In the early 1800’s Britain was the worlds leading industrial power and dominated international commerce. London was the world’s largest port, the centre of international finance, and the heart of an expanding British empire.

The expansion of overseas trading led to a number of new docks being constructed in or near to London. Nevertheless docks were overstretched, congested, and overrun with corruption and theft. As a result of this, new enclosed docks, with high walls and armed guards, were planned and built along the Thames, starting at the Isle of Dogs (now Canary Wharf).

By the 1880’s however demand had waned, and there was rising competition for business. The construction of the Albert Dock in 1880, feted as the finest dock in the world, threatened to put other London docks with less modern and accessible facilities out of business. In response to this the East and West India Company decided to build new docks at Tilbury, twenty-six miles East of London.

With a sophisticated tidal basin deep enough to offer access to the largest ships at low tide, well-equipped quays, jetty’s, and passenger facilities, Tilbury had a distinct edge over its rivals. A new railway station with links to the London Main Line, cemented its potential for success.

Tilbury Docks were officially opened on 17th April 1886 with much pomp and ceremony. However a rival dock company - the London Dock Company - managed to deprive the docks of business through a mixture of bribery and sabotage. The dock owners East and West India Company were eventually forced to merge with the London Dock Company. By 1908 however all the London docks including Tilbury were nationalised, and from then on were run by The Port of London Authority.

The Docks were equipped with hydraulically powered cranes, and goods were transported along rails by small engines. A large number of dockworkers were employed - Stevedores worked packing and loading ships, and shore work included Quay and Warehouse Workers, Tally Clerks, Box Knockers (who opened crates for customs inspections), Coopers (barrel makers), Carpenters, Engineers, and Sail Makers. Women worked in the docks cleaning passenger vessels.

By 1934 goods coming into the docks included timber, coal, tea, grain, jute, foodstuffs, and live animals.

Perhaps the first major piece of architecture seen by people arriving in England was the Tilbury Hotel. Built in a “modification of a Jacobean style” on the riverfront (see aerial view of Cruise Terminal), the half-timbered construction was thought best for the site, which was an unstable layer of silt. With Electric light and hydraulic lifts, rooms for a hundred visitors and dining for two hundred, lounges, sitting rooms, tennis courts and formal gardens, the hotel was intended to be the perfect stopping place for those travelling by passenger ship. It opened in 1886 with the docks and one year later was forced to close from lack of custom. After this it was used occasionally to provide temporary housing for trainee sailors, for dinners and dances, and for Masonic meetings. The hotel’s life ended when it was destroyed during a bombing raid in 1944.

During World War Two damage to central London docks caused the majority of London trade to be moved up to docks on the Clyde and in Liverpool. Tilbury Dock’s work became that of the war effort. Passenger ships were refitted into hospital ships, troop, supply and munitions carriers, and the docks were used to facilitate actions and offensives.

Unlike most London docks, Tilbury Docks escaped serious damage during the war. The wide layout stopped fires from spreading, and a strategy was later discovered to minimise enemy attacks on Tilbury, as the docks were intended for use in Germany’s planned invasion of Britain.

After the war, recovery of operations at the docks was slow as many ships previously used were damaged and destroyed. The docks though not severely damaged, were still in need of restoration, and also modernisation.

By 1967 with the introduction of containerised shipping, dock work was transformed. This system revolutionised dock work, as far fewer dockworkers were needed to unload and store the containers. New berths and quays were constructed specifically for the unloading of container ships, and also a rail container terminal. A bulk grain terminal was built on the riverfront that could unload grain at the rate of 2000 tons per hour.

The 1970’s saw the development of Roll-On, Roll-Off facilities and multi purpose, multi user terminals, and in 1992 Tilbury Docks were privatised. Currently berths handle, dry bulk – animal foodstuffs, fertilisers, and scrap metals; break bulk – chilled and frozen food; paper and forestry products; and container shipping. The Cruise Terminal continues to operate a pleasure cruise service over the summer months.

Tilbury Docks are now the last original Enclosed Docks remaining in the Port of London.