Isle of Dogs
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Isle of Dogs is also a play by Thomas Nashe and Ben Jonson.
| Isle of Dogs | |
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| OS Grid Reference: | Template:Gbmappingsmall |
| Administration | |
| Borough: | Tower Hamlets |
| County: | Greater London |
| Region: | Greater London |
| Nation: | England |
| Other | |
| Ceremonial County: | Greater London |
| Traditional County: | Middlesex |
| Post Office and Telephone | |
| Post town: | LONDON |
| Postcode: | E14 |
| Dialling Code: | 020 |
The Isle of Dogs is a peninsula into the River Thames. It is to be found in the East End of London, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is also considered part of Docklands, an area designated in 1981 by the British Government for redevelopment by the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC).
The area could be now considered an island since the West India Docks were developed, but the Isle of Dogs is generally considered to extend north of the docks, covering the whole peninsula.
It was the site of the highest concentration of council housing in England, but now it is also known as the site of the Canary Wharf development built on Poplar Gut. 1 Canada Square, also known as The Canary Wharf Tower, is the tallest building in Britain at 244 metres.
The area includes Millwall, Cubitt Town, and Blackwall. North Greenwich is no longer a name applied to the southern end of the island.
It is an area of social extremes, encompassing some of the most expensive and luxurious housing and offices, while Blackwall is the 81st poorest ward in England out of over 8,000.
Stanley Kubrick's Vietnam war movie Full Metal Jacket was filmed there due to Kubrick's unwillingness to leave Britain.
History
Isle_of_Dogs,_London,_aerial_photo.jpg
The Isle of Dogs was originally called Stepney Marsh, which was drained in the 13th century. This created land suitable for agricultural cultivation and as a result a small agricultural community grew up. However in 1488 the embankment keeping the river out was breached and the land returned to marsh.
The first mention of the name 'Isle of Dogs' is on a map from 1588; where the name came from is unknown. It is speculated that the peninsula is where Henry VIII had his hunting dogs kennelled.
In the 17th century Dutch engineers successfully redrained the marsh; however, few people moved to the area at the time.
In 1802 the West India Docks were opened, heralding the peninsula's most successful period when it became an important center for trade. East India Docks were subsequently opened in 1806, followed by Millwall dock in 1868. All three dock systems were joined together in 1909 when the Port of London Authority took control of the docks. With the docks stretching across the peninsula from East to West with locks at each end, the Isle of Dogs could now literally be described as an island.
As the docks rose in importance so did the population of the people living on the Isle of Dogs. By 1901 it reached its peak of 21,000.
During the Second World War the docks were a target for the Luftwaffe and were heavily bombed.
After WW2 the docks mounted a resurgence with consumer goods being imported from all over the world. They even installed state-of-the-art facilities in 1967. However, with the advent of containerisation which the docks could not handle, they were made obsolete soon afterwards.
West India and Millwall docks formally closed in 1980. This left the area dilapidated with large areas being unused. In 1981 the London Docklands Development Corporation was set up to redevelop the area. 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.
As part of the redevelopment an enterprise zone was designated in 1981. It covered 1.95 km² of land and encompassed the West India, Millwall and East India Docks. It is within this area that Canary Wharf lies. To date 6 million square feet (437,000 m²) of office and retail space has been created with another 8.1 million square feet (753,000 m²)under construction.
Nearest places:
Tube and DLR stations on the Island are:
- Canary Wharf tube station
- Canary Wharf DLR station
- Crossharbour DLR station
- Heron Quays DLR station
- Island Gardens DLR station
- Mudchute DLR station
- South Quay DLR station
- West India Quay DLR station
See also
External links
- Isle of Dogs Map (http://www.sonyt610.plus.com/map/Canary%20Wharf%20map.html)