London’s Boatyards

  • June 2018

“London’s boatyards have a significant place in the history of the River Thames, once known as the ‘greatest shipbuilding area in the world’. One hundred and fifty years ago, nearly fifteen thousand men were working in shipbuilding in the Isle of Dogs alone, with hundreds of boat and barge yards operating along the shores of the Thames. Today only around fifteen boatyards remain between the Thames Barrier and Teddington Lock, due to the decline in the commercial river and rising land prices on the riverfront.”

The project is a Thames Festival Trust commission in partnership with the Museum of London and supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. For more information and to hear the oral history interviews: thamesfestivaltrust.org/our-work/heritage-programme/working-river

Portraits

On Board the Boatyards

 

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