The Isle of Dogs is an area in the East End of London that is bounded on three sides (east, south and west) by one of the largest meanders in the River Thames. The northern boundary has never been clearly or consistently defined but many accept it to be the (former) line of the West India South Dock. The name Isle of Dogs had no official status until 1987, with the creation of the Isle of Dogs Neighbourhood by Tower Hamlets London Borough Council.
Geology
The soil is alluvial and silty in nature, underlaid by clay or mud, with a peat layer in places.
Etymology
The first known written mention of the Isle of Dogs is in the ‘Letters & Papers of Henry VIII’. In Volume 3: 1519-1523. 2 October 1520. No. 1009 â€" ‘Shipping’, there is a list of purchases, which includes:
A hose for the Mary George, in dock at the Isle of Dogs, 10d
The 1898 edition of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable attributes the name: "So called from being the receptacle of the greyhounds of Edward III. Some say it is a corruption of the Isle of Ducks, and that it is so called in ancient records from the number of wild fowl inhabiting the marshes." Other sources discount this, believing these stories to all derive from the antiquarian John Strype, and believe it might come from one of the following:
- a nickname of contempt: Ben Jonson and Thomas Nashe wrote a satirical play in 1597, which was a mocking attack on the island of Great Britain, titled The Isle of Dogs, which offended some in the nobility. Jonson was imprisoned for a year; Nashe avoided arrest by fleeing the area. Samuel Pepys referred to the "unlucky Isle of Dogs."
- the presence of Dutch engineers reclaiming the land from a disastrous flood.
- the presence of gibbets on the foreshore facing Greenwich.
- a yeoman farmer called Brache, this being an old word for a type of hunting dog.
- the original docks located here were used for firewood importation and the phrase is linked to "fire dogs", the cross-beams beneath a hearth fire, hence Isle of Dogs.
- the dogs of a later king, Henry VIII, who also kept deer in Greenwich Park. Again it is thought that his hunting dogs might have been kept in derelict farm buildings on the Island.
- Isle of Dykes, which then got corrupted over the years.
Districts
The whole area was once simply known as Stepney Marsh; Anton van den Wyngaerde's "Panorama of London" dated 1543 depicts and refers to the Isle of Dogs. Records show that ships preparing to carry the English royal household to Calais in 1520 docked at the southern bank of the Island. The name Isle of Dogges occurs in the Thamesis Descriptio of 1588, applied to a small island in the south-western part of the peninsula. The name is next applied to the Isle of Dogs Fam (originally known as Pomfret Manor) shown on a map of 1683. At the same time, the area was variously known as Isle of Dogs or the Blackwell levels. By 1855, it was incorporated within the parish of Poplar under the aegis of the Poplar Board of Works. This was incorporated into the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar on its formation in 1900.
After the building of the Docks (especially the West India Docks and the adjacent City Canal), and with an increasing population, locals increasingly referred to the area as The Island. This area includes Millwall, Cubitt Town, and Blackwall. The south of the isle opposite Greenwich was once known as North Greenwich, now applied to the area around the Millennium Dome on the Greenwich Peninsula. Between 1986 and 1992 it enjoyed a brief formal existence, as the name Isle of Dogs was applied to one of seven neighbourhoods to which power was devolved from the council. The neighbourhood was later abolished.
It was the site of the highest concentration of council housing in England but is now best known as the location of the Canary Wharf office complex. One Canada Square, also known as the Canary Wharf Tower, is the second tallest habitable building in Britain at 244 metres (801Â ft). The peninsula is an area of social extremes, comprising some of the most prosperous and most deprived areas of the country; in 2004, nearby Blackwall was the 81st most deprived ward in England out of over 8,000, while the presence of Canary Wharf gives the area one of the highest average incomes in the UK. Discussing tower blocks issues other than safety, following the Grenfell Tower fire, The Times noted Lincoln Plaza was the 2016 winner of the Carbuncle Cup and describes the buildings as 'mediocre at best, ugly at worst' though it said Grenfell would force a reappraisal.
History
Origins
The Isle of Dogs is situated some distance downriver from the City of London. The area was originally sparsely populated marshland before its drainage and planting in the 13th century. A catastrophic flood occurred in 1488, resulting in the area returning to its previous marshy condition. This was not reversed until Dutch engineers re-drained it in the 17th century.
One road led across the Marshes to an ancient ferry, at Ferry Road. There was rich grazing on the marsh, and cattle were slaughtered in fields known as the Killing Fields, south of Poplar High Street.
