Riverside east of the Tower and the South Bank. Jenningtree

Riverside east of the Tower and the South Bank. Jenningtree Point

Heavily industrialised riverside area

Post to the east Rainham Marshes
Post to the north Hornchurch Marshes
Post to the south Belvedere Marshes
Post to the west Belvedere Marshes

Crabtree Manorway North
The northern end of the road is a footpath to the river on a strip of land. A ditch appears to run along the eastern edge of the strip and there is a shaft linking to a disused former cooling water outfall tunnel in the middle of the strip
Burt’s Wharf. This is now an industrial and trading estate. It was a works for Burt Boulton and Haywood, formerly located at a timber impregnation tar works at Prince Regents Wharf, West Ham where they were the largest tar distillers in the world.   There was a large internal tram and rail system here. They are now in Wales.

Fishers Way
Lidl. This is the chain’s distribution warehouse.
Belvedere Industrial Estate. Trading and industry area
River Wharf Business Park. Trading and industry area

Mulberry Wharf.
Mulberry Wharf. The wharf was built 1920 on the site of the Powder Magazine Jetty.  Low concrete jetty of T plan. 30m from bank. T section 58.7m long. 12.5m wide. Crane on `T section.  It is a Safeguarded Wharf which can handle ships of 4.0m draught.
Lafarge. Aggregates co and predecessors have operated Mulberry Wharf since 1955.
Hall’s Magazine explosion. In 1864 two gunpowder magazines exploded with the shock felt as much as 50 miles away. This was in a depot belonging to John Hall, and Sons, and also a magazine used by the Low Wood Gunpowder Company ex. Daye and Barker. Three cottages were destroyed along with the works jetties and barges. All that was left of the works was a crater and a resulting breach in the sea wall.  Army units and workers from Woolwich Arsenal were drafted in to prevent the river flooding into the marshes at the next high tide
Price's Oil Refinery. This was south of the magazine and was set up in the 1860s by Sir Charles Price. This company had had an oil refinery in Millwall since the late 18th.   The works is assumed to have been taken over by Price's Candles.

Riverside Path
Jenningtree Point.  This marks the transition from Erith Reach into Halfway Reach
The origins of the name are not clear -  a Jenning tree was a type of apple. It was also known as Julian Point.
Jenningtree Point lighthouse was set up in 1901. It stood below the level of the river bank . It was 44 feet high and operated by a sun valve controlling the acetylene gas which was recharged every six months. It was demolished before 1990 – probably in 1976.
Ferry. A ferry service ran from Jenningtree Point to Rainham. In the middle ages this was controlled by Lesnes Abbey.
Sources
Arthur Pewty’s Maggot Sandwich, Web site

Ballard .Report  on nuisance on the Lower Thames
Bygone Kent
Erith. Official Handbook.
Erith. Official guide
Grace’s Guide. Web site
London Borough of Bexley. Web site
Tucker. Ferries of the Lower Thames
Where Thames Smooth Waters Glide. Web site

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