Custom House, Newham

Custom House is an area in the London Borough of Newham, in East London, England.

The area is named after the custom house of Royal Victoria Dock. Today the dock is used for recreation but, in the past, it dominated the industry and commerce of the area from 1855 until the 1940s before closing in 1980. The main economic building of the area is the ExCeL London Exhibition Centre and the district is connected to the City of London by the Docklands Light Railway and the Elizabeth line. Offices, factories and storage premises close to the DLR route provide most of the area's employment land. Schools, a college, a care home, council offices and a parade of shops also support the local economy, which has parks to north and south-east.

It was originally part of the ancient parish and County Borough of West Ham, in the hundred of Becontree, a part of the historic county of Essex. Since 1965, Custom House has been part of the London Borough of Newham, a local government district of Greater London. It forms part of the London E16 postcode district.

Custom House has often been regarded as the eastern part of Canning Town, also a part of West Ham; however this link has tended to be downplayed since the Victorian period due to Canning Town’s poor, industrial character.

Historically, the area was in the extreme west of Essex and, along with Canning Town and Silvertown, formed the south of the parish of West Ham, a largely rural parish until the early 19th century. Trade expanded in the British Empire and the royal docks were built, connecting to the River Thames in this district. Custom House took its name from the Custom House of the Royal Victoria Dock, opened in 1855. The demand for trade brought rapid population expansion, chiefly the families of dockworkers, warehousemen, carters (distributors), packaging and semi-skilled manufacturing hands, building and utilities workmen and workers in London's street and general distribution markets.

About 1740 the number of householders was estimated at 570. In the first national census of 1801 the population of West Ham was 6,485. It rose steadily to 12,738 in 1841 and then began a growth, which was especially rapid between 1871 and 1901, when over 204,000 were added. By 1911, with 289,030 inhabitants, West Ham was seventh in size among English county boroughs, a status newly acquired. The new population were crowded within the boundaries of the ancient parish being in limited height of homes then affordable to most people. Unlike in the various wealthy streets of other London districts almost the whole population of this part of what was Canning Town consisted of low-paid workers who lived in cheap, unadorned brick and mortar low rise terraces. There was a chronic shortage of open land which only became available once again when the cost of sound mid-rise and high-rise buildings became lower. High rise was first adopted in the country as social housing, attaching a stigma to tower blocks, many of which have since been demolished, including the few in this district of what was West Ham or Canning Town.

A slight population decline to 1931 paled into insignificance by the devastation wrought on this area in World War II, when bombing destroyed in many cases entire streets and forced large-scale evacuation.

The area is marked in early 20th century maps as the eastern half of Canning Town. The first Custom House in London was built in 1275 next to Old Billingsgate Market in the City of London several miles to the west. Royal Victoria Dock which was the economic hub of the settlement is today in recreational use but it dominated the industry and commerce of the area from its 1855 opening until the 1940s and closed in 1980 due to containerisation of freight.