The western side of the island was known as Marsh Wall, and the district became known as Millwall with the building of the docks, and from the number of windmills constructed along the top of the flood defence.
Docks
The urbanisation of the Isle of Dogs took place in the 19th century following the construction of the West India Docks, which opened in 1802. This heralded the area's most successful period, when it became an important centre for trade. The East India Docks were subsequently opened in 1806, followed by Millwall Dock in 1868. By the 1880s, the casual employment system caused Dock workers to unionise under Ben Tillett and John Burns. This led to a demand for 6d per hour (2.5p), and an end to casual labour in the docks. After a bitter struggle, the London Dock Strike of 1889 was settled with victory for the strikers, and established a national movement for the unionisation of casual workers.
The three dock systems were unified in 1909 when the Port of London Authority took control of the docks. With the docks stretching across from East to West with locks at each end, the Isle of Dogs could now once again almost be described as a genuine island.
Dock workers settled on the "island" as the docks grew in importance, and by 1901, 21,000 people lived there, largely dependent on the river trade on the Isle as well as in Greenwich and Deptford across the river to the south and west. The Isle of Dogs was connected to the rest of London by the London and Blackwall Railway, opened in 1840 and progressively extended thereafter. In 1902, the ferry to Greenwich was replaced by the construction of the Greenwich foot tunnel, and Island Gardens park was laid out in 1895 providing views across the river. The London and Blackwall Railway closed in 1926. Until the building of the Docklands Light Railway in 1987, the only public transport accessing and exiting the Island consisted of buses using its perimeter roads. These were frequently and substantially delayed by the movement of up to four bridges which allowed ships access to the West India Docks and Millwall Docks. The insular nature of the Island caused its separateness from the rest of London, and its unique nature.
During World War II, the docks were a key target for the German Luftwaffe and were heavily bombed. A significant number of local civilians were killed in the bombing and extensive destruction was caused on the ground, with many warehouses being totally destroyed and much of the dock system being put out of action for an extended period. Unexploded bombs from this period continue to be discovered today. Anti-aircraft batteries were based on Mudchute Farm; their concrete bases remain today.
After the war, the docks underwent a brief resurgence and were even upgraded in 1967. However, with the advent of containerisation, which the docks could not handle, they became obsolete soon afterwards. The docks closed progressively during the 1970s, with the last â€" the West India and Millwall docks â€" closing down in 1980. This left the area in a severely dilapidated state, with large areas being derelict and abandoned.
Industry
The Docks brought with them many associated industries, such as flour and sugar processing, and also ship building. On 31 January 1858 the largest ship of that time, the SS Great Eastern designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was launched from the yard of Messrs Scott, Russell & Co, of Millwall. The 211 metres (692Â ft) length was too big for the river so the ship had to be launched sideways. Due to the technical difficulties of the launch this was the last big ship to be built on the Island and the industry fell into a decline. However, parts of the launching slipway and plate works have been preserved in situ and may be seen close to Masthouse Terrace Pier.
London Docklands Development Corporation
The Isle of Dogs' economic problems led to mass unemployment among the former dockyard workers and caused serious social deprivation. Ted Johns, a local community campaigner, and his supporters, in protest at the lack of social provision from the state, proclaimed a unilateral declaration of independence for the area, setting up a so-called 'Island Council' with Johns himself as its elected leader, and blocked the two swing-bridges providing the only access to the area by road. Successive Labour and Conservative governments proposed a number of action plans during the 1970s but it was not until 1981 that the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) was established to redevelop the area. The Isle of Dogs became part of an enterprise zone, which covered 1.95 km² of land and encompassed the West India, Millwall and East India Docks. New housing was built, as was new office space and new transport infrastructure. This included the Docklands Light Railway and later the Jubilee line extension, which eventually brought access to the London Underground to the area for the first time.
Since its construction in 1987-1991, the area has been dominated by the expanding Canary Wharf development with over 437,000 square metres (4,700,000 sq ft) of office and retail space having been created; 93,000 now work in Canary Wharf alone.
LDDC legacy
It has been argued by some that the redevelopment has not benefited the long-term residents as much as it might, with accusations of a "land grab" of riverside sites for private apartment blocks during the period of relaxation of planning conditions under the LDDC. Some tensions remain, as in most areas of central London, between the close-knit island community and professionals who have more recently moved to the area. Today, this revolves around the former's need for family homes, against further development of small high-priced apartments.
