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FAIRBURN'S PLAN of the proposed WET-DOCKS AND CUT from NEW GRAVEL LANE to BLACKWALL
The plan's title and publisher's imprint appear at bottom left, with a compass star, key and scale bar at bottom centre.The boundary of the area to be developed is highlighted in red. After a Parliamentary Select Committee in 1796 condemned the congestion at the Port of London, a number of large-scale projects for new docking and shipping facilities were submitted to Parliament. Fairburn's plan illustrates the London merchants' scheme. It consists of an entrance dock that could accommodate 33 loaded ships, two main docks that would accommodate a total of 355 ships and a separate dock for lighters. The plan also included the creation of the 2" 3/4 mile long cut from Wapping to Blackwall. An improved version of this scheme would eventually materialise as the London Docks.
The British Library1796
1796