View of a busy waterway, with many craft on the move, executed with great skill and regard for detail. The viewer’s eye is led irresistibly towards the warship under construction at the centre of the composition. A great expanse of flat land opens to the right of the ship. To the left of the ship under construction is a row of trees with shipmasts visible behind. Signed and dated at lower left.

It is highly likely that the painting depicts the shipyard in south Rotherhithe that existed originally on the site of present Surrey Docks Farm, located just a bit north up the stream of the Greenland Dock, which is located to the left of this view, just behind the row of trees serving as its windbreak. In 1762, when Cleveley painted this view, the shipyard was owned by Thomas Stanton, who was building his last ship there, before the location was taken over by the Wells family of shipbuilders, who enjoyed over 30 productive years here, building ships for the East India Company and the Royal Navy.