King George V Dock, in the London Borough of Newham, is one of three docks in the Royal Docks of east London, now part of the redeveloped Docklands.
| King George V Dock | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | London |
| Coordinates | 51°30′13″N 0°03′35″E / 51.5037°N 0.0597°E |
| Built | 1921 |
  Location of King George V Dock in London Borough of Newham | |
History
Begun in 1912 by the Port of London Authority, the King George V was the last of London's upstream enclosed docks to be built. After delay by the First World War, construction was completed in 1921.[1] Although at 64 acres (26 ha) of water it was smaller than the other royals, it had its own entrance from the Thames through a lock and bascule bridge. The dock could berth liners as large as the RMS Mauretania. At its western end was a large graving dock (since filled in) and machine shop used for ship repairs by Harland and Wolff. From the 1960s onwards, the King George V Dock experienced a steady decline – as did all of London's other docks – as the shipping industry adopted containerisation, which effectively moved traffic downstream to Tilbury. It finally closed to commercial traffic along with the other Royal Docks in 1981.[2]
Redevelopment in the late 20th century included the construction of London City Airport which was built on the north bank of the dock with a single runway and completed in 1987.[3] King George V station on the London City Airport branch of the Docklands Light Railway, which opened in December 2005, is named after the dock.[4]
References
Further reading
- Dockland: an illustrated historical survey of life and work in east London. London: NELP/GLC. 1983. p. not stated. ISBN 0-7168-1611-3.
- Weinreb; Hibbert, eds. (1983). The London Encyclopedia. London: Macmillan. p. not stated. ISBN 0-333-30024-6.