Royal Victoria Docks , London

Friday 13th December 2019

My target photography subject was the Millennium Mills situated on the south side of the Royal Victoria Docks in London.

I had seen this vaste, derelict building before when on a photography club outing to photograph Canary Wharf and wondered if there would be any possibility to get any closer. This was constructed as a flour mill in 1905 in Silvertown in East London.

Millennium Mills on the south side of Royal Victoria Docks. Photo taken from the high level walkway over the Royal Victoria Docks.

Starting off on the 10:13 train to Stratford we change at Harlow Town for the fast train into London Liverpool Street. Liz exits the train at Tottenham Hale to go for lunch with some friends whilst I continue on to Liverpool street.

Not sure where I’m going to end up for the whole day but but have it in mind to go on the DLR to Royal Victoria Docks for some photography then proceed along the Southbank.

The plan is to walk over the elevated walkway to the south side. I want to attempt to get some photos of the dilapidated Millennium Mills building.

The architecture around Royal Victoria Docks.

Walking along the northern edge of Royal Victoria Docks looking East.

Looking in a westerly directio toward Canary Wharf. In the foreground is the elevated walkway over the docks. It can be accessed by a lift at each end. It’s a great spot to take photos of Canary Wharf from an elevated position.

Looking up to the elevated walkway with the access lift in the foreground.

Moving across the elvated walkway I took some photos of the Millennium Mills and then continued across to see if I could access the area any closer.

This was as close as I could get. There is a very substantial security fence so it was a case of just poking the camera lens through the fence.

The mill converted imported grain into flour for the domestic market. The mills were named after their most famous product; Millennium Flour which won the Miller Challenge Cup in 1899 at the International Bakers Exhibition.

In 1917 a nearby munitions factory exploded and devastated the factory. 73 people died.

In 1920 the company, Spillers took over the factory to produce dog biscuits. In 1933 they had the building rebuilt in the current art deco style. The building suffered during the blitz and has since had various projects proposed but remains empty.

It would make a great dereliction subject but as always, it’s virtually impossible to get close enough. I have seen various photographs of the inside on some Urbex sites but they were taken a few years ago. I’m guessing that they have since upgraded the fencing around the site as the only thing I managed to do was to poke the camera through the fence to get some photos.

The building makes a very striking visual statement as a backdrop to the flats on the south side of the docks.

Giving up trying to get any closer to the old mill building I carried on round the southern side of the dock planning to return to the tube at Canning Town. I then had the bright idea of crossing the dock on the Emirates Airline cable car.