In the early 1800s the British Empire was expanding, trade was booming, and the Port of London desperately needed more docks to accommodate this. The solution was to dig new docks out of the marshland in east London.

In 1855 Victoria Dock was opened with a depth of over 13 metres to handle the new iron-clad steamships that were travelling the empire, bringing in cargoes of grain, tobacco, meat fruit and vegetables. It was described as the largest volume of man-made enclosed water in the world. Albert Dock followed in 1880 and King George V Dock in 1921.