Silvertown: Difference between revisions

{{Distinguish|Silvertown (UK Parliament constituency)|Silvertown, Ontario}}{{Redirect|West Silvertown|the Docklands Light Railway station|West Silvertown DLR station}}

| constituency_westminster = [[EastWest Ham and Beckton (UK Parliament constituency)|EastWest Ham and Beckton]]

'''Silvertown''' is a district in the [[London Borough of Newham]], in [[east London]], England. It lies on the north bank of the [[River Thames|Thames]] and was historically part of the parish and boroughparishes of [[West Ham]] and [[East Ham]], [[Becontree Hundred|hundred of Becontree]], and the [[Historic counties of England|historic county]] of [[Essex]]. [[London Government Act 1963|Since 1965]], Silvertown has been part of the London Borough of Newham, a [[Districts of England|local government district]] of Greater London. It forms part of the [[E postcode area|London E16]] postcode district along with [[Canning Town]] and [[Custom House, Newham|Custom House]].

The area was named after the factories established by [[Stephen William Silver]] in 1852,<ref name="BHL">{{cite web |title=Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood (Exploration and Expedition Auctions): SW Silver & Co |url=https://www.bhandl.co.uk/knowledge/article/sw-silver-and-co.aspx |website=www.bhandl.co.uk |publisher=Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood Ltd |access-date=1 February 2019}}</ref>. andThe riverside of central Silvertown continues isto nowbe dominated by the [[Tate & Lyle]] sugar refinery, andwith theresidential Johndevelopments Knightbeing ABPbuilt [[animalto rendering]]its east and plantwest.

In 1852 S.W. Silver and& CoCompany moved to the area from Greenwich and established a rubber works, originally to make waterproof clothing. This subsequently developed into the works of the [[India Rubber, Gutta Percha and Telegraph Works Company]], which constructed and laid many [[Submarine communication cable|submarine cable]]s. By the 1860s a number of manure and chemical works and petroleum storage depots had been set up.<ref name="silver1867">{{cite map |publisher=Alan Godfrey|title=Notes to London Sheet 80, Silvertown 1867|scale=1:2500 reduced to 1:4340|series=Old Ordnance Survey Maps, The Godfrey Edition|isbn=1-84151-861-1}}</ref> In 1864, the area became an ecclesiastical parish of its own, centred on the church of [[St Mark's Church, Victoria Docks|St Mark's]].

Sugar refiners in the area were joined by [[Henry Tate]] in 1877 and [[Abram Lyle]] in 1881, whose companies merged in 1921 to form [[Tate & Lyle]].<ref name="silver1893">{{cite map |publisher=Alan Godfrey|title=Notes to London Sheet 80, Silvertown 1893|scale=1:2500 reduced to 1:4340|series=Old Ordnance Survey Maps, The Godfrey Edition|isbn=978-0-85054-073-4}}</ref> Prior to the merger, which occurred after they had died, the two men were bitter business rivals, although they had never met.<ref name="Duncan Barrett and Nuala Calvi">{{cite book|authorfirst1=Duncan |last1=Barrett and |first2=Nuala |last2=Calvi |publisher=Collins|title=The Sugar Girls|isbn=978-0-00-744847-0|year=2012|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/sugargirlstaleso0000barr}}</ref> Tate & Lyle still has two large refineries in the area.

In 1889 Silver's factory was the scene of a twelve-week-long strike by the majority of its 3,000 workers. The strikers were demanding higher pay and were inspired by the recent successes of [[New Unionism]] in the East End of London. Management refused to negotiate with the strikers who had immense popular support. Leading figures in the strike included [[Tom Mann]] and [[Eleanor Marx]]. The workers were eventually starved back to work, with many being victimised for their role. In the aftermath of the strike, Silver's declared a half-yearly dividend of 5 percentper cent. Silver'sThe managementrest were congratulated byof the restindustry ofcongratulated theSilver's industrymanagement for holding a line against New Unionism.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Tully|first1=John|title=Silvertown: The Lost Story of a Strike that Shook London and Helped Launch the Modern Labor Movement|date=2014|publisher=Monthly Review Press|location=New York|isbn=9781907103995}}</ref>

In the early 20th Centurycentury the area suffered greatly from road congestion due to being located between the [[River Thames|Thames]] and the [[Royal Docks]], then the largest and one of the busiest dock groups in the world. The area was cut off for much of the time by lifting bridges over dock entrances, and by [[level crossing]]s which were closed for up to three -quarters of each hour by train movements. This led in the early 1930s to the construction of the elevated ''Silvertown Way'', one of the earliest urban flyovers.<ref name=winchester>{{cite book |authoreditor-last=Winchester |editor-first=C. (Ed)|title=London's Dockland Highway |series=Wonders of World Engineering |pages= 749–756 |publisher=The Amalgamated Press |year=1937}}</ref>

On the first night of [[The Blitz]], Tate and Lyle's sugar refinery, John Knight's Primrose Soapworks, and the Silvertown Rubber Works were all badly damaged by bombing.<ref>[{{cite web |url=http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/conMediaFile.399/Smoke-from-the-bombed-factories-in-Silvertown.html ''|title=Smoke from the bombed factories in Silvertown'' (image)] {{webarchive|urlarchiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202080532/http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConMediaFile.399/Smoke-from-the-bombed-factories-in-Silvertown.html |datearchivedate=2 December 2008 }} (|website=Port Cities) accessed |access-date=23 November 2008}}</ref>

