The Thames Iron Works 1837-1912: A Major Shipbuilder on the Thames (Crossrail Archaeology)

Abstract

• The Thames Iron Works and Shipbuilding Company, one of the great private enterprises of the Victorian age, launched some of the most famous warships of the time from its slipways at the mouth of the River Lea. A pioneer of shipbuilding in iron, the yard’s expertise was also deployed in ground-breaking civil engineering projects using iron structures. Several important components of the yard were investigated at a Crossrail site on the Limmo peninsula, including engineering workshops, a furnace, a mast house and mould loft building, and a slipway. An account of the history of the company places it in the wider context of London’s 19th-century shipbuilding industry. The Crossrail archive for the Limmo peninsula site is available online.