Port of London

The Port of London is a busy area along the River Thames in England. It stretches from Teddington Lock to a line drawn from Foulness Point in Essex through Gunfleet Old Lighthouse to Warden Point in Kent, and reaches out to the North Sea. For many years, it was the biggest port in the world and was still the largest port in the United Kingdom as of 2020.

Today, the port is managed by the Port of London Authority, a public trust created in 1908. This group helps organize and oversee activities in the port, although it also does some small tasks of its own.

The Port of London can welcome big ships like cruise liners, roll-on roll-off ferries, and many kinds of cargo, especially at its bigger facilities farther east. Like other famous ports in Europe, such as Antwerp and Rotterdam, many jobs and activities have moved farther out to the open sea. This happened because ships got larger over time, and land closer to the city was needed for other purposes.

History

The Port of London has been very important for the city since it was founded in the 1st century. In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was the busiest port in the world, with many ships and cranes along the River Thames.

The Roman port in London

The first signs of a port in London date back to when the Romans controlled Britain. They built the original harbour using wooden frames filled with dirt. The port grew quickly during the 2nd and 3rd centuries but started to decline in the early 5th century when trade dropped after the Romans left Britain.

Pool of London

Until the early 19th century, all shipping happened in the Pool of London on the River Thames. Goods had to be checked by Customs Officers, which gave the area its name, Legal Quays. Trade grew a lot in the late 1700s, with many ships bringing in goods from overseas and along the coast.

Enclosed dock systems

New enclosed docks were built because there wasn’t enough space in the Pool of London. These docks had high walls to keep things safe. Important docks included West India Docks, East India Docks, London Docks, and others. In 1908, the Port of London Authority (PLA) was created to manage these docks and the river.

Dockhands

By 1900, the docks were very busy, handling millions of tons of goods. Many workers, called dockhands, laboured there. The work was hard and sometimes dangerous.

Port industries

Many industries grew up around the docks, such as sugar refining, oil processing, and vehicle making. London was also a big place for building ships, though this slowed down in the mid-1800s. There were also many places that fixed ships and made power.

The move downstream

With bigger ships and new ways of loading and unloading, the older parts of the port up the river became less important starting in the 1960s. Some docks closed, but trade continued elsewhere. Today, much of the old dock land is being turned into homes and offices.

The Port today

See also: List of locations in the Port of London

The Port of London today has many places where ships can stop to load or unload goods. These places employ thousands of people. Many of these spots are in places like Purfleet, Thurrock, Tilbury, London Gateway, and Canvey Island in Essex, and in Dartford, Northfleet in Kent, and several areas in Greater London like Greenwich, Silvertown, Barking, Dagenham, and Erith.

The Port moves many types of goods, such as containers, wood, paper, cars, building materials, oil, fuel, gas, coal, metals, grain, and other liquids and solids.

London was one of the busiest ports in the United Kingdom for the amount of goods moved. It moves the most goods that are not fuel, more than any other UK port. Other big ports in the UK are Felixstowe and Southampton. The Port helps the UK’s economy by bringing in a lot of money each year. It also welcomes many cruise ships.

Intraport traffic

More goods are now being moved between places in the Port using boats on the River Thames. This helps the environment and avoids crowded roads and trains. Projects like the Olympic Park, Crossrail, and the Thames Tideway Scheme all used the river to move things. The River Thames is the busiest inland waterway in the UK.

Expansion: London Gateway

Main article: London Gateway

The London Gateway port opened in 2013. It is located in Essex, east of central London, and can handle very large ships carrying many containers. It also has space for storing and moving goods.

Policing the Port

The Port of London used to have its own police force. Now, it is watched over by several local police teams. These teams come from areas along the River Thames, including the Metropolitan, City of London, Essex, and Kent police forces. There is also the Port of Tilbury Police, which started in 1992. The Metropolitan police have a special water team, called the Marine Support Unit, that looks after the Thames in the London area. In the future, another police team might be added when the London Gateway port is created.