Riverside, south bank opposite the Tower. Tooley Street
This posting relates only to sites south of the river
Post to the east Wapping and Wapping
Post to the south Bermondsey
Post to the west Bankside
Abbot’s Lane
The lane is now a short side turning off Tooley Street alongside the sides of larger buildings. It was once known as Stoney Lane and led to the western end of Pickle Herring Street and the river. It is said to have been a Roman road and to have led to a Roman ferry
Sir John Falstaffe. Falstaff is said to have been landowner in this area and to have had a house here. It is said that Cecily Neville, Duchess of York stayed here. He left the bulk of his fortune to Magdalen College, Oxford, and hence the local link to the College
Phoenix Brewery. In the late 17th the brewery was owned by Sir George Meggott. He died I 1723 and the brewery was taken over by his son Smith Meggott, who subsequently traded in partnership with Robert Hucks. By the late 18th the principle partner was Charles Clowes, a lawyer turned brewer, who installed a James Watt's engine in 1796. At that time it was known as the Phoenix Brewery and by the 1850s was in the hands of Courage Barclay and Perkins.
Two Brewers Pub, present in the late 19th
Battle Bridge Lane
Battlebridge Lane appears to be on the same site of what was once called Mill Lane and the name changed in the late 19th. Both led to Battlebridge Stairs’. It was said to stands on a water course belonging to Battle Abbey which ended at a mill site on the river. This is said to have been ‘arched over’. A number of warehouses were here in the 19th some connected with the leather trade. This road now runs alongside Hays Galleria and has a barrier to stop traffic half way down with the sign ‘private road
Borough Compter. This was built just before 1787
9 Lion and Key. This pub was still extant by at least 1920. It is said that the name related to Lyon’s Quay – but this was on the north bank of the river.
1-10 Old Red Cocks pub. This was present in 1889. This was a Camden Brewery Pub and is long since demolished. The landlady lost her licence in 1903.
18 Plymouth Arms Pub. 1790s. now demolished
Bermondsey Street
The vast majority of the street in this square runs under 14 rail lines into London Bridge Station, above, and includes some sets of points. It is a dark narrow passage although some doors go off into vaults under the lines,
7 Printworks House. This is now offices for the Kent, Surrey Sussex Deanery. In 1894 it way used by. Measures Varnish and Mastic
11 This was a factory for a number of firms, including Kings who made tents and blinds and other canvas items. In 1894 it was a site for British Patent Glazing and Glass Ltd. 1894
27 Old Sword and Bucker pub. The pub was there from the early 19th and was a Clowes Brewery House. It remained until at least the 1860s
32 Baptist Head pub. Present at least between 1839 and 1872
34 Griffiths Rents. This lay in the area which is now covered by railway lines. And like other buildings was swept away by Acts of Parliament for the various railway companies. In this case by the South Eastern Railway.
Valiant Soldier Alley. This lay in the area which is now covered by railway lines. The pub itself lay in Bermondsey Street and was demolished.
Wheatsheaf Alley This lay in the area which is now covered by railway lines. Both pub and alley were demolished
Cross Keys Alley. This lay in the area which is now covered by railway lines and was demolished for the London and Greenwich Railway.
Naked Boy Alley. This lay in the area which is now covered by railway lines and was a pub demolished for the railway
Christopher Inn. This lay in the area which is now covered by railway lines for which is was demolished. It was said in 1805 to be very old and to have a stucco sign of St, Christopher outside. In 1471 it had been bequeathed to a Cambridge College in support of a fellow there.
Braidwood Street
This is now merely the entry to a controlled car park. It was named for James Braidwood, superintendent of the London Fire Brigade, who was killed near here in a terrible fire in 1861. There is a plaque on the wall further up Tooley Street.,
Brewery Square
Narrow, more private. On part of Courage Anchor Brewery site, which is listed here under Shad Thames.
A gateway is made by twin turrets of flats.
Torso. This is at the rear of the square and is by Anthony Donaldson. It is a bronze female torso in ‘classical’ style. The base is a truncated cone and part of the ventilation system for the car park below
A brewery building remains in the south west corner
Counter Street
This may have originally been Comptor Street. It is now effectively an internal street of Hays Galleria and thus gates and locked. When the Comptor was there it seems to have been called ‘County Row’.
