157-740: Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham . It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne . From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home to Deptford Dockyard , the first of the Royal Dockyards . This was a major shipbuilding dock and attracted Peter the Great to come and study shipbuilding. Deptford and
314-768: A Metropolitan Borough of Deptford was formed out of the southern parish of St Paul, with St Nicholas and the area around the Royal Dockyard coming under the governance of the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich . Under the London Government Act 1963 , the Metropolitan Borough of Deptford was absorbed in 1965 into the newly created London Borough of Lewisham, with the Deptford St Nicholas area becoming part of
471-606: A Dutch railway had a major stake. On the Harlingen line, the ships Widgeon and Teal got a cool chamber to transport dairy products. In the Thames tourism market GSN faced though competition from the Victoria Steamboat Association (VSA) for a while. In 1898 GSN added a new Eagle of 647 tons and a speed of 17 kn to the fleet serviced Margate and Ramsgate. Under these difficult business conditions,
628-589: A boat against it', (i.e. driving it out of business with a better boat at cheaper rates). By 1850 the GSN served seven lines to the near continent, seven ports on the British east coast, and was still strongly placed in the Margate and Ramsgate tourism. Most of these lines profited from collaborating with the competition. This was true for the coastal trade, and for the lines to Antwerp, Rotterdam and Hamburg. In 1851
785-529: A business opportunity and decided to convert one of the barges he had on the stocks to a steamboat. He ordered engines and soon launched her as Eagle Packet . She was used for a route between London and Ramsgate , where people could disembark without charges. Brocklebank built some more vessels, and formed the Ramsgate and Broadstairs Steam Packet Company. This company had shares dated 29 April 1822. It employed Brocklebank's Thames paddle steamer Eagle on
942-550: A committee of enquiry, and one of them called the management of the General Steam Navigation Company the 'laughing stock of the City'. What is certain, is that the company had overextended itself financially, and that when profits came under serious pressure from 1885, the management did not show caution, and had no plan B. In 1886 the first director with outside shipping experience was appointed. In 1890
1099-585: A community arts centre with a tradition of "radical community arts and music" including holding 15 " Rock Against Racism " concerts, has its roots in a charity established in 1894 to improve the social life of Deptford's deprived community. The original building, the Albany Institute, was opened in 1899 on Creek Road, changing its name in the 1960s to the Albany Empire. It was burnt down in 1978, but rebuilt on Douglas Way, with Prince Charles laying
1256-691: A controlling stake in GSN at £5.10s per £1 ordinary share. During the Interwar period GSN would operate as a subsidiary of P&O. In 1923 it acquired part of the Great Yarmouth Shipping company, an acquisition which became complete in 1931. In 1935 the Moss Hutchison Line, which traded in the Mediterranean became a subsidiary of GSN. GSN continued to provide pleasure cruises between London and resorts lower down
1413-429: A crane that could lift 66 tons. This was essential for placing engines and boilers in the ships. After 1829 all new vessels got engines by GSN itself. Hulls for wooden ships were built by local shipyards. Most iron ships were built by Ditchburn & Mare at Bow. The engineering gave GSN a cost advantage. They also allowed GSN to redress many defects in its early ships. In the 1830s the works assisted in lengthening most of
1570-463: A financial crisis. Only about half of its fleet was actually employed, and not all of these permanently. Many of the second hand ships which had been bought required extensive repairs, and the ships that had been ordered cost a lot of money before they generated revenue. Some shareholders were worried by the continued calls for additional funding, and in March 1827 they reacted by attempting to dissolve
1727-409: A good annual dividend to the shareholders. The GSN was so successful for multiple reasons. It had a shrewd management and a sound investment policy, but this was not a unique feature of the GSN. What did set the GSN apart was the sheer size of its operations and its domination of the near Continental and some of the coastal steam shipping. This was enabled by a very strong capital base. From the start,
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#17327662258061884-525: A growing Vietnamese community reflected in the number of restaurants in the area. Deptford contains a number of student populations, including those of Goldsmiths College , the University of Greenwich , Bellerbys College and Laban Dance Centre . Goldsmiths College's hall of residence, Rachel McMillan, in Creek Road was sold in 2001 for £79 million, and was subsequently demolished and replaced with
2041-541: A large part of south-eastern and a small part of western England; the river is fed by at least 50 named tributaries . The river contains over 80 islands . With its waters varying from freshwater to almost seawater, the Thames supports a variety of wildlife and has a number of adjoining Sites of Special Scientific Interest , with the largest being in the North Kent Marshes and covering 20.4 sq mi (5,289 ha). According to Mallory and Adams,
2198-416: A lot of new destinations for tourists, competing with the Margate and Ramsgate trips. The GSN pioneered the trade in imported livestock, which proved highly lucrative and significant for GSN. The import of life cattle was made possible by the steamship, with its near-guaranteed date of arrival. It also boosted the trade in meats and dairy products. This was further increased by reductions in customs duties in
2355-508: A network of creeks. Lying below sea level, it is prone to flooding at exceptional tides, but has nevertheless been inhabited since Roman times. The usually quoted source of the Thames is at Thames Head (at grid reference ST980994 ). This is about 1.5 mi (2.4 km) north of the village of Kemble in southern Gloucestershire , near the town of Cirencester , in the Cotswolds . However, Seven Springs near Cheltenham , where
2512-689: A new station to the west in the former station yard. Deptford's DLR station is at Deptford Bridge on the DLR's Lewisham branch. There are two main road routes through Deptford: the A200 which runs along Evelyn Street and Creek Road, and the A2 which runs along New Cross Road, and is the modern version of the Celtic trackway which was later paved by the Romans and developed into the medieval Watling Street . The A20 marks
2669-563: A pioneering plant designed by Sebastian de Ferranti , which when built was the largest station in the world. In 2008, Lewisham Council granted permission for the last remnants of the Deptford Ragged School known as The Princess Louise Institute to be demolished and replaced by flats. Albury Street (previously Union Street) contains a fine row of early urban houses largely dating from 1705 to 1717 which were once popular with naval captains and shipwrights. Tanners Hill in
2826-592: A possible use for any second hand ship. GSN also had the technical expertise to inspect ships, and to fix them if necessary. In 1860 the GSN's coastal ships went from London to Hull and Newcastle. In 1867 Yarmouth was added. A new service to Charente on the Bay of Biscay had been added to the continental destinations in December 1859. It was soon extended to Bordeaux and was served by four vessels. The cattle trade thrived, and GSN built three screw ships for this purpose. It
2983-639: A summer venue for organised swimming, which is prohibited on safety grounds in a stretch centred on Central London . After the river took its present-day course, many of the banks of the Thames Estuary and the Thames Valley in London were partly covered in marshland , as was the adjoining Lower Lea Valley . Streams and rivers like the River Lea , Tyburn Brook and Bollo Brook drained into
3140-570: A technological success, proving they were able to withstand the storms in the Bay of Biscay and the Baltic Sea . However, the shareholders were not happy with these lines. In March 1827 they agreed to sell the ships to the executives Banks and Jolliffe at a huge loss. By August 1827 the George IV and Duke of York had indeed been sold. The first line from London to Rotterdam had been opened by
