Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of theIsle of Dogs, in eastLondon, England, in theLondon Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south ofCanary Wharf andPoplar, north ofGreenwich andDeptford, east ofRotherhithe, west ofCubitt Town, and has a long shoreline along London'sTideway, part of theRiver Thames. It was part of theCounty of Middlesex and from 1889, following the passing of theLocal Government Act 1888, theCounty of London; it later became part ofGreater London in 1965.
Millwall had a population of 23,084 in 2011 and includesIsland Gardens,The Quarterdeck andThe Space.
Millwall is a smaller area of land than an averageparish, as it was part ofPoplar until the 19th century when it became heavily industrialised, containing the workplaces and homes of a few thousand dockside and shipbuilding workers. Among its factories were the shipbuilding ironworks ofWilliam Fairbairn, much of which survives as today'sBurrells Wharf. It was in this era also thatMillwall F.C. was founded, in 1885, as Millwall Rovers.[1] First nicknamed 'theDockers' before becoming 'the Lions', the team moved south of the river toNew Cross in 1910, however a set of amateur football pitches remain, adjoiningCubitt Town alongside the City Farm that was added in the 20th century.[2][3]
Originally known asMarshwall, the area acquired its new name with its breakaway from its formerparish of Poplar. The replacement was due to the large number ofwindmills built on the river wall in the 18th century.
Improvements led by the Lord MayorWilliam Cubitt in reinforcing the land solved the periodic flooding caused by major snow melt andspring tides. Corn and wheat were brought along theRiver Thames to be ground into flour there.
On 31 January 1858, the largest ship of that time, theSSGreat Eastern, designed byIsambard Kingdom Brunel, was launched fromNapier Yard, theshipyard leased byMessrs J Scott Russell & Co. The 211 metre (692 ft) length was too wide for the river, and the ship had to be launched sideways.[4] A section of the concrete and timber substructure from the launch site is now preserved on-site for public display at the modern Napier Avenue. Due to the technical difficulties of the launch, this was the last ship of such a size to be built on the island, though other builders such asYarrows andSamuda Brothers continued building warships on the island for another 50 years. They are commemorated in the names of the Samuda Estate on Manchester Road, and Yarrow House on Stewart Street.
In the 1860s the largeMillwall Dock was built, extending from the Thames at Millwall into the centre of the Isle of Dogs. The spoil from the dock was left as theMudchute.
During the 19th century, the area now calledIsland Gardens was referred to asNorth Greenwich, for theNorth Greenwich railway station that was opened in 1872 to connect with the ferry that was the forerunner of theGreenwich foot tunnel. TheGreenwich peninsula, previously East Greenwich, is now also known by this epithet for theNorth Greenwich tube station.[5]
Like other parts of theIsle of Dogs, substantial redevelopment has been more or less ongoing since the 1980s, resulting in modern industrial and commercial buildings and hastily constructed contemporary housing beginning to predominate over the remaining early 20th century "two up, two down" semi-detached and terraced homes that housed the dock workers, often overcrowded with occupants. The loss of the docks, theGerman campaign of bombings in the area, and the gradual disappearance of the manufacturing and distribution industries led to a fall in population during the mid-20th century and ongoing problems for local workers who relied on shipping and manufacturing for employment.
The post-World War II period saw the area become a focus of regeneration programmes on the former industrial land in Millwall. Initially led byPoplar Borough Council (eventually absorbed intoTower Hamlets) andLondon County Council, regeneration efforts focused on council house building until the 1980s when theLondon Docklands Development Corporation was created and development shifted to private, even luxury, office and residential buildings. During this period the area's population increased significantly following the above-mentioned mid-century drop.
