Custom House, Newham

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.