3297-485: A visit by Queen Victoria. This massive facility included warehouses, a bakery, a cattleyard/abattoir and sugar stores, and closed in 1961. All that remains is the name of Sayes Court Park, accessed from Sayes Court Street off Evelyn Street, not far from Deptford High Street . The Pepys Estate , opened on 13 July 1966, is on the former grounds of the Victualling Yard. The Docks had been gradually declining from
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#17327662258063454-471: Is a landmark on the Boat Race course, while Glover's Island forms the centre of a view from Richmond Hill . Islands of historical interest include Magna Carta Island at Runnymede , Fry's Island at Reading, and Pharaoh's Island near Shepperton. In more recent times Platts Eyot at Hampton was the place where Motor Torpedo Boats (MTB)s were built, Tagg's Island near Molesey was associated with
3611-537: Is also St. Luke's, another historic circular church, dating from 1870. It is the daughter church of the parish of St Nicholas'. In the 18th century St. Paul's, Deptford (1712–1730) was built, acclaimed by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England as one of the finest Baroque churches in the country. John Betjeman is attributed as referring to the church as "a pearl at
3768-402: Is an important water source, especially in the drier months, so maintaining its quality and quantity is extremely important. Groundwater is vulnerable to surface pollution, especially in highly urbanised areas. Brooks, canals and rivers, within an area of 3,842 sq mi (9,951 km ), combine to form 38 main tributaries feeding the Thames between its source and Teddington Lock . This
3925-467: Is being redeveloped for commercial and residential use. Much of the area along Creek Road, close to Greenwich, has also been redeveloped, with the demolition of the old Deptford Power Station and Rose Bruford College buildings. Aragon Tower on the Pepys Estate was sold by Lewisham Borough to fund regeneration plans for the estate; the award-winning refurbishment into privately owned accommodation
4082-649: Is believed that Tamesubugus' name was derived from that of the river. Tamese was referred to as a place, not a river in the Ravenna Cosmography ( c. AD 700 ). The river's name has always been pronounced with a simple t /t/ ; the Middle English spelling was typically Temese and the Brittonic form Tamesis . A similar spelling from 1210, "Tamisiam" (the accusative case of "Tamisia"; see Kingston upon Thames § Early history ),
4239-549: Is formed for much of its length for shipping and supplies: through the Port of London for international trade, internally along its length and by its connection to the British canal system. The river's position has put it at the centre of many events in British history, leading to it being described by John Burns as "liquid history". Two broad canals link the river to other rivers: the Kennet and Avon Canal ( Reading to Bath ) and
4396-697: Is found in Magna Carta . The Thames through Oxford is sometimes called the Isis . Historically, and especially in Victorian times, gazetteers and cartographers insisted that the entire river was correctly named the Isis from its source down to Dorchester on Thames and that only from this point, where the river meets the Thame and becomes the "Thame-isis" (supposedly subsequently abbreviated to Thames) should it be so called. Ordnance Survey maps still label
4553-527: Is one of the oldest suburban stations in the world, being built (c.1836-38) as part of the first suburban service (the London and Greenwich Railway ), between London Bridge and Greenwich . Close to Deptford Creek is a Deptford pumping station , a Victorian pumping station built in 1864, part of the massive London sewerage system designed by civil engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette . The former Deptford Power Station , in use from 1891 to 1983, originated as
4710-452: Is responsible for managing the flow of water to help prevent and mitigate flooding, and providing for navigation: the volume and speed of water downstream is managed by adjusting the sluices at each of the weirs and, at peak high water, levels are generally dissipated over preferred flood plains adjacent to the river. Occasionally, flooding of inhabited areas is unavoidable and the agency issues flood warnings. Due to stiff penalties applicable on
4867-948: Is shared by many other river names in Britain, such as the River Tamar at the border of Devon and Cornwall , several rivers named Tame in the Midlands and North Yorkshire , the Tavy on Dartmoor , the Team of the North East, the Teifi and Teme of Wales , the Teviot in the Scottish Borders and a Thames tributary, the Thame . Kenneth H. Jackson proposed that the name of
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5024-558: Is sometimes called the Isis), Reading , Henley-on-Thames and Windsor . The Thames also drains the whole of Greater London . The lower reaches of the river are called the Tideway , derived from its long tidal reach up to Teddington Lock . Its tidal section includes most of its London stretch and has a rise and fall of 23 ft (7 m). From Oxford to the estuary, the Thames drops by 55 metres (180 ft). Running through some of
5181-404: Is the usual tidal limit ; however, high spring tides can raise the head water level in the reach above Teddington and can occasionally reverse the river flow for a short time. In these circumstances, tidal effects can be observed upstream to the next lock beside Molesey weir , which is visible from the towpath and bridge beside Hampton Court Palace . Before Teddington Lock was built in 1810–12,
5338-799: The River Isis , is a river that flows through southern England including London . At 215 miles (346 km), it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom , after the River Severn . The river rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire and flows into the North Sea near Tilbury , Essex and Gravesend , Kent, via the Thames Estuary . From the west, it flows through Oxford (where it
5495-617: The Battle of Deptford Bridge , in which rebels from Cornwall , led by Michael An Gof , marched on London protesting against punitive taxes, but were soundly beaten by the King's forces. A second settlement, Deptford Strand or Deptford Strond , developed as a modest fishing village on the Thames until Henry VIII used that site for a royal dock repairing, building and supplying ships, after which it grew in size and importance, shipbuilding remaining in operation until March 1869. Trinity House ,
5652-811: The Berwyn Mountains in North Wales . About 450,000 years ago, in the most extreme Ice Age of the Pleistocene , the Anglian , the furthest southern extent of the ice sheet reached Hornchurch in east London, the Vale of St Albans, and the Finchley Gap . It dammed the river in Hertfordshire , resulting in the formation of large ice lakes, which eventually burst their banks and caused
5809-549: The Brighton Pier . After fierce competition, the competitors came to an agreement, and published a common schedule and fare for two GSN ships and one "Brighton and Dieppe" ship. In 1836 GSN entered the coasting trade by acquiring the "London and Edinburgh Steam Packet Company". The London and Edinburgh had begun a London to Leith service in 1821. Its first ship was the City of Edinburgh of 420 ton burthen. The second ship
5966-541: The British Geological Survey from the banks of the tidal River Thames contain geochemical information and fossils which provide a 10,000-year record of sea-level change. Combined, this and other studies suggest that the Thames sea-level has risen more than 30 m during the Holocene at a rate of around 5–6 mm per year from 10,000 to 6,000 years ago. The rise of sea level dramatically reduced when
6123-473: The Celtic trackway which was later paved by the Romans and developed into the medieval Watling Street . The modern name is a corruption of "deep ford". Deptford was part of the pilgrimage route from London to Canterbury used by the pilgrims in Chaucer 's Canterbury Tales , and is mentioned in the prologue to " The Reeve's Tale ". The ford developed into first a wooden then a stone bridge, and in 1497 saw
6280-570: The Churn (which feeds into the Thames near Cricklade ) rises, is also sometimes quoted as the Thames' source, as this location is farthest from the mouth and adds some 14 mi (23 km) to the river's length. At Seven Springs above the source is a stone with the Latin hexameter inscription "Hic tuus o Tamesine pater septemgeminus fons", which means "Here, O Father Thames, [is] your sevenfold source". The springs at Seven Springs flow throughout
6437-601: The Foreign Cattle Market in Deptford, where cattle imported from countries at risk from rinderpest had to be landed and slaughtered. This severely affected prices, and thus freight for GSN. Meanwhile the growing economies of France and Germany also began to import live cattle, diminishing their supply. Furthermore, American and Canadian cattle and frozen meat began to enter the British market in huge quantities. The Long Depression that lasted from 1873 to 1896
