966, when the East Wood Wharf closed
and the West India Dock timber trade moved to the
Surrey Docks. (ref. 626) No significant redevelopment was
carried out, except around Nos 15A-C Sheds (see page
308). Nos 6, 12A and 16A Sheds were cleared in the early
1980s.
Cut-Wood Sheds.
Much of the timber imported to the
West India Docks was stored in the open throughout the
nineteenth century. From the late 1820s, softwood was
floated, particularly in the South Dock Timber Pond,
and piling grounds were formed around the South Dock
and Junction Dock, with a Dye Wood Yard west of the
Export Dock.
There was no large-scale cover for softwood until 1857,
when a single open-sided cut-wood shed was built. Henry
Martin prepared the plans, with an estimate of £1,457,
and it was built by Hack & Son at the east end of the
north bank of the South Dock. It was 150ft long, with
two 45ft-span timber queen-post roofs on 19ft-tall castiron columns. (ref. 627) It was displaced by teak sheds and in
1902 divided so that most of it could be re-erected as a
single-span structure, 260ft long, on the north side of
the Blackwall Basin, a piling ground since 1853. (ref. 628) There
designated No. 10A Shed, it was clad with corrugated
iron in 1919–20 to provide storage for wool. It was
demolished in 1949, following wartime bomb damage. (ref. 629)
The softwood trade virtually disappeared from the
West India Docks when the South Dock was rebuilt in
1866–70, but it was sufficiently re-established by 1890 to
produce complaints from wood brokers regarding the
inadequate cover for cut wood. (ref. 630) These led to the erection
of felt-roofed timber shedding (later N and O Sheds) in
the Dye Wood Yard as an extension of a small shed of
1845. These buildings were cleared in 1928. (ref. 631)
In 1901–2 two large two-storey cut-wood sheds (R and
S Sheds) were built in the Dye Wood Yard, with the
intention of ending the unsatisfactory practice of storing
cut wood in the North Quay Warehouses. (ref. 632) The sheds
were built to plans prepared under C. E. Vernon and
cost £6,389. They were placed close to the south quay
of the Limehouse Basin, available as wharfage following
the closure of the Limehouse entrance lock in 1894.
Steel-framing was preferred to timber, despite its cost,
because it allowed fewer columns. Peirson & Company
supplied I-section girders and columns manufactured in
Germany. The sheds, erected by direct labour, were
open-sided, with twin 40ft-span timber Belfast-truss roofs
supplied by D. Anderson & Son of Belfast and Bow
(Plate 50a). (ref. 633) R and S Sheds were destroyed by fire in
1903. They had 'exactly suited' the requirements of the
trade, and so they were rebuilt in 1904 to the same design,
but with corrugated-iron, rather than felt, roofing. (ref. 634)
R Shed was originally 324ft long, but was shortened in
1928, and both sheds were damaged by bombing in 1941.
The smaller S Shed was cleared in 1951. (ref. 635) R Shed
was repaired, clad and converted by John Mowlem &
Company in 1954, at a cost of £29,385, to be the PLA's
Divisional Engineers' Store, housing spare parts for a
nearby vehicle repair depot, with electricians', joiners'
and riggers' workshops. (ref. 636) The building was demolished
in the early 1980s.
Teak Sheds.
Until the 1890s, teak was stored in the
open on a piling ground east of the Junction Dock.
Increasing demand, in part due to the government's
shipbuilding requirements, caused the stacks to grow large
and difficult to manage. The timber trade's persistent
demands for cover and improved cranage for teak were
heeded in 1892, when a programme for development of
the teak field was agreed. (ref. 637) This was carried out gradually, under H. F. Donaldson, by the erection of large
timber-framed open-sided sheds with corrugated-ironclad Belfast-truss roofs and electric overhead travelling
cranes on separately framed internal gantries (Plate 50b).
