page_title: Greenland Dock
section_title: Whaling and timber trades
hierarchical_section_title: Greenland Dock / History / Whaling and timber trades
caption_attribution_description: English: Manuscript plan of the Greenland Dock, 1763
context_page_description: Greenland Dock is the oldest of London's riverside wet docks, located in Rotherhithe in the area of the city now known as Docklands. It used to be part of the Surrey Commercial Docks, most of which have by now been filled in. Greenland Dock is now used purely for recreational purposes; it is one of only two functioning enclosed docks on the south bank of the River Thames, along with the smaller South Dock, Rotherhithe, to which it is connected by a channel now known as Greenland Cut.
context_section_description: From the 1720s, Greenland whalers also used the dock and substantial blubber boiling houses were built to produce oil on the south side. Howland Great Wet Dock was sold by the fourth Duke of Bedford in 1763. Extensive usage by the Greenland whaling ships prompted the dock to be renamed Greenland Dock. However, this trade declined sharply by the start of the 19th century.
  In 1806 the dock was sold to William Richie, a Greenwich timber merchant and founder of the Commercial Dock Company (1807). The Company built a series of additional docks and two new timber ponds to the north while rival companies built additional docks, leading to the jumble of harbours, canals and timber ponds. In 1865, the company merged with the neighbouring Surrey Docks to form the Surrey Commercial Docks, controlling some 80% of London's timber trade. 
  Greenland Dock remained at the centre of London's timber trade for well over a century to come. It was lined with warehouses and immense piles of construction timber or "deal wood", which were maintained by the athletic deal porters. Much of the timber arrived aboard small sailing vessels from the Baltic region, although these were eventually displaced by large steamers.
caption: Manuscript plan of the Greenland Dock, 1763
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