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6594-684: The Grand Union Canal (London to the Midlands). The Grand Union effectively bypassed the earlier, narrow and winding Oxford Canal which remains open as a popular scenic recreational route. Three further cross-basin canals are disused but are in various stages of reconstruction: the Thames and Severn Canal (via Stroud ), which operated until 1927 (to the west coast of England), the Wey and Arun Canal to Littlehampton , which operated until 1871 (to
6751-412: The Hylton Jolliffe in June 1825. In 1831 the Post Office tendered a contract for the mail from London to Hamburg. It was awarded to the St George Steam Packet Company for £13,350. Within a few months, St. George's transferred the contract to GSN, and when it had to be renewed two years later, there was only a single offer by GSN for £17,000. It was widely believed that GSN achieved both the transfer and
6908-404: The King of the Netherlands . In 1826 GSN started to compete by employing the Belfast , which connected to the Rhine steamboats of the Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij (NSM), which was important for tourism. GSN and the "London and Rotterdam Steam Packet Company" soon entered into an agreement about freight rates and services. However, in April 1830 the NSM started to compete by commissioning
7065-458: The Laban Dance Centre , which was designed by Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron , and opened in February 2003; and the Art in Perpetuity Trust (APT) gallery and studio space. In 2002 the Creekside Discovery Centre was established to retain some urban habitat that was being destroyed through the area's regeneration. A record label, Deptford Fun City Records was set up by Miles Copeland III , brother of Stewart Copeland , in
7222-402: The London County Council for less than its market value, as well as paying toward the cost of its purchase. It was officially opened to the public as Deptford Park on 7 June 1897. In 1886, he dedicated an acre and a half of the Sayes Court recreation ground in perpetuity to the public and a permanent provision was made for the Evelyn estate to cover the expense of maintenance and caretaking, this
7379-412: The Pepys Estate and some southern fringes of the old Surrey Commercial Docks . The name Deptford – anciently written Depeford meaning "deep ford " — is derived from the place where the road from London to Dover , the ancient Watling Street (now the A2 ), crosses the River Ravensbourne at the site of what became Deptford Bridge at Deptford Broadway. The Ravensbourne crosses under the A2 at roughly
7536-411: The Rapid of captain Smith in July 1822. In August 1822, the "London and Rotterdam Steam Packet Company" started to operate on the same route and immediately came to an agreement on a schedule with the owners of the Rapid . Its first ship was the King of the Netherlands . The Rapid continued on this line throughout 1823, but then seems to have left. In April 1825 the Queen of the Netherlands joined
7693-417: The River Lea can be considered another boundary. Most of the local riverside was also marshland. The land was drained and became farmland; it was built on after the Industrial Revolution . Canvey Island in southern Essex (area 18.45 km , 7.12 sq mi; population 40,000 ) was once marshy, but is now a fully reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, separated from the mainland of south Essex by
7850-433: The Royal Academy , London , in 1785. They are now on show at the River and Rowing Museum in Henley). Richard Coates suggests that while the river was as a whole called the Thames, part of it, where it was too wide to ford, was called * (p)lowonida . This gave the name to a settlement on its banks, which became known as Londinium , from the Indo-European roots * pleu- "flow" and * -nedi "river" meaning something like
8007-414: The Royal Borough of Greenwich , with both these new boroughs now forming part of the new Greater London body. In 1994 the bulk of the northern part, including the former Royal Dockyard area, was transferred to Lewisham, an adjustment of about 40 hectares (99 acres), leaving only the north eastern area, around St Nicholas's church, in Greenwich. Deptford is split between two electoral wards - Evelyn in
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#17327662258068164-414: The Stone House in St Johns , built around 1772 by the architect George Gibson the Younger, and described by Pevsner as "the one individual house of interest in this area", still stands by Lewisham Way . Deptford's Albany Theatre has a history stretching back over 100 years and is a prominent feature of the South-East London arts scene. St Nicholas's Church, the original parish church, dates back to
8321-441: The Thames Barrier , which protects central London from flooding by storm surges . Below the barrier, the river passes Woolwich , Thamesmead , Dagenham , Erith , Purfleet , Dartford , West Thurrock , Northfleet , Tilbury and Gravesend before entering the Thames Estuary near Southend-on-Sea . The sea level in the Thames estuary is rising and the rate of rise is increasing. Sediment cores up to 10 m deep collected by
8478-420: The Thanetian stage of the late Palaeocene epoch. Until around 500,000 years ago, the Thames flowed on its existing course through what is now Oxfordshire , before turning to the north-east through Hertfordshire and East Anglia and reaching the North Sea near present-day Ipswich . At this time the river-system headwaters lay in the English West Midlands and may, at times, have received drainage from
8635-540: The "New Margate Company"'s vessels. The line to Calais had been inherited the line to Calais with the Lord Melville and the Earl of Liverpool . It then bought the Rapid , so it could use the Earl of Liverpool for a new line to Ostend . The line to Lisbon, Vigo, Oporto and Gibraltar was part of plans to establish a London - Cádiz and a London - Saint Petersburg line. These obviously required bigger ships. George IV and Duke of York measured between 500 and 600 tons burthen, and had 130 hp engines. These were
8792-437: The 14th century but the current building is 17th century. The entrance to the churchyard features a set of skull-and-bones on top of the posts. A plaque on the north wall commemorates playwright Christopher Marlowe , who was stabbed to death by Ingram Frizer in a nearby house, and buried in an unmarked grave in the churchyard on 1 June 1593. Frizer was pardoned for the killing on the grounds that he acted in self-defence. There
8949-401: The 1840 and 1850s. At first cattle was embarked on the regular from Rotterdam and Hamburg. Next a ship was regularly dispatched to collect cattle in Tönning , north of Hamburg. In 1851 a exceptional passage by the Giraffe brought in 279 oxen and cows, 67 calves and 500 sheep. In 1851 the "Northern Steam Packet Company" started to operate between Lowestoft and Tönning. It was a subsidiary of
9106-473: The 1870s GSN management tried to develop new lines to the near-continent, e.g. to Terneuzen and Ghent , Bordeaux, Groningen , but only a service to Porto seems to have become a more lasting venture. In 1882 GSN started a service to the Mediterranean, with calls at Genoa , Livorno , Naples , Messina and Palermo . It would become an enduring and profitable venture. On the other hand a major strike in 1889 in London led to traffic shifting to outports and to
9263-400: The 18th century; the larger ships being built found the Thames difficult to navigate, and Deptford was under competition from the new docks at Plymouth , Portsmouth and Chatham . When the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815 the need for a Docks to build and repair warships declined; the Docks shifted from shipbuilding to concentrate on victualling at the Royal Victoria Victualling Yard , and
9420-479: The 20th century as the local population's dependency on the docks continued: as the docks themselves declined, so did the economic fortune of the inhabitants until the last dock, Convoys Wharf , closed in 2000. In common with neighbouring areas of South East London, immigrants from the Caribbean settled in Deptford in the 1950s and 1960s. Deptford's northern section nearest the old docks contains areas of council housing, with some concentrations of people experiencing
9577-428: The 20th century with the closing of the docks, and the damage caused by the bombing during the Blitz in the Second World War – a V-2 rocket destroyed a Woolworths store in New Cross Gate, killing 160 people. High unemployment caused some of the population to move away as the riverside industries closed down in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The local council have developed plans with private companies to regenerate
