Deptford Wharf

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Coordinates: 51°29′30″N 0°01′54″W / 51.491769°N 0.031789°W / 51.491769; -0.031789

Ordnance Survey of Deptford Wharf 1914
Excerpt of the painting A view from the waters of Messrs Barnard and 's Shipyard, Deptford by John Cleveley, exhibited by The Society of Artists, 1774

Deptford Wharf in London, UK is situated on the Thames Path southeast of South Dock Marina, across the culverted mouth of the Earl's Sluice and north of Aragon Tower. In the late 18th and early 19th century this area was used for shipbuilding with several building slips. With the coming of the railway in 1848 Deptford wharf and docks were used to import coal and for other goods. The housing here, completed in 1992, is on the site of former railway sidings and riverside wharves.[1][2]

Dock and shipyard[]

The river wall at Deptford Wharf

The dock built was by John Winter in 1704[3] and belonged to the Evelyn family. Described in 1726 as having a great depth of water, and as being the best private dock upon the river.[4][5][6]

Slipway remains and the culverted mouth of the Earl's Sluice.

William Dudman established the yard. To complete some contracts he went into partnership with Henry Adams of Bucklers Hard and William Barnard of Ipswich. When William died in 1772 his son John Dudman took over. From about 1808 the yard is shown as Dudman & Son. By 1814 the yard had five building slips and two double dry docks.[7][8]

Between 1783 and 1812, they built 23 warships and two East Indiamen. From about 1825, Gordon & Co shipbuilders ran the yard. Then in 1838, it was owned by A. Gordon.[7] Gordon built a number of small steamships (typically 50 to 100 tons), and then sold up in 1842. The sale included "a valuable freehold and leashold wharf with 128 feet river frontage" as well as foundry, warehouses, engine house, yard and other items associated with their shipbuilding business.[9]

By 1807, the wet dock was in use for convict transports by ship to Australia.[10]

Ships built at Deptford Wharf[]

This is not a complete list of the ships built at Dudman's yard.

Name Date Notes
HMS Carnatic 1783 Paid for by the East India Company, presented to the Navy
HMS Phoebe 1795
HMS Sirius 1797
HMS Lady Nelson[11] 1798
HMS Northumberland 1798
HMS Renown 1798
HMS Apollo 1799
HMS Amaranthe 1804
HMS Manly 1804
HMS Calypso 1805
HMS Sultan 1807
HMS Royal Oak 1809
HMS Duncan 1811
HMS Indus 1812
Princess Charlotte 1812 East Indiaman[12]
Duke of Sussex 1826 East Indiaman, builder Mr Gordon[13]
Queen Adelaide 1830 West Indiaman, builder Mr Gordon, slip at St George's stairs[14]

Railways[]

A 1908 Railway Clearing House map showing the LB&SC line from New Cross to Deptford Wharf

The project to own a wharf and build a branch line to it came from the London and Croydon Railway, who in March 1846 announced they had "made arrangements for possession of a large wharf and dock adjoining Her Majesty's victualling yard at Deptford"..."and a bill is now before parliament to enable the company to construct a line from thence to New Cross".[15] Later that year a merger of railway companies meant this became a project of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR).

In 1846, the board of the LB&SCR requested Chief Engineer to construct a branch line from New Cross to the River Thames at Deptford, where he was to also design, survey and manage the construction of a new dock system. Jacomb-Hood instructed his recently appointed assistant Frederick Banister to design, survey and manage the construction of the branch line and dock, which was completed in 1849.[16]

The reception and marshalling sidings were separated from the docks by Grove Street and this crossing was controlled by crossing gates that had to cross 5 or 6 tracks, some of the widest level crossing gates in the country.[17]

The ordnance survey map for 1894/5 shows a dockyard branch North to the granary on Greenland Dock, and the 1913 map shows a branch added South running along the centre of Grove Street to the HM Victualling Yard, Deptford opposite Junction Road (which had its own internal tramway), and to the adjacent foreign cattle market (under an act of 1869 imported live cattle had to be slaughtered at the port to prevent cattle diseases being brought into the country). The Grove Street rail link was planned in 1871 (when the cattle market opened), but was not built until c1900.[18] It was referred to as the Grove Street Light Railway in an application in 1902 to widen the gap between rail and check rail.[19] Several photos exist of the unusual sight of a steam locomotive (LB&SCR D1 class) and wagons travelling down the middle of this residential street. The victualling yard was in use until 1961, and the rail branch serving Deptford docks was closed soon after with the tracks being lifted in 1963.

The dock included two berths for colliers of up to 2500 tons capacity, and coal from Newcastle upon Tyne was regularly unloaded and moved by rail to the gas works at Waddon Marsh (and other smaller gas making facilities). Other goods were transferred to and from New Cross Marshalling yard before despatch around the country.[17]

References[]

  1. ^ Plaque at entrance to Tariff Crescent
  2. ^ Banbury, Philip (1971). Shipbuilders of the Thames and Medway. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 127. ISBN 0715349961.
  3. ^ "Greenwich Industrial History, Volume 3, Issue 3, April 2000". Archived from the original on 5 January 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  4. ^ In the 1726 grant from Sir Frederic Evelyn to Sir John Evelyn.
  5. ^ The Environs of London, volume 4, Counties of Herts, Essex & Kent, Deptford, St Paul by Daniel Lysons, 1796, pp. 386-393.
  6. ^ A topographical dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis, 1831
  7. ^ a b Building Britain's Wooden Walls: Barnard Dynasty c.1697-1851 by John Barnard, ISBN 0904614638
  8. ^ Deptford Ship Builders circa 1798 forum post at Rootsweb
  9. ^ "Messrs Ellis and Son auction advert". West Kent Guardian. London. 15 October 1842. p. 1.
  10. ^ Diprose, Graham; Craig, Charles; Seaborne, Mike (2009). London's Changing Riverscape: Panoramas from London Bridge to Greenwich. Frances Lincoln. ISBN 978-0711229419.
  11. ^ True Briton (London, England), Saturday, 17 November 1798; Issue 1842
  12. ^ "Untitled". Morning Post. London. 31 January 1812. p. 2.
  13. ^ "Launch of an East Indiaman". Morning Post. London. 14 August 1830. p. 3.
  14. ^ "Launch of the Queen Adelaide West Indiaman". Lancaster Gazette. London. 18 December 1826. p. 3.
  15. ^ "London and Croydon Railway". Saint James's Chronicle. London. 12 March 1846.
  16. ^ "Federick Dale Banister". GracesGuide.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
  17. ^ a b Rugman, W.J. (July 1973). "Deptford Wharf in the 1920s". Railway World. UK: Ian Allan.
  18. ^ "London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway". Morning Post. London. 20 January 1871. p. 3.
  19. ^ "Grove Street Light Railway". Woolwich Gazette. London. 24 January 1902.

Further reading[]

  • Building Britain's Wooden Walls: Barnard Dynasty c.1697–1851 by John Barnard, ISBN 0904614638
  • Shipbuilders of the Thames & Medway by Philip Banbury, ISBN 9780715349960

External links[]

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