Custom House, Newham

Area in London, England

Custom House is an area in the London Borough of Newham, in East London, England. The area is named after the custom house of Royal Victoria Dock. Today the dock is used for recreation but, in the past, it dominated the industry and commerce of the area from 1855 until the 1940s before closing in 1980. The main economic building of the area is the ExCeL London Exhibition Centre and the district is connected to the City of London by the Docklands Light Railway and the Elizabeth line. Offices, factories and storage premises close to the DLR route provide most of the area's employment land. Schools, a college, a care home, council offices and a parade of shops also support the local economy, which has parks to north and south east. It was originally part of the ancient parish and County Borough of West Ham, in the hundred of Becontree, a part of the historic county of Essex. Since 1965, Custom House has been part of the London Borough of Newham, a local government district of Greater London. It forms part of the London E16 postcode district. Custom House has often been regarded as the eastern part of Canning Town, also a part of West Ham; however this link has tended to be downplayed since the Victorian period due to Canning Town’s poor, industrial character.

Custom House has one of the King George's Fields in memorial to King George V. The Canning Town recreational ground is located on Freemasons Road. Custom House was home to a football league club, Thames A. F. C, from 1930 to 1932, when the club was dissolved. Although there are no longer any football teams playing within Custom House, various teams in recent years with names containing 'Custom House' have played within close proximity. Custom House United (Est 2018) played at the Will Thorne Pavilion on Stansfeld Road in Beckton. Custom House Community FC (Est 2013) played at the Terence McMillan Stadium in neighbouring Plaistow, just over the A13 from Custom House. Custom House FC (founded in 2011) play at their home ground of Lyle Park in Silvertown. Custom House was home to the West Ham Hammers speedway team at the 120,000 capacity West Ham Stadium. Many roads built on the stadium site following its demolition are named after the stars of the team including Aub Lawson, Jack Young and promoter Johnnie Hoskins.

In Custom House there are three purpose built Christian churches representing the Anglican, Baptist and Catholic denominations. On Berwick Road is the church of St Anne, which today is part a two church Catholic parish known as the Parish of Our Lady of Walsingham (POLOW). The Ascension Church is the Church of England place of worship on Baxter Road since 1891. On Prince Regent Lane next to the public library is the Custom House Baptist Church. At different times in recent years, Royal Docks Academy has been used as a place of worship by various evangelical churches.

The district's roads feed into the London radial route the A11 to the north. In the east of the district a single carriageway, the A112, links Stratford via West Ham to the north to the Excel Exhibition Centre by Custom House railway station where it terminates in the south.