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#17327662258069734-447: The French beaches. By the mid 1960s the Thames excursion services were closed down, and the appearance of the container ship and the roll-on/roll-off ferry ended most of GSN's traditional business. GSN became a leading player in two Anglo-European consortia: North Sea Ferries and Normandy Ferries. These became the backbone of what ultimately evolved into P&O Ferries after P&O re-organized its subsidiaries in 1971. In October 1971
9891-409: The GSN dominated trade into London. It had 67% of the sailings by British vessels from France, 48% from the Netherlands, and 95% of that from Belgium. Meanwhile competition by the railways had become a serious challenge. In 1850 a passenger could already travel between London and Edinburg much faster by train. The railway companies were also getting into shipping, e.g. the LBSCR . They also opened up
10048-447: The GSN got competition from a company from Liverpool. GSN reacted by slashing freight rates and obliged the competitor to withdraw after only a few months. In 1870 GSN was still a very important shipping company. It served seven regular destinations on the near-continent and four destinations on the British East coast. It offered regular excursions to Boulogne, Margate and Ramsgate. GSN had cattle lines to Harlingen and Geestemünde . In
10205-423: The GSN spread its interests over a number of routes, making that survival did not depend on any of them. The large number ships that it owned gave if flexibility in allocating ships. In turn, this enabled the rich GSN to adopt ruthless competitive tactics that smaller companies could not adopt. In 1836 a merchant commented that: '... the moment a boat is attempted to be put on any (GSN) station they immediately put on
10362-553: The Lowestoft Harbour and Railway Company, which provided transport to the London markets. The later North of Europe Steam Packet collapsed in 1858, but another company bought its ships, and continued the Tönning service. In 1860 the GSN had 43 vessels, a mix of wooden paddle steamers, iron paddlers, and iron screw ships. From 1860 to 1869 a further 31 were built or bought, most of them iron screw ships. During this decade many old vessels were taken out of service, so only about 50 vessels remained by 1870. The purchase of ships again showed
10519-454: The McMillan Student Village which opened in 2003 and provides accommodation for approximately 970 students of the University of Greenwich, Trinity Laban and Bellerbys colleges. Deptford's economic history has been strongly connected to the Dockyard - when the Dockyard was thriving, so Deptford thrived; with the docks now all closed, Deptford has declined economically. However, areas of Deptford are being gradually re-developed and gentrified - and
10676-411: The North Sea, and the Thames Barrier was built in the 1980s to protect London from this risk. The Nore is the sandbank that marks the mouth of the Thames Estuary , where the outflow from the Thames meets the North Sea . It is roughly halfway between Havengore Creek in Essex and Warden Point on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. Until 1964 it marked the seaward limit of the Port of London Authority. As
10833-405: The Ramsgate shipping line owner Thomas Brocklebank. Mr. Matthias Attwood MP was the first chairman. He would be succeeded by his son Matthias Wolverley Attwood (1808-1865). (Matthias Attwood should not be confused with his younger brother the MP and banker Thomas Attwood . Others have that Sir Joseph Banks and Thomas Brocklebank would only later become the managing director. When the company
10990-489: The River Thames on the Tideway include the rivers Crane , Brent , Wandle , Ravensbourne (the final part of which is called Deptford Creek ), Lea (the final part of which is called Bow Creek ), Roding (Barking Creek), Darent and Ingrebourne . In London, the water is slightly brackish with sea salt, being a mix of sea and fresh water. This part of the river is managed by the Port of London Authority . The flood threat here comes from high tides and strong winds from
11147-502: The Royal Dock closed in 1869. From 1871 until 1913 the shipyard site was the City of London Corporation 's Foreign Cattle Market , to which live animals were brought by cattle boat from four continents and from whence came about half of London's meat supply. The yard was taken over by the War Office in 1914, and was an Army Supply Reserve Depot in the First and Second World Wars . The site lay unused until being purchased by Convoys (newsprint importers) in 1984, and eventually came into
11304-523: The Royal Navy moved out, and then the commercial docks themselves declined until the last dock, Convoys Wharf , closed in 2000. A Metropolitan Borough of Deptford existed from 1900 until 1965, when the area became part of the newly created London Borough of Lewisham. Deptford took its name from a ford across the Ravensbourne (near what is now Deptford Bridge DLR station ) along the route of
11461-642: The St John's or New Deptford area to the south of New Cross Road , is part of an Area of Archaeological Priority due to the longevity of settlement and early industry, and contains a set of commercial buildings from numbers 21 to 31 which are survivors from a row of 31 which were built in the 1750s on the site of cottages dating from the 17th century. These timber-frame buildings have a Grade II listing from English Heritage and are home to established businesses such as bicycle maker Witcomb Cycles . Of Deptford's two important houses, Sayes Court no longer exists, but
11618-480: The Thames Estuary), the river is subject to tidal activity from the North Sea . Before the lock was installed, the river was tidal as far as Staines, about 16 mi (26 km) upstream. London, capital of Roman Britain , was established on two hills, now known as Cornhill and Ludgate Hill . These provided a firm base for a trading centre at the lowest possible point on the Thames. A river crossing
11775-521: The Thames as "River Thames or Isis" down to Dorchester. Since the early 20th century this distinction has been lost in common usage outside of Oxford, and some historians suggest the name Isis is nothing more than a truncation of Tamesis , the Latin name for the Thames. Sculptures titled Tamesis and Isis by Anne Seymour Damer are located on the bridge at Henley-on-Thames , Oxfordshire (the original terracotta and plaster models were exhibited at
11932-493: The Thames is not Indo-European (and of unknown meaning), while Peter Kitson suggested that it is Indo-European but originated before the Britons and has a name indicating "muddiness" from a root *tā- , 'melt'. Early variants of the name include: Indirect evidence for the antiquity of the name "Thames" is provided by a Roman potsherd found at Oxford, bearing the inscription Tamesubugus fecit (Tamesubugus made [this]). It
12089-567: The Thames, from Middle English Temese , is derived from the Brittonic name for the river, Tamesas (from * tamēssa ), recorded in Latin as Tamesis and yielding modern Welsh Tafwys "Thames". The name element Tam may have meant "dark" and can be compared to other cognates such as Russian темно ( Proto-Slavic * tĭmĭnŭ ), Lithuanian tamsi "dark", Latvian tumsa "darkness", Sanskrit tamas and Welsh tywyll "darkness" and Middle Irish teimen "dark grey". The origin
12246-642: The Thames. The purchase of the New Medway Steam Packet Co. in 1936 gave it a monopoly of this business. At the start of World War II , the GSN had about 45 ships, of which 10 were pleasure vessels. During the 1940 Dunkirk evacuation , multiple GSN ships participated. Its paddle-steamers were especially effective, as they could carry many passengers and were very fast. Involved were the paddle steamers Royal Eagle (1932), Golden Eagle , Medway Queen , Crested Eagle , and Queen of Thanet . GSN ships saved around 10% of all those rescued from
12403-521: The advantage of being a big company. GSN bought many of these 31 vessels second hand, and at bargain prices. An example of buying second hand was that in 1860 GSN bought four iron screw ships built in 1856 from the "Harburg English steam Navigation Company", and kept two of them on the Harburg line. This GSN behavior has been called a cost-aware willingness to use cheap second-hand ships. Other reasons might be that GSN's size made her far more likely to have
12560-562: The big De Batavier . That same year, the "London and Rotterdam Steam Packet Company" sold the Queen of the Netherlands to GSN. In August 1831, the King of the Netherlands also left the London to Rotterdam line. At the end of the 1820s GSN started to operate a freight business. The import of live cattle and sheep from Rotterdam became very important. The line to Hamburg was started with
