Convoys Wharf, formerly called the King's Yard, is the site of

Deptford Dockyard Deptford Dockyard was an important naval dockyard and base at Deptford on the River Thames, operated by the Royal Navy from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. It built and maintained warships for 350 years, and many significant events ...

, the first of the Royal Dockyards, built on a riverside site in

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home ...

, by the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was first developed in 1513 by Henry VIII to build vessels for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

. Convoys Wharf also covers most of the site of

Sayes Court Sayes Court was a manor house and garden in Deptford, in the London Borough of Lewisham on the Thames Path and in the former parish of St Nicholas. Sayes Court once attracted throngs to visit its celebrated garden'' Diary and Correspondence of ...

manor house and gardens, home of

diarist A diary is a written or audiovisual record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digital. A personal d ...

John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's diary, or ...

. The site was owned until 2008 by News International, which used it to import newsprint and other paper products from

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

until early 2000. It is now owned by Hutchison Whampoa Limited and is subject to a planning application to convert it into residential units, although a large part of the site has

safeguarded wharf Safeguarded wharves are those wharves in London which have been given special status by the Mayor of London and the Port of London Authority (PLA) which ensures they are retained as working wharves and are protected from redevelopment into non ...

status. The eastern area adjoining Watergate Street was Palmers Wharf.

History

Royal Dockyard

The King's Yard was established in 1513 by Henry VIII as the first Royal Dockyard building vessels for the

, and the leading dockyard of the period. It brought a large population and prosperity to Deptford.london-footprints.co.uk
Deptford Dockyard The docks are also associated with the knighting of Sir Francis Drake by

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

aboard the ''

Golden Hind ''Golden Hind'' was a galleon captained by Francis Drake in his circumnavigation of the world between 1577 and 1580. She was originally known as ''Pelican,'' but Drake renamed her mid-voyage in 1578, in honour of his patron, Sir Christopher Hat ...

'', the legend of Sir

Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebelli ...

laying down his cape for Elizabeth, Captain James Cook's third voyage aboard ''Resolution'', Frobisher's and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

's voyages of discovery, despatching ships against the Spanish Armada, as well as for

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

's battles including Trafalgar. In 1698 Tsar Peter I of Russia aged 25, came to Deptford to learn about shipbuilding and seamanship. He was granted the use of

's Sayes Court, adjoining the Royal Dockyard, by William III. In three months he and his party caused considerable damage to the famous gardens, and also to the house, with "much of the furniture broke, lost or destroyed". Sir Christopher Wren was instructed to survey the property and declared it "entirely ruined". At the mouth of Deptford Creek, on the Fairview Housing estate, there is a statue, designed by Mihail Chemiakin and gifted by

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

commemorating Peter's visit.

18th century and closure

By the 18th century, due to the silting of the Thames, the dockyard's use was restricted to ship building and distributing stores to other yards and fleets abroad. It was shut down from 1830 to 1844 and in 1864 a

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

Committee recommended that the dockyards at Deptford (and

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

) should be closed. Their recommendation was accepted and the Deptford dockyard was closed in May 1869, by which time it employed 800 people. It had produced some 450 ships, the last being the wooden screw corvette HMS ''Druid'' launched in 1869. The site of Sayes Court manor house in 2009

The site of Sayes Court manor house in 2009

Foreign Cattle Market

Before

refrigeration The term refrigeration refers to the process of removing heat from an enclosed space or substance for the purpose of lowering the temperature.International Dictionary of Refrigeration, http://dictionary.iifiir.org/search.phpASHRAE Terminology, ht ...

cattle had to be imported alive, and the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act 1869 gave the

City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

exclusive local authority for foreign animal imports and processing subject to its opening a market before January 1872. The complete site at Deptford, including a lease on the

LB&SCR The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR; known also as the Brighton line, the Brighton Railway or the Brighton) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at its ...

docks, was acquired and the market opened in 1871,Supply Reserve Depot, Deptford. (Old Foreign Cattle Market). Skeleton Record Plan. Sheet No. 1 of a set of 4. Corrected to September 1938. By 1889 the site had been extended to . In 1907, 184,971