Silver's was eventually taken over by the British Tyre and Rubber Co, later known as [[BTR plc|BTR Industries]]. The site closed in the 1960s and is now the Thameside Industrial Estate.<ref>{{cite web|title=West Ham: Industries|work=A History of the County of Essex|volume=6|year=1973|pages=76–89|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42755|access-date=14 April 2011}}</ref> Another major local employer was the Loders and Nucoline plant at Cairn Mills, a traditional port [[Margarinemargarine|oleo]] industry and formerly part of [[Unilever]]. This originally milled seeds but later concentrated on production of fats from [[palm kernel oil]].{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}

The area was part of the ancient parishparishs of [[West Ham]] and [[East Ham]], [[Essex]], from the 12th century onwards. The Local Government Act 1894 created East Ham Urban District. West Ham became a [[County Borough of West Ham|Countycounty Boroughborough]] in 1900, before merging with neighbouringEast areasHam to becomecreate the new [[London Borough of Newham]] in 1965.<ref>'{{cite book |chapter=West Ham: Introduction', in |title=A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6, ed|editor-first=W. W R. |editor-last=Powell (|location=London, |date=1973), pp. 43-50.|pages=43–50 |via=British History Online |chapter-url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol6/pp43-50 [accessed |access-date=15 July 2021].}}</ref>

The Silvertown Partnership's planswere aimselected as the development partner to delivertake aforward vibrantthe newregeneration destinationof inthe Londonsite. Their plan was to develop the site with homes, restaurants, commercial buildings, local convenience retail facilities, and significant public realm for community use. TheThey heritagepredicted of enterprise in the [[Royal Docks]] is hoped tothat beit revitalisedwould bringingprovide up to 2120,000700 new jobs, up to 3,000 homes and contributingcontribute £260m each year of gross value to the London economy. The redevelopment is planned to include the restoration of former flour factory [[Millennium Mills]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wharf.co.uk/news/local-news/35bn-silvertown-quays-gets-go-ahead-9095404|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170526102835/http://www.wharf.co.uk/news/local-news/35bn-silvertown-quays-gets-go-ahead-9095404|archivedate=2017-05-26|title=TheWharf - News - InYourArea|website=InYourArea.co.uk|access-date=30 November 2017}}</ref>

In January 2015, the [[Mayor of London]] announced an initial £12m of government funding to start work on demolishing part of [[Millennium Mills]] and clearing it of [[asbestos]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-30914024 |title=Renovation of historic mills begins |access-date=2015-06-11 |url-status=deadlive |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724181535/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-30914024 |archive-date=24 July 2015 |df=dmy-all |work=BBC News |date=21 January 2015 }}</ref> Prior to this latest development, the area was transformed in the 1970s by the construction of the [[Thames Barrier]], an adjacent park, new housing areas and [[London City Airport]]. In the mid -1990s much of the business activity in the area was centred on the brewing firm [[Bass Brewery|Bass]]. In 2007 [[Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester]] visited Silvertown, to formally open the new Silvertown Ambulance Station on North Woolwich Road.

The [[Tate & Lyle]] [[Thames Refinery]] is a [[safeguarded wharf]] in the [[Port of London]]. It is one of the largest sugar refineries in the world, with a capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per annum. The Raw Sugar and Refined and Shore Berth jetties include two [[bulk-handling crane]]. The terminal commodities are sugar, as dry bulks, and edible &and vegetable oils, as liquid bulks: it exports globally and imports from [[Fiji]], [[Caribbean]], [[Africa]] and [[South America]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.tateandlylesugars.com/about-us/our-locations |title = Historic Sites and Where We Are Based &#124; |website=Tate & Lyle Sugars}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://server2.pla.co.uk/handbook/terminalDirectory.cfm?flag=2&terminal_id=81 |title = Terminal Directory |website=Port of London Authority}}</ref>

The nearest [[List of Docklands Light Railway stations|Docklands Light Railway stationsstation]] is [[WestLondon SilvertownCity Airport DLR station|WestLondon SilvertownCity Airport]], with Pontoon Dock station also nearby. Access to Silvertown was much improved by an extension of the [[Docklands Light Railway]] from [[Canning Town station|Canning Town]] to [[Woolwich Arsenal DLR station|Woolwich Arsenal]], which opened on 202 December 2005. However, the old [[Silvertown railway station]] on the [[North London Line]], was closed in 2006.

*[[Frank Bailey (firefighter)|Frank Bailey]] (1925–2015), firefighter<ref name="Bailey">{{Cite web|last=Nicholas|first=Michael|date=26 January 2016|title=Frank Bailey obituary|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/26/frank-bailey-obituary|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108112641/http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/26/frank-bailey-obituary|archive-date=8 November 2020|access-date=26 November 2020|website=[[The Guardian]]|publisher=[[Guardian Media Group]]}}</ref>

* [httphttps://www.silvertownlondonsilvertown.comco.uk/ Silvertown Official Redevelopment Website]