More from Narrow Street – 1990: My walk in Limehouse on Sunday 6th January 1990 continued. The previous post from this walk is Around Narrow Street, Limehouse – 1990
It was hard not to take picture after picture on Narrow Street, particularly as I was aware much was soon to disappear, and I made over 20 exposures, though I’ve digitised less than half of these, and I’ll only post a few of these as some of the others are rather similar or at least overlap in terms of subject. This view shows some of the same buildings from the picture that ended the previous post, but from a slightly different viewpoint. Most including all in this view ,were demolished shortly afterwards.
My previous post told the story of Duncan Dunbar and his son of the same name who built up a huge shipping empire based around Dunbar Wharf but sold off at his death in 1862. The four warehouses at 136, 136½, 138, 140 were Grade II listed in 1973 and some at least were still in various commercial use back in 1990.
Until the 1970s it was a working wharf – E W Taylor, a lighterage company had begun using it for oversize cargo in 1857 – and the company also “became experts in the warehousing and fumigation of the botanicals used in making gin.” The company, now part of Dunbar Wharf Holdings Limited, acquired Dunbar Wharf in the 1940s.
All the remaining properties in Dunbar Wharf have now been converted into flats and you can read online about the 2020 renovation of one of the 1790s warehouse buildings into “a beautiful residence by the Thames.”
Barlow and Sons Auto Repairs were at 144 Narrow Street and offered their auto repairs with the aid of some really king-size spanners. This building was replaced in 1997 by Creek House.
These buildings were demolished shortly after I made these photographs for the development of the Limehouse Link tunnel and were then replaced by modern flats with a vaguely pastiche frontage. Their demolition enabled archaeological investigation of the site of Joseph Wilson and Company’s Limehouse Porcelain Manufactory operating here from 1745-8.
St Dunstan’s Wharf at 142 Narrow Street is also Grade II listed and has survived. Together with the listed buildings of Dunbar Wharf it backs onto Limekiln Dock. Above the doorway is its name and a floral decoration together with what appears to be a large pair of blacksmiths’ tongs, the pincers used by St Dunstan to grab the together with another tool I don’t recognise.
Along is bottom are the initials W & G.G and the date 1878. Gardner & Gardner, hay & straw salesmen, are listed at this address as well as in Spread Eagle Yard in Whitechapel High Street. The listing text states this is on a metal plate, but it looks more like terracotta in my picture. Apparently the building was also used as a store for materials including juniper berries and flowers used to make gin.
I was more or less at the end of Narrow Street and my walk will continue along Three Colt Street in another post.
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