Shadwell was an early centre of Docklands, developed to supply both navy and merchant ships. Trades included sail makers, instrument makers, ship chandlers, ship brokers, victuallers, rope makers, glassmakers, sugar refiners, coopers, brewers, distillers and that’s not all. It was a multicultural hub where escaping slaves hid out, fed-up sailors started new lives, river pirates spied opportunities and women provided the comforts of home in lodging-houses, taverns and brothels. And of course women were also seamen, pirates, slaves and merchants!

West Londoners came to experience the dangers of the many opium-dens that were standard unwinding for seafarers. Despite the lowlife, merchants based major businesses here to equip British imperial interests and explorations, including privateers sanctioned by the crown to commit piracy on the seas.

Shadwell Basin was the easternmost of three built in the early 19th century, displacing what had been a thriving village. The docks were heavily bombed in WWII, then filled and buildings left to crumble until redevelopment in the 1980s. This is part of the area where midwives from Jennifer Worth’s memoir and Call the Midwife television series bicycled to help East-Enders.

On this walk we pass remnants of all these phenomena as well as river stairs, imposing warehouses, green spaces, the Thames Path and numerous appealing pubs.

Laura Agustín is a medieval historian and anthropologist interested in illuminating the lives of unnamed people in history. The Naked Anthropologist is Laura’s longtime blog, now dedicated to historical walks that highlight issues of Gender, Sex and Class.