Beagle/Maersk House - A historical survey
Post date: Apr 22, 2017 9:25:21 PM
PONLHeritage and SCARA have been contacted by a team who are in the process of recording the history of Whitechapel, the area of London chosen nearly 50 years ago as the home of the HQ for Overseas Containers Limited (OCL). One of the individual buildings that will be covered by the project is Beagle House (now Maersk House) and they have asked us to publish this request for photographs, memories and other information.
(Maersk House - Photo courtesy Derek Kendall)
The Survey of London has recently written up a short history of Maersk (formerly Beagle) House (https://surveyoflondon.org/map/feature/31/detail/#history) as part of its current research into the history of Whitechapel, work that will eventually result in the 54th volume in the Survey’s long-running series dedicated to London’s architectural history. It contains a number of evocative interior photographs of the building in 1974.
The Whitechapel project is a departure and an experiment for the Survey which is now part of University College London. Its present research phase is based on an interactive website funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The map-based site is compiling contributions from the public that embrace personal memories as much as expert knowledge and images, whether photographs or drawings. Launched in September 2016, our website will remain live up to the end of 2018.
If you have any information, research, images, or memories of working in Whitechapel, you can sign up and start contributing them here: https://surveyoflondon.org/ or email ponlheritage@gmail.com.
Survey of London
Related links:
Survey of London - Histories of Whitechapel - Home page for the Survey of London project.
Survey of London - Whitechapel Map - Interactive map linking to the 156 subject pages for the buildings (etc.) in Whitechapel that have been covered by the project to date.
Survey of London - Maersk House - The Survey of London's web page covering Beagle/Maersk House. The information on this page goes back to the use of the site for the Browne & Eagle Warehouse in the 19th century through to the building of Beagle House and the imminent demolition of Maersk House today. Well worth a look for the original photographs of the Beagle House interiors alone!
Found Photograph, circa 1971 - Words by David Howells (2008/2009) - Reflections on a photograph taken in the Whitechapel area by an uinknown photographer during the construction of Beagle House.
PONLHeritage - Last few weeks for London HQ - PONLHeritage news article from January 2016 following the announcement that the former OCL/P&OCL/PONL HQ building was to be demolished as part of a major development.