Isle of Dogs

The Isle of Dogs is a peninsula in the East End of London. It is surrounded on three sides (East, South and West) by the River Thames, which follows a horseshoe-shaped arc to the south of the peninsula. It is part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and part of the London Docklands.

Districts

The area includes Millwall, Cubitt Town, and Blackwall. The south of the isle, opposite Greenwich, was once known as North Greenwich.

It was the site of the highest concentration of council housing in England, but is now best known as the location of the prestigious Canary Wharf office complex. One Canada Square, also known as the Canary Wharf Tower, is the tallest habitable building in Britain, at 244 m (800 feet) high. The peninsula is an area of social extremes, comprising some of the most prosperous and most deprived areas of the country; Blackwall is the 81st poorest ward in England, out of over 8,000.

History

The Isle of Dogs is situated some distance downriver from the original City of London. The origin of its name is unclear. It is first mentioned on a map from 1588, and it has been speculated that Henry VIII, whose Palace of Placentia stood in Greenwich on the other side of the river, had his hunting dogs kennelled there. Another theory is that the name is a corruption of "Isle of docks" referring to the many jetties around the peninsula.

The peninsula was originally a sparsely populated marshland before its drainage and planting in the 13th century. A catastrophic breach in the riverside embankment occurred in 1488, resulting in the peninsula returning to its original marshy condition. This was not reversed until Dutch engineers successfully re-drained it in the 17th century.

The urbanisation of the Isle of Dogs took place in the 19th century following the construction of the West India Docks, which opened in 1802. This heralded the peninsula's most successful period, when it became an important center for trade. The East India Docks were subsequently opened in 1806, followed by Millwall Dock in 1868. The three dock systems were unified in 1909 when the Port of London Authority took control of the docks. With the docks stretching across the peninsula from East to West with locks at each end, the Isle of Dogs could now almost be described as a genuine island.

A large population of dockyard workers settled on the peninsula as the docks grew in importance. By 1901, 21,000 people lived there, largely dependent on the river trade on the isle as well as in Greenwich and Deptford across the river to the south and west. The Isle of Dogs was connected to the rest of London by the London and Blackwall Railway, opened in 1840 and progressively extended thereafter. Transport to Greenwich was improved by the construction of the Greenwich foot tunnel (opened in 1902), and the local community gained the Island Gardens park in 1895.

During World War II, the docks were a key target for the Luftwaffe and were heavily bombed. A significant number of local civilians were killed in the bombing and extensive destruction was caused on the ground, with many warehouses being totally destroyed and much of the dockyard system being put out of action for an extended period.

After the war, the docks underwent a brief resurgence and were even upgraded in 1967. However, with the advent of containerisation, which the docks could not handle, they became obsolete soon afterwards. The docks closed progressively during the 1970s, with the last – the West India and Millwall docks – closing down in 1980. This left the area in a severely dilapidated state, with large areas being derelict and abandoned.

The Isle of Dogs' economic problems led to mass unemployment among the former dockyard workers and caused serious social deprivation. The local community highlighted its problems on 3 March 1970 by declaring the Isle of Dogs to be an "independent republic", with its own elected president. Labour and Conservative governments proposed various action plans during the 1970s but it was not until 1981 that the London Docklands Development Corporation was established to redevelop the area. The Isle of Dogs became part of an enterprise zone, which covered 1.95 km² of land and encompassed the West India, Millwall and East India Docks. New housing was built, as was new office space and new transport infrastructure. This included the Docklands Light Railway and later the Jubilee Line extension, which eventually brought access to the London Underground to the peninsula for the first time.

Since its construction in 1987-1991, the area has been dominated by the expanding Canary Wharf development (see separate entry for details) with to date over 14 million square feet (437,000 m²) of office and retail space having been created; 78,000 now work in Canary Wharf alone.

It has however been argued by some that the redevelopment has not benefited the indigenous population as much as it might, with accusations of a "land grab" of riverside sites for private apartment blocks during the period of relaxation of planning conditions under the LDDC. Some tensions remain between the close-knit island community and professionals who have more recently moved to the area. This is brought on by large numbers of immigrants and ethnic minorities who dwell in the large areas of elderly social housing which are scattered amongst many new and very expensive neighbourhoods. This results in fast cars and wealth being seen alongside gangs of unemployed youths leading to the inevitable crime problems.

There has also been criticism of the landscape architecture and urban design standards achieved in post-1980 redevelopment of the Isle of Dogs. The tendency has been to plan tower blocks in rather vacant open spaces, instead of creating pedestrian-friendly spaces, and the emphasis has been on mechanised transport (car and train) instead of green transport.

Transport

Nearest places:
* Poplar
* Limehouse
* Rotherhithe
* Stepney
* Deptford
* Greenwich

London Underground and DLR stations:
* Canary Wharf tube station
* Canary Wharf DLR station
* Crossharbour and London Arena DLR station
* Heron Quays DLR station
* Island Gardens DLR station
* Mudchute DLR station
* South Quay DLR station
* West India Quay DLR station

London bus routes:
* 277
* D3
* D6
* D7
* D8

In the media

The Isle of Dogs has provided stunning locations for many blockbuster films, including the action-packed opening scenes of the James Bond movie The World Is Not Enough, and more recently Batman Begins, The Constant Gardener, and Love Actually. However, back in the 1960s and 1970s it was used in many British movies while still a working port.

Films featuring the Isle of Dogs:
* 28 Days Later (2003)
* Alfie (2004)
* Basic Instinct 2 (2006)
* Batman Begins (2005)
* Bollywood Queen (2002)
* Johnny English (2003)
* Layer Cake (2004)
* Love Actually (2003)
* Patriot Games (1992)
* Revolver (2005)
* Spiceworld (1997)
* The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
* The Constant Gardener (2005)
* The Long Good Friday (1980)
* The World Is Not Enough (1999)
* Green Street Hooligans (2005)

See also

*Island History Trust
*Museum in Docklands
*SS Robin

External links

*Isle of Dogs Map
*Isle of Dogs landscape architecture