The opening of the Millwall Docks as depicted by the Illustrated London News, 1868. © NMM

Located on the Isle of Dogs, Millwall Docks were best known for the grain trade. Other supplementary trades included timber, wine, liquor, fruit and vegetables.

The success of the grain trade at Millwall prompted civil engineer, Magnus Mowat, to invent new handling and storage methods for the dock.

Ponape (1903) at Millwall Docks. © NMM

Three pneumatic grain elevators were erected on platforms 15 metres away from the jetty. These could discharge directly into barges or to the granary.

The unique brick-built granary was 76 metres long, 30.5 metres wide and was designed to hold 24,000 tons of bulk grain. It had 11 floors for storage and inspection and a delivery floor and basement. The granary was divided into five compartments with vertical firewalls and had a 20,000 gallon (91,000 litre) water tank on the roof for fire fighting and windows for ventilation.

L'Avenir at Millwall Docks. © NMM

The dock was built as steam vessels slowly began to establish themselves on trade routes. However, this trend seems to have been ignored, and the width of the entrance (24.5 metres) severely limited the type of vessels that could use the dock.

The situation eased slightly, when Millwall Dock was connected to West India Dock, which had a larger entrance.

• The site for Millwall Dock covered 200 acres.
• The engineer for the project was John Fowler and the contractor was Sir John Aird.
• The dock system consisted of an L-shaped dock, covering 36 acres of water. The dock was split into the Outer Millwall Dock and the Inner Millwall Dock. There were quays on each side through the Isle of Dogs and bordering West India Dock.
• The dock was accessed by an entrance on the west side of the Isle of Dogs.
• The dock housed the first purpose built granary for the Baltic grain market.
• The dock housed the first dry dock built in an impounded dock.
• The quayside transit sheds were two storeys high with headroom of 2.75 metres. They were built to house hogsheads holding 52.5 gallons (239 litres) stacked two high.
• Larger warehouses were built on the West Side of the dock. New warehouses built in 1957 were 45.72 metres wide and 6 metres high, ideal for modern cargo handling methods.
• The dock had good rail connections, a branch of the Blackwall Railway passed through West India Dock to serve the Millwall Dock quays.