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

and 49,350

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...

were imported through the market but by 1912 these figures had declined to 21,547 cattle and 11,993 sheep.''Sale of Deptford Market. Government to Pay £387,000.'' The Times, 13 March 1926, p.12, col F

During the War years

The Foreign Cattle Market was taken over by the

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence * D ...

in 1914, on a tenancy agreement from the City of London Corporation, for use as the Royal Army Service Corps Supply Reserve Depot. On several occasions after the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...

traders and others urged that the market should be reopened; however, in 1924 the War Office exercised their option to buy it''Future of Deptford Market. War Office decision to buy.'' The Times, 6 February 1924, p12, col B along with the adjacent the Sayes Court property for £400,500 () under deeds dated 25 March 1926, 18 March 1927 & 25 July 1927 including the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

, tramway,

wharf A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring locatio ...

age and

jetty A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying some ...

rights and

easement An easement is a nonpossessory right to use and/or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B". An easement is a propert ...

s. The Royal Naval Victualling Depot operated here which included a rum store. During the Second World War a bomb destroyed one of the storehouses and killed a number of men, a plaque was visible in the early 1970s commemorating this tragedy. During the war, because of the Blitz some of the stores were dispersed to various locations including Park Royal. The yard also served as a United States' Advance Amphibious Vehicle base and married quarters during the Second World War.Greenwich Industrial Histor
Proposal to list the remains of the Royal Dockyard at Deptford
6 January 2010

Latter part of 20th century

On the closure of the Victualling Depot in the 1960s the establishment was renamed The Royal Naval Stores Depot and moved to a new building within Convoys Wharf. The Depot was the main Air Freight hub for the RN and was particularly busy during the Falklands War. It also continued as the central RN Stationery Store and Joint Services Baggage operations. The Depot closed in 1981. The site purchased by News International from the

UK Ministry of Defence The Ministry of Defence (MOD or MoD) is the department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by His Majesty's Government, and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces. The MOD states that its principal objectives are to ...

for £1,600,000 (), and a remainder in 1986, for £340,000 (). In 1993 the Greenwich and Lewisham (London Borough Boundaries) Order transferred the site from the

London Borough of Greenwich The Royal Borough of Greenwich (, , or ) is a London borough in southeast Greater London. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metropolitan Borough ...

to the

London Borough of Lewisham Lewisham () is a London boroughs, London borough in south-east London; it forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council, based in Catford. The Prime Merid ...

Archaeology

Most of the Tudor, Stuart, Georgian and Victorian structures above ground level that had survived until 1955 have since been destroyed. One structure that escaped the demolition is Olympia Warehouse, a unique cast-iron building constructed in the 1840s.Convoys Wharf London
, Richard Rogers Partnership, 2002 However, archaeological surveys carried out by CgMs and Pre-Construct Archaeology in 2000 by Duncan Hawkins, in 2000 by Jon Lowe and in 2001 by David Divers, established that by far the greater part of the dockyard survives as buried structures filled in intact between 1869 and 1950. The structures of the yard proper, the docks, slips, basins, mast ponds, landing places and stairs, constitute a substantial architectural fabric that is currently extant, though largely invisible, being covered by superficial accretion or infill. As yet there has been no archaeological investigation of the garden area of Sayes Court, and only limited trial trenching of part of the manor house.CVW00, Convoys Wharf evaluation by CgMs Consulting on behalf of News International PLC by David Divers

International recognition

In October 2013 Deptford Dockyard and Sayes Court garden were added to the

World Monuments Fund World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and trainin ...

's 2014 watch list.