12717-418: The border between New Cross and Deptford: Deptford Green , regarded by Ofsted as "needing improvement", and Addey and Stanhope , regarded by Ofsted as "good". A branch of the further education college, Lewisham College incorporating Southwark College (known as LeSoCo ), is located on Deptford Church Street; the college was regarded as "inadequate" in the 2014 Ofsted inspection. Deptford railway station
12874-677: The building is not known, but ancient foundations found on the brow of Broomfield, near the Mast Dock and adjacent to Sayes Court may be the remains of the building. Deptford was mostly located in the Blackheath Hundred of the county of Kent , with the Hatcham part in the Brixton Hundred of Surrey . In 1730 was divided into the two parishes of St Nicholas and St Paul. It was also referred to as West Greenwich, with
13031-727: The case of the Colne ), and man-made distributaries such as the Longford River . Three canals intersect this stretch: the Oxford Canal , Kennet and Avon Canal and Wey Navigation . Its longest artificial secondary channel (cut), the Jubilee River , was built between Maidenhead and Windsor for flood relief and completed in 2002. The non-tidal section of the river is managed by the Environment Agency , which
13188-663: The company. This did not succeed, but in the autumn, the three executive directors who had been in charge up till then were replaced by three committees. The change led to tighter procedures and better accounting, and the company becoming profitable. In 1831 Parliament granted limited liability via the General Steam Navigation Company Act 1831 ( 1 & 2 Will. 4 . c. liii), and incorporation followed in 1834. In 1826 GSN had eight shipping lines: The line to Ramsgate and Margate had been Brocklebank's Ramsgate and Broadstairs Steam Packet Company, that
13345-476: The confluence, the overall length of the Thames measured from Seven Springs, at 229 mi (369 km), is greater than the Severn's length of 220 mi (350 km). Thus, the "Churn/Thames" river may be regarded as the longest natural river in the United Kingdom. The stream from Seven Springs is joined at Coberley by a longer tributary which could further increase the length of the Thames, with its source in
13502-628: The continent. This also led to the closure of the Boulogne line. During the 1870s tourism to the Kent and Essex coasts continued to develop. It was quite usual for three vessels to run a daily schedule to the Kent coast. The deck-saloon steamer Hoboken , acquired in 1877 was an innovation that greatly increased passenger comfort. In this decade GSN also added a tourist service to Great Yarmouth, which would become very important. The cattle trade would not develop that well. In 1871 London authorities opened
13659-449: The control of the government. No less than 21 of its 46 ships were used as transports, supply ships and minesweepers. 23 ships were lost while five new ones were added. It was also a time of great profit for GSN, which doubled the nominal capital to £1,000,000. After World War I GSN was a prize worth having for larger operators, because it could be used as feeder service for their deep-water trades. In 1920 P&O Steam Navigation bought
13816-603: The directors announced a reduction in the half year dividend for the first time in many years. From 1881 to 1884 GSN kept up a trading profit of about £100,000 a year. In 1885 a 50% decline in the receipts from cattle transport reduced the trading profit to only £38,000. The GSN then ceased to pay regular dividend, and only paid a reduced dividend on the preference shares. In late 1885 the company's £15 nominal shares had dropped to £7 from an 1880 sell price of £29. The decline in GSN's fortunes led to serious confrontations with angry shareholders. In 1889 some of these were pressing for
13973-519: The docks are associated with the knighting of Sir Francis Drake by Queen Elizabeth I aboard the Golden Hind , the legend of Sir Walter Raleigh laying down his cape for Elizabeth, Captain James Cook 's third voyage aboard HMS Resolution , and the mysterious apparent murder of Christopher Marlowe in a house along Deptford Strand. Though Deptford began as two small communities, one at
14130-515: The docks were thriving as the main administrative centre of the British Navy, so the area prospered, and fine houses were built for the administrative staff and the skilled shipbuilders, and a few grand houses like Sayes Court and Stone House on Lewisham Way were erected. There was a start of a demographic shift downwards when the Royal Navy pulled out of Deptford, and the docks moved into storage and freight. The downward shift continued into
14287-516: The drier parts of mainland Britain and heavily abstracted for drinking water, the Thames' discharge is low considering its length and breadth: the Severn has a discharge almost twice as large on average despite having a smaller drainage basin . In Scotland , the Tay achieves more than double the Thames' average discharge from a drainage basin that is 60% smaller. Along its course are 45 navigation locks with accompanying weirs . Its catchment area covers
14444-585: The east, and the Thames separates the area from the Isle of Dogs to the north east; it is contained within the London SE8 post code area. The area referred to as North Deptford is the only part of the London Borough of Lewisham to front the Thames and is sandwiched between Rotherhithe and Greenwich. Much of this riverside estate is populated by the former Naval Dockyards, now known as Convoys Wharf ,
14601-503: The existing GSN fleet. GSN operated wharves in Coldharbour and near London Bridge, with some piers and buildings designed by company architect and surveyor Robert Palmer Browne. In 1867 GSN would become the owner of St Katharine's Wharf. After some troubles and failed experiments in the first years, the GSN proved a very successful concern in the 1830s and 1840s. Solid profits allowed it to expand, to build up reserves, and to pay
14758-424: The experienced shipper A. Howden was appointed. By 1890 GSN was in deep trouble. It was obvious that the cattle trade would not recover, and that the shipping lines to the near-continent would continue to suffer from direct and indirect competition from the railways. The shipment of cargo via GSN's homeport London would also continue to decline. The only success were the Mediterranean services. During these years,
14915-479: The first instalment was only two pounds 10 shillings, and would never exceed £15. The company had a wide ranging vision of establishing steam lines across the globe, but also wanted to station steam vessels for towing at multiple places on the British coast. GSN's first board had 18 members. Amongst these were the Calais shipping line owners William Jolliffe and Sir Edward Banks, the wharfinger William J. Hall, and
15072-514: The fleet on the Kent services existed of the very popular Golden Eagle and Eagle in 1911. The passenger traffic from London to Scotland and the near-continent peaked at the turn of the century, but was more profitable. Overall, the GSN made a remarkable recovery from its 1903 low point to 1913. It extended GSN's activities into cargo handling and forwarding, and increased involvement in Hull, Grimsby and Yarmouth. In spite of increased competition, it
15229-460: The fleet to a more realistic book value enabled the board to restructure the company. This came down forming a new legal entity with a capital of only £484,024. Each regular share of £15 could be traded for one new share of £7.5. The preference shareholders exchanged their £10 shares for £8 shares, but as these would now pay 6% instead of 5% they lost only very little. It was a sign of the already improved situation. In November 1902 Richard White became
15386-475: The flowing river or the wide flowing unfordable river. The river gives its name to three informal areas: the Thames Valley , a region of England around the river between Oxford and West London; the Thames Gateway ; and the greatly overlapping Thames Estuary around the tidal Thames to the east of London and including the waterway itself. Thames Valley Police is a formal body that takes its name from
15543-507: The ford, and the other a fishing village on the Thames, Deptford's history and population has been mainly associated with the docks established by Henry VIII . The two communities grew together and flourished during the period when the docks were the main administrative centre of the Royal Navy , and some grand houses like Sayes Court , home to diarist John Evelyn , and Stone House on Lewisham Way, were erected. The area declined as first
