Custom House, City of London

Until 1814, the Custom House stood at Sugar Quay in the parish of All Hallows Barking, immediately to the east of the present site. The site was long known as "Wool Quay", and, from the medieval period, a custom house was necessary there to levy the duty payable on exported wool. Such a building is recorded as early as 1377. The quay and the buildings on it were privately owned. Around 1380, one John Churchman built a custom house there to collect dues for the City of London, and in 1382 the Crown came to an agreement to use its facilities. Churchman's custom house remained in use until 1559, the freehold passing through various hands. Its replacement was erected under the direction of William Paulet, Marquess of Winchester, the Lord High Treasurer. A print from 1663 shows it as a three-storey building, with octagonal staircase towers. This structure was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. The post-fire replacement was on a rather larger scale, to the designs of Christopher Wren. The original estimate was for £6,000, but the eventual cost was more than £10,000. The new building was short-lived: in January 1715 a fire, which began in a nearby house, damaged it beyond repair, and a new, larger structure was built to the designs of Thomas Ripley, "Master-Carpenter" to the board of Customs. This necessitated the acquisition of ground to the north, fronting onto Thames Street, and the east. The main body of the new building, however, had the same plan as Wren's, and may have re-used its foundations, but was of three, rather than two storeys. ==Present building==

With the growth of trade, the opening of the docks, and the increases in duties during the Napoleonic wars, larger premises became necessary in the early nineteenth century. To meet this need, a new building to the designs of David Laing was begun in October 1813, on a site immediately to the west of Ripleys's building, where Bear Quay, Crown Quay, Dice Quay, and Horner's Quay had once been. Laing had held the position of surveyor to HM Customs since 1810. representing the arts and sciences, commerce and industry, and inhabitants of various countries of the world. A clock dial, nine feet in diameter, was supported by colossal figures symbolising Industry and Plenty, and the royal arms by figures of Ocean and Commerce. The riverfront was 488feet inches long, and the building cost £255,000. As originally built, the interior contained warehouses, cellars, about 170 offices, and a "Long room", measuring, 190 by 66 feet. On the ground floor was the "Queen's warehouse", with a rib-vaulted ceiling. The cellars in the basement were fireproof and used to store wine and spirits seized by the customs. Further investigation showed: Second World War damage During the Blitz, the east wing of the building was destroyed. In the early 1960s the wing was rebuilt in contemporary style behind a recreated historic façade. ==Hotel Proposals ==

In 2001, HMRC sold a 175 year lease on the building to Mapeley as part of a wider sale of HMRC assets. The sale included a 20 year agreement for HMRC to continue occupying the building, which expired in 2021. The government announced the proposed closure of the HMRC office in 2018. In 2020 proposals were published for the building's conversion into a hotel, but planning permission was refused in 2022. In 2023, the long lease on the building was purchased from Mapeley by Jastar Capital, who launched consultations for a revised luxury hotel conversion. In September 2025, the development was approved by the City of London. The site will feature a redevelopment of the Thameside path, replacing the existing car-park with a public space roughly the size of 12 tennis courts (2,400sqm). ==References==