Sayes Court

The War Department hired the Sayes Court area and almshouses, from the

from 19 September 1914 to use as a Horse Transport Reserve Depot at a rental of £90 per annum (), to enlarge its Supply Reserve Depot at the Foreign Cattle Market. The fee simple of the Foreign Cattle Market and of the Sayes Court property were purchased by the War Department, for £400,500 (), under deeds dated 25 March 1926, 18 March 1927 and 25 July 1927 including the

, tramway,

age and

rights and

Dockyard railways

From 15 December 1900 there was tramway access via Grove Street, to the Foreign Cattle Market, using their own

Maudslay Henry Maudslay ( pronunciation and spelling) (22 August 1771 – 14 February 1831) was an English machine tool innovator, tool and die maker, and inventor. He is considered a founding father of machine tool technology. His inventions were an ...

petrol locomotive. When the docks became an army depot the junction was relaid to standard gauge for direct connection to the

. There was as well, an internal

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

tramway system. When the War Department took over, they introduced steam locomotives to work the tramways, purchasing between 1915 and 1917, twelve oil-fired Warril type

gauge Gauge ( or ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, ...

locomotives from the

Hunslet Engine Company The Hunslet Engine Company is a locomotive-building company, founded in 1864 in Hunslet, England. It manufactured steam locomotives for over 100 years and currently manufactures diesel shunting locomotives. The company is part of Ed Murray & So ...

. In December 1920 the Government announced the sale of the equipment from the railway at the Deptford Meat Depot. In 1921 Sir Robert Walker purchased three locos and 75 wagons for the

Sand Hutton Light Railway The Sand Hutton Light Railway was a minimum gauge estate railway serving the estate of Sir Robert Walker, the Fourth Baronet of Sand Hutton, Yorkshire. It connected the main house with the LNER Warthill Station and the village of Bossall. It ...

, and purchased a fourth 1927. By January 1938 of the remaining eight locos, seven were apparently still in existence at Deptford, but out of use.

Development

In October 2000, 'Creekside Forum' set up the 'Convoys Opportunity'

umbrella group An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...

in response to the News International Ltd plan to sell the Convoys Wharf site. Convoys Opportunity, composed of community organisations, churches, businesses and others in Deptford and beyond,Select Committee on Transport Written Evidence
Memorandum by the Creekside Forum (TT 09)
by Bill Ellson, Creekside Forum, July 2004 campaigned to have the News International scheme refused and the safeguarding order upheld. Deptford Convoy's Wharf

In 2002 News International applied to the London Borough of Lewisham for outline planning permission to erect 3,500 residential units on the site. Lewisham councillors resolved to approve the application in May 2005. The Grade II listed Olympia Warehouse would have to be preserved and refurbished as part of the redevelopment of the site. New International engaged Richard Rogers to develop a masterplan for the site.Planning Context
/ref> View of Convoys Wharf from the Thames Path

View of Convoys Wharf from the Thames Path

If the Mayor allowed the application it would then be referred to the

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government The secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, also referred to as the levelling up secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the overall leadership and strategic direction o ...

. Reasons for such a referral would include a Government direction that half the site is safeguarded for freight use. Since freight wharves on the Thames were safeguarded in 1997 by the then Secretary of State for the Environment,

John Gummer John Selwyn Gummer, Baron Deben, (born 26 November 1939) is a British Conservative Party politician, formerly the Member of Parliament (MP) for Suffolk Coastal and now a member of the House of Lords. He was Conservative Party Chairman from 1983 ...

, only one operational wharf has been lost to residential use without a full public inquiry. This was Delta/Blackwall Wharf, a major aggregates wharf redeveloped as part of the

Greenwich Peninsula The Greenwich Peninsula is an area of Greenwich in South East London, England. It is bounded on three sides by a loop of the Thames, between the Isle of Dogs to the west and Silvertown to the east. To the south is the rest of Greenwich, to the s ...

masterplan. On 18 May 2005 a 50/50 joint venture company of

Cheung Kong Holdings Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited, is a multinational conglomerate, based in Hong Kong. It was one of Hong Kong's leading multi-national conglomerates. The company merged with its subsidiary Hutchison Whampoa on 3 June 2015, as part of a major ...

and Hutchison Whampoa entered into an agreement to acquire Convoys Wharf, to develop it as a mixed residential and commercial project, with News International retaining a profit share in the sale of the luxury homes proposed. In 2008 a new planning application was submitted by Hutchison based largely on the original Richard Rogers scheme. In July 2011 Hutchison Whampoa engaged

