City and River: 1800–1840
A city transformed by its river. New docks were built, bridges were raised and a tunnel under the Thames was dug.
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A period of huge change for London as it came into the modern age.
New docks quickly appeared between 1802 and 1806: West India Docks, London Docks and East India Docks. London now had the best ports in the world.
A few years later, the medieval London Bridge was demolished and the new one was built, marking a distinct transition from ‘past’ to ‘present’ as London came into the modern age.
Meanwhile, Marc Isambard Brunel’s workers were busy beneath the river, constructing the Thames Tunnel, which was the world’s first tunnel under a navigable waterway. London Overground trains still use this tunnel today.
All this change was also controversial. The forced clearance of the urban area near Tower of London to make way for the new docks raised social issues that echoed the 1980s Docklands redevelopment, which you'll hear about in later galleries.
City and River is open 10am – 5pm every day at London Museum Docklands.
Please note that we'll start closing up the galleries at around 4.40pm.
There's lots to see, so we recommend you spend at least 15 minutes in the City and River gallery.
It's the fourth gallery on our recommended route and you'll find it on the Second Floor.
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London Museum Docklands
Sailortown: 1840–1850
Experience the sights, sounds and smells of Victorian London in a recreation of a street in Wapping
London Museum Docklands
First Port of Empire: 1840–1880
When London was at the centre of the British empire and world trade
London Museum Docklands
Warehouse of the World: 1880–1939
London's docks housed everything you could think of, giving them the title: Warehouse of the World
London Museum Docklands
Docklands at War: 1939–1945
How London survived and helped the war effort, from Dunkirk to D-Day
London Museum Docklands
New Port, New City: 1945 – present
How Docklands was reinvented for a new century – from rebuilding, dereliction and back to rebuilding
London Museum Docklands
No. 1 Warehouse: Intro gallery
Our building is a rare survivor of the old docks, and its story is at the heart of this gallery
London Museum Docklands
Trade Expansion: 1600–1800
Meet the merchants, sailors and pirates who transformed London in the 1600s
London Museum Docklands
London, Sugar & Slavery: 1600 – present
Shining a light on London’s overlooked role in slavery and how it shaped the city
