The Royal Docks. © NMM

When the Royal Albert Dock opened to shipping in 1880, it was considered to be the finest dock system in the world. It was originally planned as an extension of the Royal Victoria Dock, to cope with the successful meat and tobacco trade.

Frozen meat being discharged at the Royal Albert Dock, 1949. © NMM

The modern dock equipment installed at the Royal Albert Dock proved to be a success in the handling of large hogsheads (55 gallons) of tobacco from America. There were always coopers on hand to repair damaged casks and help with tobacco sampling. With the arrival of adequate refrigeration, the Royal Albert Dock began regularly to handle meat, fruit and vegetables from Spain and Italy.

The Royal Albert Dock. © NMM

Built as a modern dock, the Royal Albert Dock was designed to accommodate the largest vessels afloat in 1880. This was increased after a second entrance was constructed, and the dock was able to handle vessels of up to 12,000 tons. Although the dock was built to berth sailing vessels, the presence of hydraulic cranes and steam winches enabled a smooth transition to the large steam vessels used to transport goods.

The Royal Albert Dock was also used as a terminus by passenger vessels. The Great Eastern railway ran a passenger service from Fenchurch Street to Gallions, adjacent to the dock basin.

• The site covered 87 acres, the largest purpose built dock in Britain at this time.
• Lucas & Aird undertook the contract and the engineer for the project was Sir Alexander Rendel.
• Around 500,000 cubic yards (382,277 cubic metres) of concrete and 20 million bricks were used to construct the dock system.
  3000 men worked on the project, assisted by a steam land dredger, steam grabs, 70 steam cranes and 3 steam navvies.
• It cost £2.2 million and was one of the cheapest docks constructed in London.
• The dock was 1.75 miles (2.8 kiliometres) long and 9 metres deep. It had 3.125 (5 kilometres) miles of new quays. The dock was deepened to 10.36 metres in 1935.
• Two entrance locks connected the dock system to the river through a basin east of Manor Way. The Gallions Entrance Lock was 168 metres long by 24.4 metres across.
• The Royal Albert Dock had 2 small dry docks and 33 quayside transit sheds and warehouses. This included a large cold storage area.
• The Great Eastern Railway was taken across the dock, and an 860-ton swing bridge crossed the Gallions Entrance.
• The dock was served on both sides by extensions of the Great Eastern Railway. The dock had its own goods terminus in a warehouse on the north side of London Dock.
• The company built the Gallions Hotel for first-class steamer passengers. There were two subways, which gave direct access from the hotel to the quay of the Basin.
• The Royal Albert Dock was the first dock in London to be lit by electricity.