The first phase was carried out in 1893 at a cost of
£9,913 and comprised railways, turntables and three
cranes with a shed over the north gantry, sited south of
the Saltpetre Warehouse and west of the West India
Dock Graving Dock. (ref. 638) The choice of electric cranes, the
first use of electric motive power for dock machinery in
London, followed discussions at the Victor Engineering
Works at Holloway. (ref. 639) Electricity was experimentally
applied to existing cranes at the East Wood Wharf before
Donaldson ordered three 60ft-wide steel-framed 6-ton
electric travelling cranes from John Grice Statter, of
Westminster, and Stothert & Pitt, of Bath, for £1,228. (ref. 640)
Nos 2 and 3 Sheds, slightly taller and wider, were built
in 1894–5 for £5,350, incorporating the 1893 gantries. (ref. 641)
The pressure for more shedding was maintained as teak
imports boomed, increasing from 7,445 loads in 1892 to
24,751 loads in 1896. (ref. 642) The teak field development
proceeded from north to south, and each shed was longer
than its predecessor, to make the most of the irregular
site. No. 4 Shed was built for £3,784 in 1896, and
was equipped with two wooden-framed 6-ton electric
travelling cranes supplied by Wimshurst, Hollick &
Company, of Regent's Canal Dock. (ref. 643) The steel-framed
cranes had proved too noisy. No. 5 Shed, built in 1897–8
at a cost of £4,669, was the longest of the sheds,
extending right up to Preston's Road. (ref. 644) All the teak
sheds were extended westwards up to the Junction Dock
in 1898–9. (ref. 645) Further representations from the timber
trade led to the building of No. 6 Shed in 1901–2 for
£6,217. It too was equipped with a crane from Wimshurst,
Hollick & Company. (ref. 646)
The teak sheds were simple and inexpensive structures,
but were distinctive for having amongst the widest (100ft)
and longest (up to 700ft) examples then extant of Belfasttruss roofs. This type of roof was pioneered in the late
1860s and 1870s by two Belfast felt manufacturers,
McTear & Company and D. Anderson & Son, for store
sheds, manufacturing workshops and shipyards. Used in
England by the 1880s, the roof is a strong but light and
inexpensive means of spanning large spaces. The roofs
were made up with timber trusses constructed on the
bowstring principle, with latticed laths sandwiched
between doubled tie-beams and segmentally arched top
chords. The trusses could be assembled off-site, and the
curved roofs were generally covered with tarred felting
on light curved boards. The use of corrugated iron at the
West India Docks suggests a concern about fire. (ref. 647)
No. 7 Teak Shed was built by Charles Brand & Son
in 1926. It was timber-framed, 350ft long, with a 68ftspan Belfast-truss roof and an electric travelling crane
supplied by Carrick & Ritchie. The lattices were not
parallel, as in the earlier teak sheds, but radiating, as in
R and S Sheds. (ref. 648) The teak sheds were badly damaged
by bombing, and were all cleared in the 1940s. (ref. 649)
Hardboard and Bulk Wine Sheds.
Clearance of the
teak sheds left a large area with quay space at the Junction
Dock open to redevelopment. Increasing tonnages of
hardboard and linerboard were arriving in the Port with
nowhere but open ground for storage, and so in 1956 the
PLA sanctioned the erection of a hardboard and linerboard shed on part of the former teak field. PLA
engineers designed a conventionally steel-framed
'umbrella'-roofed shed, but the plans were altered following the receipt of tenders. Tubewrights Limited, of
Kirkby, Liverpool, proposed building the frame in tubular
steel with a 'tied-arch' roof, considerably reducing, costs,
particularly in the foundations. Their design was adopted
and amended by the PLA, and the building, designated
No. 5 Shed, was erected in 1957–8 for £58,818 (fig.
95). (ref. 650)
No. 5 Shed is 300ft by 125ft and was built with an
entirely open floor for the free movement of mobile cranes,
the jib height of which dictated its clearance of 31ft 6in.
(Plate 55d). It was clad in aluminium alloy sheeting, with
asbestos-cement roof sheeting. Alphamin Limited supplied aluminium doors, 22ft 3in. by 10ft, to slide between
the frame and the sheeting, to minimize damage. The north
wall is of brick with reinforced-concrete columns and was
built to be a firewall to a second shed. (ref. 651) No. 5 Shed was
soon full, and in 1961 No. 4 Shed was built on its north
side along similar lines. (ref. 652)
No. 5 Shed was a significant step in the development
of shed construction in the Port of London. Tubularsteel stagings for storing plywood had come into use in
the Port in 1938, and in 1944 the PLA erected an
'experimental tubular scaffolding framed' hut. (ref. 653) After
the Second World War, wide-span, clear-floor, highclearance sheds were needed for mechanized handling.
