Deptford Wharf

Deptford Wharf in London, UK is situated on the Thames Path southeast of South Dock Marina, across the culverted mouth of the Earl's Sluice and north of Aragon Tower. The housing here, completed in 1992, is on the site of former railway sidings and riverside wharves, and before then docks and building slips.[1][2]

Excerpt of the painting A view from the waters of Messrs Barnard and Dudman's Shipyard, Deptford by John Cleveley, exhibited by The Society of Artists, 1774

Dock and shipyard
The river wall at Deptford Wharf

The dock built was by John Winter in 1704[3] and belonged to the Evelyn family. Described in 1726 as having a great depth of water, and as being the best private dock upon the river.[4][5][6]

Slipway remains and the culverted mouth of the Earl's Sluice.

William Dudman established the yard. To complete some contracts he went into partnership with Henry Adams of Bucklers Hard and William Barnard of Ipswich. When William died in 1772 his son John Dudman took over. From about 1808 the yard is shown as Dudman & Son. By 1814 the yard had five building slips and two double dry docks.[7][8]

Between 1783 and 1812, they built 23 warships and two East Indiamen. From about 1825, Gordon & Co shipbuilders ran the yard. Then in 1838, it was owned by A. Gordon.[7]

By 1807, the wet dock was in use for convict transports by ship to Australia.[9]

Ships built at Deptford Wharf

This is not a complete list of the ships built at Dudman's yard.

NameDate
HMS Carnatic1783
HMS Phoebe1795
HMS Sirius1797
HMS Lady Nelson[10]1798
HMS Northumberland1798
HMS Renown1798
HMS Apollo1799
HMS Amaranthe1804
HMS Manly1804
HMS Calypso1805
HMS Sultan1807
HMS Royal Oak1809
HMS Duncan1811
HMS Indus1812

Railways
A 1908 Railway Clearing House map showing the LB&SC line from New Cross to Deptford Wharf

In 1846, the board of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) requested Chief Engineer Robert Jacomb-Hood to construct a branch line from New Cross to the River Thames at Deptford, where he was to also design, survey and manage the construction of a new dock system to replace the now-closed Deptford dockyard. Jacomb-Hood instructed his recently appointed assistant Frederick Banister to design, survey and manage the construction of the branch line and dock, which was completed in 1849.[11]

References
  1. Plaque at entrance to Tariff Crescent
  2. Banbury, Philip (1971). Shipbuilders of the Thames and Medway. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 127. ISBN 0715349961.
  3. "Greenwich Industrial History, Volume 3, Issue 3, April 2000". Archived from the original on 5 January 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  4. In the 1726 grant from Sir Frederic Evelyn to Sir John Evelyn.
  5. The Environs of London, volume 4, Counties of Herts, Essex & Kent, Deptford, St Paul by Daniel Lysons, 1796, pp. 386-393.
  6. A topographical dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis, 1831
  7. Building Britain's Wooden Walls: Barnard Dynasty c.1697-1851 by John Barnard, ISBN 0904614638
  8. Deptford Ship Builders circa 1798 forum post at Rootsweb
  9. Diprose, Graham; Craig, Charles; Seaborne, Mike (2009). London's Changing Riverscape: Panoramas from London Bridge to Greenwich. Frances Lincoln. ISBN 978-0711229419.
  10. True Briton (London, England), Saturday, 17 November 1798; Issue 1842
  11. "Federick Dale Banister". GracesGuide.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2013.

Further reading
  • Building Britain's Wooden Walls: Barnard Dynasty c.1697–1851 by John Barnard, ISBN 0904614638
  • Shipbuilders of the Thames & Medway by Philip Banbury, ISBN 9780715349960
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.