A huge regeneration is taking place in Silvertown, which is a largely forgotten part of the West Ham area of Newham and an industrial wasteland which has fallen into dereliction.
The ambitious plans for the 62-acre site centre around the restoration of the 1930s Millennium Mills, once home to food manufacturer Rank Hovis MacDougall. The building has not been used since the early 1980s.
The plans also include a bridge across Royal Victoria Dock to connect Silvertown Quays with the Crossrail station at Custom House, and a new Roundhouse East that will be a music venue and education space.
The Millennium Mills building in Silvertown, which could soon be transformed into a cultural centre, is pictured in its heyday
Four elephants return from a Chipperfield’s Circus tour of South Africa at South West India Docks near Silvertown in 1968
An aerial view of the BP oil refinery at Silvertown in 1961. The area is now a largely forgotten part of the West Ham area of Newham
Silvertown was home to companies including James Keiller & Sons, makers of marmalade, and the sugar refiners Tate & Lyle (pictured)
Transport for London is also hoping to dig a new road tunnel beneath the Thames from Silvertown to the Greenwich Peninsula. The deadline for a decision on that is approaching next month on May 10.
The Silver Building in Silvertown, which is set to open later this year, will become home to start-ups, local businesses and artists. Originally built in 1965 for British Oil and Cake Mills, the site was left derelict for more than 20 years.
Silvertown, which lies close to London City Airport, was once a booming industrial centre in the 19th and early 20th century, home to companies including James Keiller & Sons, makers of marmalade, and the sugar refiners Tate & Lyle.
However it was devastated by an explosion at the Brunner Mond factory, which was being used to purify TNT during the First World War. It killed 73 people, injured more than 400 and destroyed 900 homes.
Then in the Second World War Silvertown and the Royal Docks suffered major damage from German shelling. Thereafter much of the area fell into dereliction, including local shops and pubs.
The 26,263-ton Shaw Savill liner Dominion Monarch dwarfs the surrounding houses from her dry dock at Silvertown in 1950
The Tate & Lyle sugar refinery can be seen from above in 1974. Much of the area fell into dereliction following the Second World War
A huge regeneration is taking place in Silvertown after it become an industrial wasteland which fell into dereliction
