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    Discover London Through History

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    Hat designed by Philip Treacy for display on the Louisa Harwood mannequin in the Pleasure Garden (ID no.: SC230/6) Look of London

    Hattention, please!

    We flipped through 600 items of headgear for the most cap-tivating stories.

    Miniature London Almanack for 1876, with a blue leather cover and leather covered slip case. Includes general information such as a regal table, a list of London Aldermen, Saints days and the time of High Water at London Bridge. (ID no.: 37.136a/8) Books

    Information in your pockets, in a pre-Google era

    Long before smartphones, almanacs and pocket books were the main source of handy, relevant information in Europe.

    A view of the mass grave uncovered at Liverpool Street by the Crossrail tunnel. Behind the scenes

    Excavating Tunnel: The Archaeology of Crossrail

    Discover the incredible archaeology of London uncovered during the Crossrail Project, including Roman artefacts and a burial site from the Great Plague of 1665.

    Copyright Crossrail. London now

    Boring London: digging the Crossrail Tunnel

    The extraordinary story of digging the Elizabeth Line under London.

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Museum of London Docklands
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First Port of Empire

1840-1880

Docklands at War

1939-1945

Permanent galleries

Warehouse of the World

1880-1939

Turn of the century London was the world's busiest port

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By 1880, London docks were a hub for world trade. Until the outbreak of the Second World War, the sheds and warehouses that lined the river Thames housed every conceivable commodity.

  • Banner of the Amalgamated Stevedores Union.
  • The Lonsdale championship belt in Museum of London Docklands.
  • Workmen stack elephant tusks in a warehouse on the London Docks. Copyright PLA Archive/Museum of London.
  • Staves of a tobacco hogshead being removed. Copyright PLA Archive/Museum of London.
  • Bottling press, London Docklands.
  • PLApolice.jpg
  • Reconstructed model of a customs office from the Warehouse of the World gallery.
  • "Turkoman" figure from outside a London shop, Docklands.
  • Warehouse of the World sampling case.
  • warehouse-of-the-world.jpg

Not to be missed on your visit

View slideshow

Banner of the Amalgamated Stevedores Union.

Banner of the Amalgamated Stevedores' Union, 1904

In 1889, the port of London was paralysed by a huge strike by the dockworkers. This banner commemorates the victory of the 100,000 striking stevedores - a milestone in labour history.

The Lonsdale championship belt in Museum of London Docklands.

Johnny Brown's boxing championship belt

This golden Lonsdale Belt was won by bantamweight boxing champion Johnny Brown, a working-class sporting hero who grew up and lived in London's East End.

Workmen stack elephant tusks in a warehouse on the London Docks. Copyright PLA Archive/Museum of London.

Weighing and checking ivory on the London docks, 1930

Elephant tusks, here being loaded into a London warehouse, were just one of the thousands of rare cargoes imported by the docks. © PLA collection.

Staves of a tobacco hogshead being removed. Copyright PLA Archive/Museum of London.

Tobacco at Royal Victoria Dock, 1930

This image shows the wooden staves being removed from a hogshead of tobacco before it was weighed. Royal Victoria Dock was the heart of the port's tobacco trade. © PLA collection.

Bottling press, London Docklands.

Bottling press

Wines and spirits were imported into the London docks in barrels. Specialist bottling facilities included labelling, corking and fitting foil to the top of the bottles.

PLApolice.jpg

Three PLA policemen jump into the Thames, 1930

These members of the Port of London police force were undertaking their annual life-saving practice at the West India Docks. © PLA collection.

Reconstructed model of a customs office from the Warehouse of the World gallery.

Look inside the recreated customs office

Customs officers had to check all the goods unloaded on the docks to levy the appropriate import duty. They worked from sheds like this one, built inside the quayside warehouses.

All the world's treasures for sale in London

This figure of a "Turkoman"- meaning someone from Turkey - stood outside a London grocer’s shop, advertising coffee imported from Turkey.

Warehouse of the World sampling case.

Sampling case

This is a dock sample cabinet with an amazing variety of different commodities. If a stray cargo was dropped on the quayside, the sample cabinet would be used to identify the commodity.

warehouse-of-the-world.jpg

Take the smell test

London imported a bewildering variety of objects. Can you identify some of them by scent alone? Look out for spices, woods, tobacco and tar.

Gallery access

The gallery is open during the museum's normal hours:

10am-5pm, Monday-Sunday

The gallery is on the second floor and can be accessed by lift.

Free entry, timed ticket

Warehouse of the world also of interest

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Free events every day

Tours, displays and handling sessions mean there's always something to do at Docklands.

Plan your visit

bride and groom pose in the museum of london docklands

Wedding in a warehouse

Find out about venue hire at the Museum of London Docklands.

Find out more

Buoys lined up along a quayside in 1948 © PLA Collection.

Discover the port's past

The Port and River archive tracks the history of London's docks.

Explore the collection

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