The Surrey Commercial Docks employed thousands, but mainly on a casual basis; the dockers' cal- on shelter still stands on Redriff Road.

Rotherhithe Street ran in a great arc in the strip of land between the docks and the River Thames. Much of the land between the river and the street was used for ship repair, building and breaking. The Nelson (dry) Dock can be seen in the foreground.

The Surrey Commercial Docks were the only cut wet docks south of the river.

They have their origin in the Greenland Dock (originally the Howland Great Wet Dock) of the 17th century. Most expansion took place in the mid and late 19th century.

At their greatest extent the docks had 176 acres of water and 193 acres of quayside. Their greatest volume of imports were in the interwar years, at about the time of this photograph.

Their principal goods were Canadian grain and Scandanavian softwood. The latter can be seen floating in the Lavender Dock.