Aedas Aedas is an architectural firm with eleven International offices founded by the Welsh architect Keith Griffiths. Aedas provides services in architecture, interior design, urban design, masterplanning and graphic design. It was established in 2002 ...

to develop a new masterplan for the site and submitted an amendment planning application. Then in early 2012 Hutchison appointed Terry Farrell to revise the masterplan for the site and submitted a planning application in April 2013. In September 2011 a group of local residents launched a campaign, with the name ''Deptford Is..'' to oppose the masterplan proposed by the developers. They have proposed a couple of projects to connect to the history of the area and benefit the local community. These are the Lenox project (see below) and Sayes Court Garden. On 17 October 2013,

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

, the Mayor of London called in the application. In January 2014 Lewisham Council's strategic planning committee recommended that the outline planning application for Convoys Wharf in its current form be rejected. On 22 January 2014 Dame

Joan Ruddock Dame Joan Mary Ruddock, (née Anthony; born 28 December 1943) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewisham Deptford from 1987 to 2015. Ruddock was Minister of State for Energy at the Departmen ...

challenged the government to recognise the unique heritage features of the site. On 31 March 2014 Boris Johnson approved plans to build up to 3,500 new homes on the Convoys Wharf site that has been derelict since 2000. A planning application to build a first major residential block of 456 flats, the first of 22 plots in Hutchison's masterplan, was approved by Lewisham Council in June 2020. Future plans include a 1.5 acre park on an existing river pontoon, cultural, commercial and retail space, and 3,500 homes including three towers up to 40 storeys tall.

The Lenox Project

In 2013 the Lenox Project put forward a formal proposal to build a full-size sailing replica of HMS ''Lenox'', a 70-gun ship of the line originally built at Deptford Dockyard in 1678. The ship would actually be constructed on the dockyard site, and would form the centrepiece of a purpose-built museum which would remain as a permanent part of the development of Convoys Wharf. By late 2015 the project had gathered momentum, with more detailed plans fitting the building of the ''Lenox'' into the overall development of this part of Deptford. The 2015 Feasibility Study identified the Safeguarded Wharf at the Western end of the Convoys Wharf site as the most suitable place for the dry-dock where the ship herself would be built; the existing but disused canal entrance could then be modified to provide an entrance for the dock as well as a home berth for the finished ship. It is hoped that the ''Lenox'' will provide a focus for the regeneration of the area as the comparable replica ship ''

Hermione Hermione may refer to: People * Hermione (given name), a female given name * Hermione (mythology), only daughter of Menelaus and Helen in Greek mythology and original bearer of the name Arts and literature * ''Cadmus et Hermione'', an opera by ...

'' did for

Rochefort Rochefort () may refer to: Places France * Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department ** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard * Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department * Rochefort-du-Gard, in the Ga ...

in France.

References

External links

Deptford Is...
blog about the proposed development of Convoys Wharf
Convoys Wharf development website
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20120313231705/http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/lewgreen/597284.no_more_penthouses/ No more penthousesNews Shopper, Lewisham & Greenwich, 17 May 2005
New look for old wharf
News Shopper, Lewisham & Greenwich, 31 May 2005
Include tribute in wharf scheme

News Shopper The ''News Shopper'' titles are local newspapers published in South East London and North West Kent by Newsquest. The newsroom is in Orpington. There are five local editions: Bexley Borough, Bexley & North Kent, Bromley, Dartford & Gravesend ...

, Lewisham & Greenwich, 19 July 2005 *Convoys Wharf, Deptford a
GLIAS
Notes and news, December 2009
Safeguarded Wharves
- the official 2005 list and descriptions *Model of th
Royal dockyard at Deptford in 1774
{{Coord, 51.486, -0.027, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Archaeological sites in London Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Lewisham London docks Military history of London Ports and harbours of the Thames Estuary Redeveloped ports and waterfronts in London Redevelopment projects in London Royal Navy bases in England Royal Navy dockyards in England Shipbuilding in London History of the London Borough of Lewisham Shipyards on the River Thames Port of London Wharves in the United Kingdom 18 in gauge railways in England Industrial railways in England Rail transport in London Deptford