Granaries, Shipyards and Wharves - Cycling from Guildford

�ON REACHING THE SHIP YORK, TURN RIGHT AND PAUSE BY THE
DOCKLANDS SETTLEMENT
THE SHIP YORK pub is first recorded as THE YORK in
1809, and may have been named after HMS York
launched by S. & D. BRENT in 1807, although the
“SHIP” was not added to the pub title until 1835. By
this time the York was in use as a convict ship. It seems
odd to name a pub after a floating prison, but perhaps
the landlord had served aboard in happier times. The
present building is of course modern.
THE DOCKLANDS SETTLEMENT, a charity started by
Reginald Kennedy Cox, a wealthy playwright, opened
its first establishment at Canning Town. The removal
of the Norwegian Church to its new building near the
mouth of the ROTHERHITHE – LIMEHOUSE ROAD
TUNNEL in 1929 left this Scandinavian sailor’s church
and mission building vacant and for sale. It was
purchased and reopened as the fourth Docklands
Settlement in London. Despite the Norwegian
connection, the foundation stone was laid by a
Swedish prince because Norway did not achieve full
independence from Sweden until 1905. Because of a
restricted site the original design was for a very tall,
thin building looking like a castle inhabited by Trolls.
Fortunately more land became available and this less
alarming structure was built instead.
On the other side of the road is THE FITCHETTS.
The proper name of this pub is the SURREY
COMMERCIAL DOCK TAVERN, but it became known
to mariners from all over the world as THE FITCHETTS
after a previous licensee (1909-1936). The pub is
first recorded in 1865, the year in which the GRAND
SURREY CANAL & DOCK CO and the COMMERCIAL
DOCK CO amalgamated to form the SURREY
COMMERCIAL DOCK CO. It seems to have been
a new establishment, rather than the renaming of an
existing pub, but the present building dates from the
1930s. From the outset its address was “1 REDRIFF
ROAD” a reminder that before they were diverted,
this is where ROTHERHITHE STREET met REDRIFF
ROAD, and the street name plate for the latter,
can still be seen at first floor level on the right hand
side of THE FITCHETTS sign.
20 SOUTHWARK HISTORY WALKS