The Story Telling Cranes of Royal Victoria Docks

My Journey in Royal Docks

For the past eight years, Royal Docks has been my second home, a place that has captured my heart since I moved here from India. What started as a casual hobby in 2014 has evolved into a dedicated photo-documentary project, chronicling the ever-changing landscape of Docklands. Over the last decade, Royal Victoria Docks has seen immense regeneration, with its iconic cranes standing as silent witnesses to this transformation.

Royal Victoria Docks - A Brief History

Opened in 1855, the Royal Victoria Dock is the largest dock in the modern world. According to the Royal Docks archives, the area now known as Royal Victoria Docks was once part of the uninhabited Plaistow Marshes. It was the first of the Royal Docks, followed by Royal Albert in 1880 and King George V in 1921, and was the first London dock designed specifically for large steamships. It also pioneered the use of hydraulic power for operating machinery and was the first dock to connect to the national railway network.

The dock featured four solid piers, each measuring 152 meters long and 43 meters wide, initially housing two-storey warehouses. These were filled in after WWII. Surrounding the dock were additional warehouses, granaries, sheds, and storage buildings, contributing to a total quay length of 3.6 kilometers. The dock quickly became a commercial success, handling over 850,000 tons of shipping annually by 1860, surpassing the capacities of London Docks, St Katharine Docks, and both West and East India Docks combined. Despite suffering damage from German bombing in WWII, it experienced a post-war trade resurgence. However, from the 1960s onwards, the Royal Victoria Dock saw a steady decline, like all of London's docks, due to the advent of containerization, which shifted traffic downstream to Tilbury. It ceased commercial operations in 1980 alongside the other Royal Docks.

The Cranes of Royal Victoria Docks

A visit to Royal Victoria Docks is immediately marked by the sight of 14 gigantic cranes, all built by Stothert & Pitt. These cranes, two from the 1920s and twelve from 1962, form the most concentrated group of cranes surviving in London's Docklands. They symbolize the end of the docklands' industrial era in the 1960s, capturing the essence of a bygone industry. The twelve cranes from 1962 are the innovative DD2 models, known for their modern design in welded tubular steel. Together, these cranes are an impressive sight, embodying both historical significance and aesthetic grandeur, particularly when viewed in silhouette.