Royal Victoria Dock and the Stothert & Pitt Cranes

The dock opened in 1855, built by the Victoria (London) Dock Company to George Parker Bidder's design on the previously uninhabited Plaistow Marshes, and was worked by hydraulic machinery for large steamships. It had four solid piers, each 152 m by 43 m, and 3.6 km of quays; it gained the "Royal" prefix in 1880 and closed to commercial traffic in 1981. The crane listing was made on 17 November 2009 as list entry 1393528. Warehouse K on the north quay is separately listed Grade II, NHLE 1376226, on 27 August 1998, and Silo D on the south side is Grade II, NHLE 1245030, listed 28 January 1999. The Royal Victoria Dock Bridge, the high-level pedestrian crossing over the dock entrance, was completed in 1998. Two entries often placed here are at the Royal Albert Dock about 2 km east: the Dock Manager's Offices, Grade II, NHLE 1376228, and the Central Buffet at Custom House, Grade II, NHLE 1380201, in which "Custom House" means the Royal Albert Dock custom house and not the station.