Everything about Surrey Quays totally explained
Surrey Quays is a name given to a largely residential area of
Rotherhithe in south-east
London, occupied until
1970 by the
Surrey Commercial Docks. The precise boundaries of the area are somewhat amorphous, but it's generally reckoned to comprise the southern half of the Rotherhithe peninsula from
Canada Water to
South Dock; electorally,
Surrey Docks is the eastern half of the peninsula. The Docks are called Surrey Docks because over 200 years ago the borders of Surrey and Kent met in this area.
After the closure of the docks, the area remained derelict for over a decade, with much of the warehousing demolished and over 90% of the docks filled in. The only surviving areas of open water were
Greenland Dock,
South Dock, remnants of Canada Dock (renamed
Canada Water) and Norway Dock, and a basin renamed Surrey Water. In
1981, the
Conservative government of Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher established the
London Docklands Development Corporation to redevelop the former dockyard areas of east London, including the Surrey Docks.
A massive building programme took place in the area during the late
1980s and early
1990s with 5,500 new homes being built, ranging from individual detached housing to large apartment complexes, such as
Baltic Quay.
South Dock was converted into a
marina - now the largest in London - and a watersports centre was constructed on
Greenland Dock. The northern part of Canada Water and the infilled Russia Dock became wildlife reserves. Leisure facilities and a number of light industrial plants were also built, notably a new printing works for Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the London
Evening Standard and the
Daily Mail. A further phase of development at Canada Water is scheduled to begin around
2005.
The Surrey Quays area acquired its current name in
1989 when the
Surrey Quays Shopping Centre was built on the infilled southern part of Canada Water, and the nearby
London Underground station Surrey Docks was renamed Surrey Quays. The
de facto renaming of the area was controversial at the time and was unpopular with many of the local community, who felt that their heritage was being erased. Although "Surrey Docks" is still the name of the electoral ward, in practice the name "Surrey Quays" is more often used, including in official signage.
The nearest London Underground stations are the eponymous
Surrey Quays (previously Surrey Docks) on the
East London Line and
Canada Water on the
Jubilee Line. In addition, the area has a direct river link to
Westminster and the
City of London via the high-speed
Thames Clipper catamaran service. There is also a sailing centre called Surrey Docks Watersports Centre
Links and references
Further Information
Get more info on 'Surrey Quays'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://surrey_quays.totallyexplained.com">Surrey Quays Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