15700-613: The former Metropolitan Borough of Deptford , built in 1905 with decorative sculpture by Henry Poole , lies just outside Deptford, on the New Cross Road in New Cross . It was purchased by Goldsmiths College in 2000. There are several green spaces in the area, the largest being Brookmill Park, Deptford Park , Ferranti Park, Pepys Park and Sayes Court Park . In 1884 William John Evelyn , a descendant of John Evelyn , sold ground then being used as market gardens in Deptford, to
15857-527: The forms of deprivation typically associated with the poverty of Inner London. Northern Deptford near the Thames, along with neighbouring New Cross , has been touted as "the new Shoreditch " by some journalists and estate agents paying attention to a trendy arts and music scene that is popular with students and artists. To the south where Deptford rolls into the suburban spread of Brockley , the previously multi-occupancy Victorian houses are being gentrified by young city workers and urban professionals. Deptford has
16014-445: The foundation stone, and Diana, Princess of Wales opening it in 1982. Deptford Cinema is a volunteer run, not-for-profit, community cinema , art gallery , and occasional music venue , open since late 2014 and located at 39 Deptford Broadway. At the time of opening it was the borough of Lewisham 's only functioning cinema. Creekside, a regeneration area beside Deptford Creek, is used for educational and artistic purposes, such as
16171-663: The grounds of the National Star College at Ullenwood . The Thames flows through or alongside Ashton Keynes , Cricklade , Lechlade , Oxford , Abingdon-on-Thames , Wallingford , Goring-on-Thames and Streatley (at the Goring Gap ), Pangbourne and Whitchurch-on-Thames , Reading , Wargrave , Henley-on-Thames , Marlow , Maidenhead , Windsor and Eton , Staines-upon-Thames and Egham , Chertsey , Shepperton , Weybridge , Sunbury-on-Thames , Walton-on-Thames , Molesey and Thames Ditton . The river
16328-694: The heart of Deptford". It was designed by the architect Thomas Archer , who was a pupil of Sir Christopher Wren, as part of the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches with the intention of instilling pride in Britain, and encouraging people to stay in London rather than emigrate to the New World . Adjacent to the church yard is Albury Street, which contains some fine 18th-century houses which were popular with sea captains and shipbuilders. River Thames The River Thames ( / t ɛ m z / TEMZ ), known alternatively in parts as
16485-512: The ice melt nearly concluded over the past 4,000 years. Since the beginning of the 20th century, rates of sea level rise range from 1.22 mm per year to 2.14 mm per year. The Thames River Basin District, including the Medway catchment, covers an area of 6,229 sq mi (16,130 km ). The entire river basin is a mixture of urban and rural, with rural landscape predominating in
16642-640: The impresario Fred Karno and Eel Pie Island at Twickenham was the birthplace of the South East's R&B music scene. Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster (commonly known today as the Houses of Parliament ) were built on Thorney Island , which used to be an eyot . Researchers have identified the River Thames as a discrete drainage line flowing as early as 58 million years ago, in
16799-554: The late 1970s as an outlet for Deptford bands such as Alternative TV and Squeeze . The area has several pubs, including the Dog & Bell which has a reputation for serving a range of cask ales , The Royal Albert which is a Grade II listed building from the mid-19th century that was previously known as The Paradise Bar and saw early gigs by Bloc Party and Art Brut , and The Bird's Nest which has live music, film and art performances from local bands and artists. The town hall of
16956-499: The local council has plans to regenerate the riverside and the town centre. A large former industrial site by the Thames called Convoys Wharf is scheduled for redeveloping into mixed use buildings. This will involve the construction of around 3,500 new homes and an extension of the town centre northwards towards the river. The site of a former foundry (established in 1881 by J. Stone & Co in Arklow Road) which closed in 1969
17113-590: The management made serious attempts to get into more profitable activities. Amongst these, a line from Manchester via the Manchester Ship Canal to Rotterdam, and a line from Manchester to West Africa. These attempts were fruitless, and the failure of the shipping line to the West African coast even seriously aggravated the situation. In February 1893 chairman Tritton resigned. He was replaced by Sir James Lyle Mackay . The Great Eastern Railway
17270-632: The modern town of Greenwich being referred to as East Greenwich until this use declined in the 19th century. The whole of Deptford came within the Metropolitan Police District in 1830 and was included in the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1855. It was transferred to the County of London in 1889. Originally under the governance of the ancient parishes of St Paul and St Nicholas, in 1900,
17427-483: The new board tried to redress the situation, and succeeded. In 1896 GSN suddenly paid the full dividend on the preference shares, and applied £20,000 to depreciation of the fleet. The turnaround was such that a magazine suggested that it could only be due to creative bookkeeping. The turnaround was remarkable, and in 1897 GSN even paid a dividend of 2 per cent on the regular shares. However, as receipts grew from £432,695 in 1892 to £547,162 in 1901, profit remained low. This
17584-748: The new chairman, he was himself the largest shareholder with £25,000 in shares. The new management took some measures towards vertical integration. The passenger and cargo agencies, brokers, and middlemen were up to then independent companies, but were now brought in-house. It turned GSN from a company that merely owned and managed ships into a transport company, controlling cargo from origin to destination, with offices in all principal continental ports. The new management did prove able to develop business opportunities near home, in south Yorkshire and East-Anglia. New low-profile lines with small ships were started to Hull, Yarmouth, Grimsby, King's Lynn, and Norwich. GSN also remained committed to tourism. After some changes
17741-426: The non-tidal river, which is a drinking water source before treatment, sanitary sewer overflow from the many sewage treatment plants covering the upper Thames basin should be rare in the non-tidal Thames. However, storm sewage overflows are still common in almost all the main tributaries of the Thames despite claims by Thames Water to the contrary. Below Teddington Lock (about 55 mi or 89 km upstream of
17898-577: The north and part of New Cross to the south. Following public consultation, the Local Government Boundary Commission for England recommended in June 2020 that the Deptford wards (Evelyn and New Cross) should be unified and renamed Deptford. Deptford borders the areas of Brockley and Lewisham to the south, New Cross to the west and Rotherhithe to the north west; the Ravensbourne river divides it from Greenwich to
18055-525: The organisation concerned with the safety of navigation around the British Isles, was formed in Deptford in 1514, with its first Master being Thomas Spert , captain of the Mary Rose . It moved to Stepney in 1618. The name "Trinity House" derives from the church of Holy Trinity and St Clement, which adjoined the dockyard. Originally separated by market gardens and fields, the two areas merged over
18212-639: The owner of the house, Sir Richard Browne . After the Restoration , Evelyn obtained a 99-year lease of the house and grounds, and laid out meticulously planned gardens in the French style, of hedges and parterres . In its grounds was a cottage at one time rented by master woodcarver Grinling Gibbons . After Evelyn had moved to Surrey in 1694, Peter the Great , the Russian tsar , studied shipbuilding for three months in 1698 while staying at Sayes Court. Evelyn
18369-444: The ownership of News International . In the mid-1990s, although significant investment was made on the site, it became uneconomic to continue using it as a freight wharf. In 2008 Hutchison Whampoa bought the 16 ha site from News International with plans for a £700m 3,500-home development scheme. The Grade II listed Olympia Warehouse will be refurbished as part of the redevelopment of the site. Deptford experienced economic decline in
18526-628: The railways. In 1863 the Great Eastern Railway opened a line from Harwich to Rotterdam, carrying mainly cattle. In 1864 it opened a line to Antwerp. By 1866 the Great Eastern had five ships Avalon , Ipswich , Pacific , Stour , and Zealous . However, it lacked the capabilities to make effective use of these, and it would be 1883 before the GER Harwich lines started to grow. On the line to Charente and Bordeaux,
