A fine very large scale plan of the City of London featuring a planned new bridge over the Thames running either side of the London Bridge. New wide Avenues were to run through the city connecting it to the Tower of London. It is from the ‘Appendix to the Third Report for the Select Committee on the Port of London’. These plans were submitted by George Dance for the much needed development of the dockland area east of London. The plans included new docks, bridges, roads, warehouses, quays and embankments. It is engraved by Vincent Woodthorpe an engraver of Fetter Lane, London who flourished c.1798-1824.

By the 1790s industrial Britain was exploding and the Port of London needed to modernise to meet the needs of a rapidly increasing flow of goods and services. A further problem facing the shippers was the great level of theft that was occurring believed to be as much as £500,000 per annum. In 1793 the merchants formed a committee to push for improvements to the facilities. The City of London Corporation employed the services of George Dance (1741 – 14 January 1825) architect and surveyor whose family was distinguished in the field. He was assisted by John Foulds (1742-1815) an engineer. Dance was described as being “among the few really outstanding architects of the century”, but few of his buildings remain. Educated at St. Paul’s School, London at aged 17 he was sent to Italy to prepare himself for a career in architecture. Studying in Rome he became acquainted with Piranesi by whom he was influenced. He succeeded his father as City of London surveyor and architect on his death in 1768, he was only 27 years of age. Amongst his earliest public works are the rebuilding of Newgate Prison in 1770 and the front of the Guildhall. Unfortunately many of his buildings have been demolished, amongst them Newgate Prison, the Royal College of Surgeons, St Luke’s Hospital, the Shakespeare Gallery in Pall Mall, Ashburnham Place and Stratton Park. Along with his brother Nathaniel he was a founder member of the Royal Academy in 1768, and became its second professor of architecture from 1798 to 1805. He is buried in St Paul’s Cathedral.