Gallions Reach Shopping Park
| Beckton | |
|---|---|
 Gas holders at Beckton |
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 Beckton
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| Beckton shown within Greater London | |
| Population | 15,141 (2011 Census. Ward) |
| OS grid reference | TQ435815 |
| • Charing Cross | 8 mi (12.9 km) W |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LONDON |
| Postcode district | E6, E16 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| EU Parliament | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
Beckton is an urban neighbourhood in east London, England and part of the London Borough of Newham. It is located 8 miles (12.9 km) east of Charing Cross. It was unpopulated marshland adjacent to the River Thames until the development of major industrial infrastructure to support the growing metropolis of London was built in the 19th century. Housing was created in Beckton for workers of the gas and sewage works. Between 1981 and 1995 it was within the London Docklands Development Corporation area which caused the population to increase as new homes were built and the Docklands Light Railway was constructed.
Beckton is named after Simon Adams Beck, the governor of the Gas Light and Coke Company when work building Beckton Gas Works began in November 1868.
Beckton was located primarily in the parish of East Ham. It stretched into the ancient parish of Woolwich, which included land on the north bank of the Thames and the parish of Barking that included land to the west of the Roding. The parish boundary was also a county boundary, with Barking and East Ham in Essex and North Woolwich in Kent. In 1889 Woolwich became part of the County of London. In 1914 East Ham became a county borough, essentially a county in its own right. In 1965 the London Borough of Newham was created and all three sections of Beckton became part of the new borough in Greater London. Beckton was within the London Docklands Development Corporation area from 1981 to 1995.
Sewage treatment works were first established in 1864 as part of Joseph Bazalgette's scheme to remove sewage (and hence reduce disease) from London by creating two huge sewer pipes from the capital, one on each side of the Thames and known as the Southern and Northern Outfall Sewers. The Beckton sewage works, at the end of the northern outfall, is the fourth largest in the world and Europe's largest and is now managed by Thames Water. The outfall sewer has been landscaped and now also serves as the Greenway cycle track through east London. Originally sewage was pumped untreated into the Thames, and this contributed to the high death toll in the 1878 Princess Alice disaster, when over 600 died in Britain's worst inshore shipping tragedy. The site was mooted in 2005 as the location for a desalination plant, but the proposal was rejected by Mayor Ken Livingstone as environmentally unacceptable. The scheme has been resurrected by the new mayor, Boris Johnson, as part of a deal with Thames Water to reduce delays in fixing roadworks throughout London.
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Wikipedia