These tended to be more expensive than less convenient
accommodation. At first tubular steel was more costly
than conventional steel, but improved welding and fabrication techniques allowed Tubewrights Limited to
supply the lightweight wide-span frame of No. 5 Shed
at a competitive price. Between 1956 and 1969 a number
of latticed tubular-steel space-frame sheds were built in
the Port, particularly at the Millwall Docks. (ref. 654)
From 1975 until 1991 Nos 4 and 5 Sheds were part
of a bulk wine facility. The PLA had established a
successful bulk wine berth at the London Dock in 1958–9,
the first such public facility in Britain, but this closed to
water-borne traffic in 1967. (ref. 655) The demand for bulk
storage for cheaper wines was increasing because of
rapid growth in wines consumption, and so a bulk wine
installation was formed on what had become a part of
the former East Wood Wharf, at the south-east corner of
the Export Dock. Despite general retrenchment in the
Port, the first part of the scheme was carried out in
1968–9 for £112,000. A former mahogany shed (No. 15B)
was strengthened and clad, and Whessoe Limited, of
Crook, County Durham, supplied 34 fibreglass storage
tanks to hold 380, 600 gallons, some 20ft high and 13ft
in diameter, others 10ft high and 10ft in diameter.
Previously, such tanks had generally been glass-lined
concrete of German manufacture. The second stage, in
1969–70, involved the demolition of No. 15c Shed and
the construction of two sheds south-west of the first to
house another 615,000 gallons at a cost of £305,000.
Fairmile-Lilleshall Limited, of Oakengates in Shropshire,
built the sheds, which were 106ft by 81 ft 6in. and 37ft
4in. high at the eaves, with steel I-beam portal frames
clad in corrugated-asbestos sheeting with 25ft-high doors.
Prodorite (formerly Whessoe) Limited, of Wednesbury,
Staffordshire, supplied 96 tanks. These sheds gave the
West India Docks the largest fibreglass-tank wine storage
installation in the country. (ref. 656)
The success of the Bulk Wine Installation, and
booming wine imports, led to further expansion in 1974–5,
when No. 5 Shed was converted to house one million
gallons of wine at a cost of £455,000 (Plate 55c). Peter
Fraenkel & Partners were design consultants, and the
building contract was awarded to John Mowlem &
Company. Concrete plinths were built for the wine tanks,
and underground supply pipes were laid from a concrete
box terminal on the north quay of the South Dock.
Prodorite Limited supplied 80 large and 50 small fibreglass tanks. (ref. 657)
Despite the possible closure of the docks, the PLA
remained committed to continuing operations at the Bulk
Wine Installation. In 1979 Teltscher Brothers, importers
of Yugoslavian and other wines, agreed to lease No. 4
Shed to set up a bottling and distribution centre for the
wine in No. 5 Shed. This became part of a larger plan
to move all the firm's operations to the West India Docks.
The PLA granted the company a long-lease option on
the site of the Junction Dock, so that once the bottling
centre was established they could build offices and warehousing. The first of two bottling lines and some stainlesssteel tanks were operational in No. 4 Shed by the end of
1980. (ref. 658) The Junction Dock was filled in by the PLA
and, in 1982–3, Teltscher Brothers built offices and a
warehouse on what had become an Enterprise Zone
site. The architects were Building Design Systems, with
Construction Management as consultants. R. M. Douglas
(Construction) were the main building contractors. The
cost of the development was about £3,500,000. Lutomer
House, the two-storey office building, has red-brick facing
and first-floor semi-circular windows, and looks out over
the Blackwall Basin. The architecture was devised as a
suitable 'dock' style after negotiations with the LDDC.
It is comparable to that of the quayside elevation of the
slightly earlier Billingsgate Market. The warehouse was
the last bonded warehouse in London's up-river docks. (ref. 659)
The PLA closed its operations at the Bulk Wine
Installation in 1983, and the sheds erected in 1968–70
were demolished in 1984. Commercial ship access to the
docks ceased, but Teltscher Brothers continued to use
Nos 4 and 5 Sheds, through road deliveries and short
leases of the latter building, until the site was vacated in
1991. (ref. 660)
Export Dock Sheds.
The quays of the Export Dock
were first developed with simple 200ft-long open timber
sheds for ships' stores, two of which were enclosed for
more valuable goods. In 1806 four sheds designed by
Thomas Morris were built on the north quay by
Howkins & Company, and three more were built there
in 1809, with another erected on the south quay (Plate
51b). (ref. 661) A brick shed was built on the south quay in
1817, and another shed was erected there in 1821–2. (ref. 662)
A long shed for the inspection of herrings was built
inside the western half of the Export Dock south quay
boundary wall in 1822–3 to John Rennie's designs. The
contractor was Thomas Johnson & Son. The Herring
Shed had a lean-to roof on cast-iron columns of the type
that survives at Cannon Workshops (see page 321). (ref. 663)
From about 1835 the dock company, through financial
exigence, rented out the Export Dock sheds as private
stores for shipping and other firms, a practice that became
general. (ref. 664) Another export shed was built on the south
quay in 1860, and four more brick export sheds, and
timber extensions to others, were built in 1874–6, so that
the western two-thirds of the south quay had continuous
cover. (ref. 665)
By 1900 the ramshackle and miscellaneous collection
of single-storey sheds around the Export Dock had
become an obvious target for redevelopment. New Export
Dock sheds were part of Frederick Palmer's improvement
programme of 1911. The north quay was redeveloped in
1912–14 with two sheds built by A. Jackaman & Son for
an estimated £23,650. Designated A and B Sheds, these
were simple buildings, 744ft by 45ft, with steel frames
clad in galvanized corrugated-iron sheeting, the cheapest
appropriate material available, and external sliding doors
(Plates 45a, 54d). (ref. 666) The south quay sheds were replaced
in 1915 by buildings also serving the north quay of the
South Dock (see below).