Politics
The Island achieved notoriety in 1993 when Derek Beackon of the British National Party became a councillor for Millwall ward, in a by election. This was the culmination of years of resentment by local residents of perceived neglect by both Liberal Democrat and Labour Party politicians. Labour regained the ward in the full council election of May 1994, and held all three seats until a further by election in September 2004.
Education
There are four state primary schools located on the Isle of Dogs â€" Cubbit town, Arnhem Wharf, Harbinger School and St Edmunds. There is also an independent primary school, River House Montessori, located near South Quay.
A secondary school, called George Green's School, is located on the southern tip of the island, at Manchester Road, near Island Gardens. It is a Specialist Humanities School.
Canary Wharf College, is a free school on the Island which covers primary, secondary and sixth form education.
The nearest universities are Goldsmiths, University of London and University of Greenwich, which are both accessible by public transport.
Transport
Nearest places
- Deptford
- Greenwich
- Limehouse
- Poplar
- Rotherhithe
- Stepney
London Underground and DLR stations
The nearest London Underground station is Canary Wharf on the Jubilee line. Key areas including Regent's Park, The West End, Westminster, South Bank, Millennium Dome and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, are all within 20 minutes of Canary Wharf by Tube.
The DLR runs north-south through the Isle of Dogs. Docklands Light Railway stations are West India Quay, Canary Wharf, Heron Quays, South Quay, Crossharbour, Mudchute and Island Gardens. Key areas including the City of London, Tower Hill and Greenwich are all within 20 minutes of the Isle of Dogs by DLR.
Crossrail
Canary Wharf Crossrail station is currently under construction and is due to open in 2018. Situated at the north of the Island, it will provide high-frequency, fast connections to the heart of the West End, Paddington Station, Heathrow Airport and Abbey Wood.
London bus routes
- London Buses route 135
- London Buses route 277
- London Buses route D3
- London Buses route D6
- London Buses route D7
- London Buses route D8
- London Buses route N550
River bus services
Regular commuter boat services serve both Masthouse Terrace Pier and Canary Wharf Pier on the Isle of Dogs.
The Thames Clipper provides regular commuter services to Woolwich Arsenal Pier, Greenwich Pier in the east, and the City of London including St. Katherine's Dock, Tower Bridge, HMSÂ Belfast, Greater London Authority building, Tate Modern, Blackfriars, as well as the West End of London in the west on the commuter service. There is also a connecting shuttle service to Rotherhithe and the Tate to Tate service from Tate Modern to Tate Britain via London Eye.
From Summer 2007, the service has been enhanced with express boats from central London to the O2 Arena (former Millennium Dome).
Pedestrian and cyclists
The Thames Path National Trail runs along the riverside. At the southern end of the Isle of Dogs, the Greenwich foot tunnel provides pedestrian access to Greenwich, across the river.
National Cycle Network route 1 runs through the foot tunnel (although cycles must not be ridden in the tunnel itself).
Airport and helipad
The nearest airport is London City Airport, which is 25 minutes away from Canary Wharf by DLR.
There is also a helipad situated on the west of the Island and next to Ferguson's Wharf, which is privately run by Vanguard.
In the media
The Isle of Dogs was the title of an early play by Ben Jonson and Thomas Nashe, briefly performed in 1597 and then thoroughly suppressed as slanderous.
In modern times the Isle of Dogs has provided locations for many blockbuster films, including the opening scenes of the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough, and more recently Batman Begins, The Constant Gardener, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and Love Actually.
The Isle of Dogs featured heavily in the 1980 British film The Long Good Friday.
In 28 Weeks Later, the Isle of Dogs is the primary location of the film, being the only secure and quarantined area in all of Britain suitable for recivilization after a massive epidemic of the "Rage Virus" kills the entire population of Britain.
The Isle of Dogs was also the setting for the 1986 Channel 4 series Prospects starring Gary Olsen and Brian Bovell.
See also
- Crossrail
- Honourable East India Company
- Island History Trust
- Islands in the River Thames
- Museum in Docklands
- Samuda Estate
- SS Robin
- Burrells Wharf
References and notes
Bibliography
- Eve Hostettler, The Isle of Dogs: 1066â€"1918: A Brief History, Volume I (London: Island History Trust, 2000) ISBN 0-9508815-4-6
- Eve Hostettler, The Isle of Dogs: The Twentieth Century: A Brief History, Volume II (London: Island History Trust, 2001) ISBN 0-9508815-5-4
External links
- Island Heritage & History Trust
- Isle of Dogs landscape architecture