18683-585: The river passes Pimlico and Vauxhall , and then forms one of the principal axes of the city, from the Palace of Westminster to the Tower of London . At this point, it historically formed the southern boundary of the medieval city, with Southwark , on the opposite bank, then being part of Surrey . Beyond central London, the river passes Bermondsey , Wapping , Shadwell , Limehouse , Rotherhithe , Millwall , Deptford , Greenwich , Cubitt Town , Blackwall , New Charlton and Silvertown , before flowing through
18840-534: The river to divert onto its present course through the area of present-day London. The ice lobe which stopped at present-day Finchley deposited about 14 metres of boulder clay there. Its torrent of meltwater gushed through the Finchley Gap and south towards the new course of the Thames, and proceeded to carve out the Brent Valley in the process. General Steam Navigation Company The General Steam Navigation Company (GSN), incorporated in 1824,
18997-439: The river was tidal at peak spring tides as far as Staines upon Thames . In descending order, non-related tributaries of the non-tidal Thames, with river status, are the Churn , Leach , Cole , Ray , Coln , Windrush , Evenlode , Cherwell , Ock , Thame , Pang , Kennet , Loddon , Colne , Wey and Mole . In addition, there are occasional backwaters and artificial cuts that form islands, distributaries (most numerous in
19154-596: The river, covering three counties . In non-administrative use, the river's name is used in those of Thames Valley University , Thames Water , Thames Television , publishing company Thames & Hudson , Thameslink (north–south rail service passing through central London ) and South Thames College . An example of its use in the names of historic entities is the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company . Marks of human activity, in some cases dating back to Pre-Roman Britain , are visible at various points along
19311-456: The river, while some islands, e.g. Thorney Island , formed over the ages. The northern tip of the ancient parish of Lambeth , for example, was marshland known as Lambeth Marshe , but it was drained in the 18th century; the street names Lower Marsh and Upper Marsh preserve a memory. Until the middle of the Victorian era, malaria was commonplace beside the River Thames, even in London, and
19468-519: The river. These include a variety of structures connected with use of the river, such as navigations, bridges and watermills , as well as prehistoric burial mounds . The lower Thames in the Roman era was a shallow waterway winding through marshes. But centuries of human intervention have transformed it into a deep tidal canal flowing between 200 miles of solid walls; these defend a floodplain where 1.5 million people work and live. A major maritime route
19625-503: The riverside area, and the town centre. The Manor of Deptford or West Greenwich was bestowed by William the Conqueror upon Gilbert de Magminot or Maminot, bishop of Lisieux , one of the eight barons associated with John de Fiennes for the defence of Dover Castle . Maminot held the head of his barony at Deptford and according to John Lyon writing in 1814, he built himself a castle, or castellated mansion at Deptford. The location of
19782-493: The route between London and Ramsgate. In 1822 Brocklebank built the slightly larger Royal Sovereign for the same route. In 1824 the City of London was built. In May 1824 Brocklebank sold the Eagle . The initiative to form the General Steam Navigation Company came from William J. Hall and Thomas Brocklebank. On 11 June 1824 a contract was signed to found the company. It had a large nominal capital of £2 million in £100 shares, but
19939-551: The same spot as the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) crosses over; and at the point where it becomes tidal, just after Lewisham College , it is known as Deptford Creek, and flows into the River Thames at Greenwich Reach. Deptford's population has been mainly associated with the docks since the establishment of the Royal Docks by Henry VIII, though there has also been some market gardening and potteries. When
20096-611: The sandbank was a major hazard for shipping coming in and out of London, in 1732 it received the world's first lightship . This became a major landmark, and was used as an assembly point for shipping. Today it is marked by Sea Reach No. 1 Buoy. The River Thames contains over 80 islands ranging from the large estuarial marshlands of the Isle of Sheppey and Canvey Island to small tree-covered islets like Rose Isle in Oxfordshire and Headpile Eyot in Berkshire. They are found all
20253-511: The ships in this overview can be identified with ships in an 1822 overview of early steam vessels. The overview illustrates how the company's operations started. In 1824, Jolliffe, Banks, and Brocklebank brought in their four steam vessels. The board then carefully placed orders for six new ships: four built by Everden at Deptford on land leased from Brocklebank, and two by Wallis at Blackwall . In 1825 however, many existing ships were hastily bought after little prior inspection. In 1826 GSN faced
20410-492: The single offer by paying about £2,000 a year to its competitor. The line from Brighton to Dieppe provided a short route from London to Paris at a time that there were no railways from Paris to the coast. It would occasionally start and end at Newhaven , i.e. when it was not safe to land at Brighton. The local competitor the "Brighton and Dieppe Steam Packet Company" employed the Quentin Durward , and had better use of
20567-541: The south coast), and the Wilts & Berks Canal . Rowing and sailing clubs are common along the Thames, which is navigable to such vessels. Kayaking and canoeing also take place. Major annual events include the Henley Royal Regatta and the Boat Race , while the Thames has been used during two Summer Olympic Games : 1908 ( rowing ) and 1948 ( rowing and canoeing ). Safe headwaters and reaches are
20724-614: The southern boundary of the area, along Lewisham Way and Loampit Vale. Since June 2016, Deptford has been on the cycling route of the London Quietway route Q1 that starts in Greenwich and ends near Waterloo Bridge in central London. A second Quietway route, Q14, between Waterloo and Thamesmead, passes through Deptford's riverfront. There are five primary schools in the area. There are no local secondary schools directly in Deptford, however there are two secondary schools near
20881-413: The time, the brothers Thomas and John Brocklebank, were traders in timber and had a shipyard at Deptford Creek. In about 1821, Thomas Brocklebank arrived at Margate on the first steamboat to ply that route. On disembarking the local authorities charged him 2s 6d for himself and 2s 6d for his hand baggage. This was the equivalent of about a week's income for an average salary. Brocklebank immediately saw
21038-705: The way from Fiddler's Island in Oxfordshire to the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. Some of the largest inland islands, for example Formosa Island near Cookham and Andersey Island at Abingdon, were created naturally when the course of the river divided into separate streams. In the Oxford area the river splits into several streams across the floodplain ( Seacourt Stream , Castle Mill Stream , Bulstake Stream and others), creating several islands ( Fiddler's Island , Osney and others). Desborough Island , Ham Island at Old Windsor and Penton Hook Island were artificially created by lock cuts and navigation channels. Chiswick Eyot
21195-412: The western part. The area is among the driest in the United Kingdom. Water resources consist of groundwater from aquifers and water taken from the Thames and its tributaries, much of it stored in large bank-side reservoirs . The Thames itself provides two-thirds of London's drinking water, while groundwater supplies about 40 per cent of public water supplies in the overall catchment area. Groundwater
21352-580: The year, while those at Thames Head are seasonal (a winterbourne ). With a length of 215 mi (346 km), the Thames is the longest river entirely in England. (The longest river in the United Kingdom, the Severn , flows partly in Wales .) However, as the River Churn, sourced at Seven Springs, is 14 mi (23 km) longer than the section of the Thames from its traditional source at Thames Head to
21509-654: The years, with the docks becoming an important part of the Elizabethan exploration . Queen Elizabeth I visited the royal dockyard on 4 April 1581 to knight the adventurer Francis Drake . As well as for exploration, Deptford was important for trade – the Honourable East India Company had a yard in Deptford from 1607 until late in the 17th century, later (1825) taken over by the General Steam Navigation Company . It