In 1934 A Shed was adapted to receive bananas from
Jamaica. The work involved an internal railway line and
conveying machinery. (ref. 667) Additional accommodation for
the Jamaica fruit trade was provided in 1938–9 by the
extension of B Shed 300ft to the east. Both programmes
were carried out by John Mowlem & Company. (ref. 668)
B Shed received a direct hit in an air raid in 1940.
The damaged central section was cleared in 1948, and
the building became two sheds, 456ft and 468ft long.
The banana trade, suspended from 1940 to 1946, left A
Shed in 1949. (ref. 669) A and B Sheds were again used for
export traffic and, in 1965–6, were adapted, with larger
door-openings and a canopy linking the sections of B
Shed, to facilitate mechanized handling. (ref. 670) They were
demolished in the early 1980s.
South Dock Sheds.
When the West India Dock
Company acquired the City Canal in 1829, an assortment
of sheds and other buildings on its banks were pulled
down (see page 277). The north bank of the South Dock
was made a timber piling ground, with a few small sheds
retained to give cover for deals and bonded goods. (ref. 671) As
the dock company's finances worsened in the 1830s, it
re-let premises on the banks of the South Dock. The
largest such area was a deep plot on the north bank, with
a frontage of 150ft and a jetty, that was leased to the
Anti Dry-Rot Company in 1836. (ref. 672) The company erected
tanks in which timber was treated by the patent Kyan
process, one of several rival methods of preserving timber
for building and shipping. (ref. 673) The company left the premises in 1843, and the dock company reinstated the site as
a timber piling ground. (ref. 674)
The introduction of the guano trade to the docks in
1849 caused substantial development of the open banks
of the South Dock. In 1850 two timber sheds for guano,
each about 500ft by 100ft, were built by G. J. Watts on
the western stretch of the south bank for £2,485. (ref. 675) In
the following year Watts built a brick guano shed, about
350ft by 150ft, to the designs of J. S. Adams and
H. Martin, for £3,744. This was on the north bank and
extended to the Export Dock south quay. By 1852 two
more timber guano sheds, each 500ft by 100ft, had been
erected behind those of 1850. These were built by Hack &
Son for £4,637. (ref. 676) All the guano sheds had multiple
gables, giving long sawtooth elevations to the docks. (ref. 677)
The guano trade was subsequently transferred to the
Royal Victoria Dock, and in 1860 the 1852 sheds were
moved to the East India Docks. The brick shed was used
for timber and jute, and in 1861 one of the remaining
south bank sheds was converted for use as a drill ground
for the Royal Naval Reserve. (ref. 678)
When the South Dock was redeveloped in 1866–70
the sheds on its banks were swept away, except for the
brick shed built in 1851. Brick and timber export sheds
were built piecemeal along the north, east and west quays
in 1869–74 to provide virtually continuous shedding
around the new dock. Many of them were let to the
shippers holding the related berths, and some were fitted
with hydraulic machinery and offices. (ref. 679) A timber drill
shed was built at the north end of the east quay when,
in 1873, the hulk of the frigate HMS President was
moored there as a training ship for the Royal Naval
Reserve. A Navy hulk remained there until about 1908.
In 1913 the Motor Packing Company took over the drill
shed. (ref. 680)
The south quay of the remodelled South Dock was
devoted to warehoused imports and in 1871 was provided
with a quay shed to protect goods unloading to the
warehouses. The shed was designed by Sir John Hawkshaw and built by George Wythes for £12,585. Hawkshaw
intended that iron columns should be used, but in fact
timber uprights were employed, for the sake of economy.