The area is home to a number ofcouncil estates including West Ferry Estate, Millwall Estate, Masthouse Terrace, Herperus Crescent Estate and Chapel House Street Estate.[6] TheBarkantine Estate, commissioned by theLondon County Council with the first section opened in 1968, dominates a swathe of the northern section of Millwall.[7]
Millwall is most famous for its football club,Millwall F.C., founded in 1885 as Millwall Rovers.[1] NicknamedThe Dockers (now known as The Lions), the team moved south of the river toNew Cross in 1910.[2][3] Occupying four separate grounds on theIsle of Dogs in the 25 years since its formation as a football club, they now play inBermondsey and retain the name Millwall despite not having played in the Millwall area for more than 100 years.[8]
Millwall Rugby Club was formed in 1995. The first team plays in theEssex Division 1 league and the seconds are in the Essex Merit Table (Division 2), while the thirds are playing in the Merit Table (Division 5), having won Division 6 last season. They now also have women's rugby - the Millwall Venus girls - and a youth section for boys and girls from eight years old.
The Docklands Sailing and Watersports Centre is located at the far west end of the dock where the dock previously connected to theRiver Thames.[9] It was set up in 1989 by theLondon Docklands Development Corporation and the Sports Council at a cost of £1.2 million.[10]
Millwall gained some notoriety when, in acouncil by-election in 1993,Derek Beackon won theBritish National Party's first council seat there. After a major anti-fascist campaign, the BNP lost the seat at the following full council election.
In September 2004, Tower Hamlets'Respect party fought its second council election in the borough, standing local activist Paul McGarr. In this previously 'solid'Labour seat, Labour were pushed into third place, and the localConservative party took its first ever seat on Tower Hamlets council. In the2006 local elections, the Conservatives took all three seats, defeating former MPAlan Amos.
The Millwall ward was subsequently abolished in 2014, largely replaced by the new wards of Canary Wharf and Island Gardens. These retained the Conservative leanings of the old Millwall ward, and as of 2018 they each have one Conservative and one Labour councillor. These are the only two Conservative councillors on Tower Hamlets council.
White British people comprise 31% of the population of the Millwall ward of theLondon Borough of Tower Hamlets. This is followed byOther White people (19.9%) andBangladeshis (14.6%).[11]
45.1% of people living in Millwall were born in England, with a number of other countries represented includingBangladesh (6.8%),India (4.7%), andChina (4.3%).[12]
The religious make up of Millwall is 32.1%Christian, 22.0% No religion, 18.0%Muslim, 4.9%Hindu, 1.9%Buddhist, 0.4%Sikh, and 0.4%Jewish.[12]
The gender balance in Millwall is 53% male and 47% female.[12]
The historicalIsland Gardens, opened on 3 August 1895 by local politicianWill Crooks, is located almost in front of the formerGreenwich Hospital, theCutty Sark,National Maritime Museum andGreenwich Park.[13]
The Ferry House is apub on Ferry Street has existed since theTudor period (1485–1603). The present building dates from 1822, and was used as adrinking establishment by ferry passengers to and from Greenwich until the opening of theGreenwich foot tunnel in 1902.[14]
The Ship Inn pub was built in 1835, it is thought by two houses merge into a public house, it has been a pub all its history and is next toBurrells Wharf, where during his time thereIsambard Kingdom Brunel may have frequented The Ship. Today it is run by a local, independently run business.[15]
The decision to proceed with the largeBarkantine Estate housing estate development was made in March 1965, with first block being opened in 1968,[16] and originally consisted of 634 dwellings.[17] It included a pedestrianized shoppingpromenade called The Quarterdeck,[18] and a pub called the Tooke Arms, relocated and rebuilt at the same time.[19][20]
The Space is located inside a former Presbyterian church that was built in 1859 for the Scottish Presbyterian congregation who had migrated to the Isle of Dogs to work in the shipyards, which was designed byThomas Knightley.[21]
A large site on the north side ofMillwall Dock Outer Dock was occupied by the West Ferry Printing Works, the largest newspaper print works in Western Europe.[22]
South Quay,Crossharbour.Mudchute andIsland Gardens on theDocklands Light Railway, andCanary Wharf on theLondon Underground with theJubilee line serving the nearbyCanary Wharf estate.
Bus routes135,277,D7,D8,N550 all operate within the area.
The nearest pier isMasthouse Terrace Pier forLondon River Services.
Millwall is connected to theNational Road Network by the north-south Westferry RoadA1206.
On the north bank of theRiver Thames is theNational TrailThames Path for both cyclists and walkers, and theNational Cycle Route 1 on theNational Cycle Network, running fromDover toShetland.