21666-462: Was London 's foremost short sea shipping line for almost 150 years. It was the oldest shipping company in the world to begin business with seagoing steam vessels. In 1815, the first steam shipping line on the Thames was started. The paddle steamer Marjory , serviced a line between London and Gravesend . Many more steamboats followed, and the lines were soon extended to Margate . At the time both places were already popular tourist destinations. At
21823-492: Was a partner of the house bank Barclay, Bevan, Tritton & Co., later known as Barclays . It also led to the replacement of much of the old GSN management. The new management tried to cope with the situation by modernizing the GSN fleet. This led to 24 new steamships in the 1870s, as well as six second-hand ships. One of the ideas behind the modernization was to switch to more efficient larger ships with more efficient compound steam engines . The problem with this modernization
21980-416: Was able to do profitable business on the coastal and near-continent trade. Apart from that, the company fully paid the preference shareholders during this period, and paid 5% or 6% to the regular shares from 1905. Throughout the period both kind shares nevertheless never achieved a price equal to their nominal value. World War I was an exceptional period for GSN. From its outbreak the fleet was largely under
22137-400: Was also connected with the slave trade , John Hawkins using it as a base for his operations, and Olaudah Equiano , the slave who became an important part of the abolition of the slave trade, was sold from one ship's captain to another in Deptford around 1760. Diarist John Evelyn lived in Deptford at Sayes Court , the manor house of Deptford, from 1652 after he had married the daughter of
22294-572: Was angered at the antics of the tsar, who got drunk with his friends who, using a wheelbarrow with Peter in it, rammed their way through a "fine holly hedge". Sayes Court was demolished in 1728-9 and a workhouse built on its site. Part of the estates around Sayes Court were purchased in 1742 for the building of the Navy Victualling Yard , which was renamed the Royal Victoria Victualling Yard in 1858 after
22451-479: Was built at the site of London Bridge . London Bridge is now used as the basis for published tide tables giving the times of high tide . High tide reaches Putney about 30 minutes later than London Bridge, and Teddington about an hour later. The tidal stretch of the river is known as "the Tideway ". Tide tables are published by the Port of London Authority and are available online. Times of high and low tides are also posted on Twitter. The principal tributaries of
22608-405: Was caused by the creative accounting of the previous management, which had kept up profits by not properly depreciating the fleet. Now a substantial amount of profit (about £160,000 from 1895 to 1901) had to be used to depreciate the fleet, which meanwhile increased in size. Reducing debt and debentures was in general a high priority for the board. In 1902 the work of reducing debt and writing of
22765-448: Was challenging for GSN. While the economy continued to grow, the pace was slower in Britain and faster on the continent. The shipment of dairy products, foodstuff and live cattle continued to boom, but now the continent also began to export industrial products to Britain. Meanwhile prices for food fell drastically, also impacting freight rates. For GSN, costs were steadily rising as cargo volumes and freight rates were cyclic. Another problem
22922-568: Was continued by GSN. In order to limit competition GSN made an agreement with the Margate company, in which Sir Robert Banks had an interest. In 1831 the "New Margate Company" reintroduced competition, but also led to a new agreement. By 1838 the Margate Company had been bought by GSN, which continued a service to Ramsgate. It left Margate to the "New Margate Company" in exchange for 9d for each Margate passenger in Summer. In 1849 GSN would buy
23079-478: Was established, it immediately acquired four existing steamers for lines to Hull and Ramsgate. It then ordered six more for lines to Yarmouth , Ostend , Brighton and Dieppe . The tonnage of these ships was about 240, with 40 hp. In 1825 a new line from London to Leith was added, serviced by the United Kingdom of 160 feet. In 1825 the GSN operated 14 steam vessels on lines from London. Many of
23236-589: Was featured in the BBC One documentary, "The Tower". Deptford Market , a street market in Deptford High Street sells a range of goods, and is considered one of London's liveliest street markets. In February 2005, the High Street was described as "the capital's most diverse and vibrant high street" by Yellow Pages business directory, using a unique mathematical formula. The Albany Theatre ,
23393-463: Was frequently lethal. Some cases continued to occur into the early 20th century. Draining of the marshes helped with its eradication, but the causes are complex and unclear. The East End of London , also known simply as the East End , was the area of London east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames, although it is not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries;
23550-559: Was however depresses by the cattle plague ( rinderpest ) crossing over to Britain in 1865. In 1867 this led to a prohibition of moving cattle from the landing place by road, making GSN's cattle wharf at Brown's Wharf / Coldharbour useless. Free trade agreements made that British exports to France and Germany almost doubled in the 1860s. Typical exports that GSN carried to Hamburg were: cotton, tapes, woollens, carpets, silk and beer. On return trips cattle, dairy products and other foodstuff dominated. The most serious competition again came from
23707-430: Was in the way that it was carried out. In the 1860s £300,000 had been spent cautiously on relatively inexpensive second hand ships. In the 1870s and 1880s a like sum was spent on larger and ever more expensive new-builds. During these years GSN also spent considerable sums on improving the wharves and the facilities at Deptford. In order to pay for the modernization, the company's capital was expanded. In about 1874 this
23864-536: Was meanwhile busy developing the Harwich to Hook of Holland service. In 1893/4 it commissioned three big modern steamers capable of 17.5 kn. GSN was therefore continuously monitoring whether it should continue its services to Amsterdam and Rotterdam. On the connection to Amsterdam it made a pooling arrangement with the Holland Steamship Company (Hollandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij), in which
24021-447: Was opened on 20 July 1886. Deptford is served by National Rail and Docklands Light Railway services. The National Rail service is operated by Southeastern and Thameslink on the suburban Greenwich Line at Deptford railway station , the oldest passenger-only railway station in London. Deptford station was redeveloped during 2011 and 2012. The works included the demolition of the original 1836 station building and its replacement by
24178-554: Was subject to minor redefining and widening of the main channel around Oxford, Abingdon and Marlow before 1850, when further cuts to ease navigation reduced distances further. Molesey faces Hampton , and in Greater London the Thames passes Hampton Court Palace , Surbiton , Kingston upon Thames , Teddington , Twickenham , Richmond (with a famous view of the Thames from Richmond Hill), Syon House , Kew , Brentford , Chiswick , Barnes , Hammersmith , Fulham , Putney , Wandsworth , Battersea and Chelsea . In central London ,
24335-432: Was that many direct connections from the continent were established. These circumvented the shipment of goods via GSN's profitable lines to London. The railway companies that were prepared to ship goods at a loss in order to feed their railways also continued to be a problem. In these circumstances, GSN's profits started to decline. In June 1874 the situation led to the appointment of Joseph Herbert Tritton as chairman. He
24492-445: Was the James Watt Soho of 510 ton burthen and 120 hp was launched in July 1823. The smaller Tourist of 1821, also belonged to this company. The data of these ships shows that they were generally bigger than the early GSN ships. In 1827 the GSN decided to start its own engineering workshops. These were located at Deptford. By 1836 these employed 100 men. In 1838 they were extended to simultaneously handle two vessels, and got
24649-416: Was £300,000 and in 1877 it had grown to almost £750,000, about half of it in preference shares. It meant that the dividend expected by the shareholders rose from £30,000 to £56,000 a year. In the late 1870s the GSN succeeded in maintaining a trading profit of about £100,000 a year, but the recent expansion of the company meant that this was now the minimum to serve dividends, reserves and deprecation. In 1881
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