Deptford was home to umpteen shipyards, which helped propel the settlement between the railway and Ayres Quay which has mostly been cleared today. Though the Laing yard is likely most famous, there were others leading to where the Queen Alexandra Bridge now stands.

Though full detail isn't known on the exact location of Sampson & Peter Mills' shipyard there is a strong possibility it stood directly west of Websters Ropery (partly because I've already figured out who resided at the others!). Sadly the tithe plans from the late 1830s don't stretch to this stretch of riverside, but was extant in the 1850s leaving it very likely there were builders thereafter. It had been totally cleared by the 1890s.

Sampson Mills was born around 1804 at Sunderland and was primarily a ship broker by trade, meaning he probably built them to supplement his trading business selling ships. The ships constructed namely went to general shipping companies like those mentioned above. Sampson died in 1870, with the latter years of his life living at 40 Frederick Street in the city centre (a property that still exists today). Peter Mills was very like his brother born in 1901, and in 1851 is listed as being a "surveyor of shipping" living with his son at 49 Villier Street.

Business suspended here in 1839 after the construction of 17 vessels (as far as we know). From there, it appears the trade moved to Hartlepool for a short time before they moved back to Sunderland as pure brokers.

By the 1890s the quay wall was constructed and allotment gardens later stood here for Deptford residents.