A View of the London Docks 1808 Size:large Tea merchants are also shown

Tea merchants are also shown sampling the tea - which is unlikely to have happened until after the cargo had been properly warehoused

Bold view of the Quadrant

An atmospheric riverscape of working boats on The River Thames

Peter Ackroyd has a genius for digging out the most surprising and entertaining details

A plan of London with all the new streets

A View of the London Docks 1808 Size:large Tea merchants are also shownA coloured aquatint print of the the five massive warehouses of the western dock which were designed by the Dock Company's surveyor, Daniel Asher Alexander. They line the quay at the centre of the image, to the right lies the Wapping Entrance Lock with the River Thames beyond. Left of the dock stands Hawksmoor's St George in the East. In the far distance, the West India Docks can be glimpsed on the Isle of Dogs, and beyond, the mast house of the East