2-969-858 - /Heritage Images

Victoria Docks - general view, 1856. 'The whole of the south side of the Dock, comprising nearly a mile of water frontage, will be devoted to the accommodation of timber and other trades requiring space. All the cranes, capstans, lock-gates, and sluices, will be worked by hydraulic power. The [Thames] Tidal Basin will be accessible by night as well as by day for steamers and other vessels requiring dispatch...Frequent railway trains run throughout the day between the Fenchurch-street station and the Docks...messages will be transmitted by electric telegraph...free of charge...These Docks will hand down to posterity, with honour, the names of Peto, Betts, and Brassey, as the contractors; and Bidder, as engineer'. Royal Victoria Dock in East London was later redeveloped as Docklands. From "Illustrated London News", 1856.