No.1 Warehouse: Introductory gallery
This gallery explores the history of the building and the story of London’s docks.
Trade Expansion
1600-1800
Meet the merchants, sailors & pirates who transformed the port of London
Did you know?
Dockers got hooked on their work. To unload awkward cargo, dockworkers used hooks like this one, sliding them under ropes.
London, Sugar & Slavery
1600 – today
Discover how the trade in enslaved Africans and sugar shaped London
Did you know?
The trade in enslaved Africans and sugar was nicknamed the Triangle Trade.
City and River
1800-1840
Discover a city being transformed by vast new docks
Did you know?
When old London Bridge was torn down in 1831, it got recycled - into knives and forks!
Sailortown
1840-1850
Explore the dark alleyways of London’s Sailortown
Did you know?
Sailors brought exotic birds from Africa and South America to London.
First Port of Empire
1840-1880
Discover when London was the hub of the world’s largest empire
Did you know?
The worst maritime disaster in British waters happened on the Thames.
Warehouse of the World
1880-1939
London was the world's busiest port at the turn of the century
Docklands at War
1939-1945
The docks were the first target in the London Blitz
Did you know?
Football rattles were used to warn of German gas attacks during the Blitz.
New Port, New City
1945 – present
Decline & regeneration as Docklands was reinvented for a new century
Did you know?
When it was built in 1990, One Canada Square was the tallest building in Britain.
Mudlarks
Children's gallery
An interactive space for children up to 8 years old and their parents and carers
Did you know?
125 different types of fish live in the Thames.