The building was 1,600ft by 60ft, roofed in two 30ftspans, with 12ft clearance to timber and wrought-iron
roof trusses at 15ft centres. The south side was closed;
the north or quay side was open until 1873. The last
600ft to be built utilized iron underslung purlin-trusses
to allow 20ft bay lengths. (ref. 681) In 1875–6 the South Dock
south quay shed was given an upper storey, which was
designed by Augustus Manning and built by J. Perry &
Company for £25,052. This was accomplished by raising
the whole building on to 8ft-high timber stanchions and
a timber floor. The Wharf and Warehouse Committee
imposed full-height brick firewalls, end and south walls,
and enclosed staircases. The upper floor was used to
warehouse tea, wool, seeds and jute, rather than for
transit handling. (ref. 682) Fire destroyed two of the six divisions
in 1895, and the site was redeveloped in 1898-9. with a
420ft-long I-section steel-framed and corrugated-ironclad two-storey fibre shed. (ref. 683) The rest of the South Dock
south quay shed was replaced in 1929.
The south quay of the South Dock Basin was built up
with four timber-built sheds in the early 1870s, largely
for Donald Currie & Company's India steamships. The
berth was used for the Chinese trade of McGregor,
Gow & Company's Glen Line from 1879 until 1904.
Improvements to the sheds included a 35ft-wide barrelvaulted wrought-iron trussed canopy. (ref. 684) The Glen Line's
premises extended to the boundary wall, on the other
side of which was built Glen Terrace (see page 604). The
Line also gave its name to the Glen Field, vacant land
south of the South Dock Basin sheds. (ref. 685) The sheds later
were used for teak and were demolished in 1929. (ref. 686)
Frederick Palmer proposed a rationalization of the
assorted sheds around the South Dock in 1911, but
the work was deferred. (ref. 687) Wartime pressure to provide
warehouse space for sugar forced the PLA to proceed
with the construction of two sheds on the north quay of
the South Dock, in advance of the main South Dock
redevelopment. These were built by direct labour in
1915, to Palmer's plans of 1911, for £28,214. (ref. 688) In 1919–
20 a third, eastern, shed was added, for wool imports,
for £30,305. (ref. 689) These were F, G and H Sheds, each 504ft
by 120ft, with galvanized corrugated-iron sheeting on
double-span steel frames with internal railway lines. (ref. 690)
They became export sheds in 1929. (ref. 691) G and H Sheds
were heavily damaged by bombing and in 1947–9 were
completely rebuilt by Dawnays Limited for £116,645.
The north sides of the sheds were reduced in width from
60ft to 46ft, and 20ft-tall doorways for mobile cranes
were introduced. (ref. 692) F, G and H Sheds survived into the
early 1980s; their site was redeveloped as Heron Quays
(see page 718).
Redevelopment of the south quay of the South Dock
was part of the last phase of the improvements at the
docks carried out in 1926–30. In 1926–30 five quay sheds
were built by A. Jackaman & Son to Palmer's plans. Two
single-storey transit sheds were erected on the newly
formed quay east of the Millwall Passage for £84,000.
Designated N and O Sheds, these were similar to F,
G and H Sheds, being 'standard' corrugated-iron-clad
double-span steel-framed buildings, each 500ft by 120ft,
with 10ft-wide canopied loading platforms away from the
quay. To the west were L and M Sheds, 560ft- and 627ftlengths of double-storey transit shed fixed to the fronts
of the nineteenth-century warehouses. These were 'oldfashioned' buildings, brick-built with hipped slate roofs.
Their dockside elevations were embellished with Portland
stone dressings and blind oculi. Further west was K Shed,
a small single-storey steel-frame building clad in iron. (ref. 693)
By the 1950s L and M Sheds were already 'totally
inadequate' because such double-storeyed buildings were
unsuited to mechanized working. A scheme to redevelop
the whole south quay west of the Millwall Passage was
prepared in 1958–9. The first stage was a new L Shed,
on the site of D Warehouse and the eastern half of the
old L Shed, built in 1960–1 to plans by PLA engineers.
This single-storey transit shed, which cost £111,139, was
310ft by 150ft, with no intermediate supports, and was
amongst the first of the Port's 'mechanized' and structurally innovative single-storey tubular-steel space-frame
sheds. (ref. 694) It had bowstring trusses on cantilevered stanchions with diagonal ties to strengthen the frame. The
aluminium sliding doors were 31ft 6in. high by 20ft wide,
yet could be opened by hand, and the cladding was
aluminium trough sheeting (Plate 56b). (ref. 695)
M Shed was demolished in 1964–5, K Shed in 1976–7,
and L, N and O Sheds in 1983–5. (ref. 696)