The Counting House. This block of shops and flats was built as a warehouse and offices, in 1887 By Henry Stock of Snooke & Stock and restored and the interior rebuilt in the 20th. It is reached from the street through an arcaded walkway. This is part of the southern block of Hay's Wharf complex, which was once linked to buildings across the street by bridges at the 4th storey. This block was a late addition to the complex.
English Grounds
Southwark Crown Court. Built 1979- 82 by P. S. A. Architects. This is one if three crown courts in SE1. It was opened in 1983 and has 15 courtrooms and is a designated as a serious fraud centre
Gibbon’s Rents
Community Garden – this is a curving tarmac path is lined with greenery on either side, from smaller plants in pots, to long-rooted trees. There is an information board at the entrance. There's no grass, but a few benches and chairs. A wardrobe against a wall acts as a Little Library.
Hays Galleria
Hay’s Wharf. . The Wharf and Galleria were built on a complicated area of wharves and warehouses. Alexander Hay had acquired property in this area in the late 17th. The area including some of some East India Warehouses and Coxe's Wharf. Hay’s new wharf had been the site of a granary. He opened a brewery which he rented out. He dealt with tallow as well as hides and skins. Theodore Hay was a pioneer in lighterage and this began the company’s shipping work. At his death in 1838, the company passed to John Humphrey whose family was wharfingers in the area around Clink Street. In 1862 the Proprietors of Hay's Wharf reorganised the wharf. It was rebuilt by John Humphery for a fleet of clippers and with a link to bankers Jardine Matheson. A painting in the Chairman’s office commemorated the Flying Spur which made the fastest passage in 1862 – the spur being the Jardine crest. Later New Zealand dairy produce was handled here arriving refrigerated from 1867, and frozen lamb from 1882. This area became the main centre for provision merchants and Hays Wharf owned all wharves except one between Tower Bridge and London Bridge. Tooley Street became as the main provision importing centre nationally. There were eight steamer berths se3rving twenty vessels a week. The warehouses could take about 104,000 tons with: 25,000 tons in cold stores; 9,000 tons in cool air stores; and 70,000 tons in general warehouses. They handled cheese and eggs, bacon, butter, meat, and fresh vegetables.
Hay’s Dock. The Galleria is an adaption of what was Hayes Dock. This was built in 1856 and consisted of a horseshoe of buildings around a small dock. . It was used primarily for the storage of tea and was thought to be the best development of its kind. The buildings were among the first to be designed with a deliberately fireproof construction, using incombustible floors of brick arches on cast iron beams. In the basement remained acme rubble wall from the medieval Abbot of Battle's Inn. The warehouses, themselves were built in 1851-7 by William Cubitt for the Hay's Dock Co. to the designs of William Snook and Henry Stock, Surveyor to the Board of St Olave's Parish. The western range was rebuilt after the Tooley Street fire. The original riverside warehouses were replaced by cold stores in 1947 because of bomb damage and. the current the riverfront is a facsimile built in the 1980s.
London Bridge City. This was the generic name for the redevelopment from London Bridge down river along Tooley Street, was developed as offices. The Company of the Proprietors of Hay's Wharf closed their wharves in 1969. They began to redevelop in 1980 with the St Martin's Property Corporation with a master plan in 1982 by Michael Brown & Partners.
Hays Galleria. This arcade was developed by Michael Twigg Brown & Partners in 1982-6, built out of Hay's Dock and the warehouses around it. It is entered through an archway of 1887 and the dock itself is covered over and the area roofed in steel and glass. The dock has become an underground car park and there are flats and offices above shops. The 'galleria' is follows the line of the dock, in a shape originally decided by the placing of neighbouring Beale's Wharf.
The Navigators. A Heath Robinson-style ship by David Kemp. Huge fantastic moving sculpture is in the shape of a fish which is really a boat. It has water jets; fountains bronze fishes and found objects. It dates from 1987 and was commissioned by St.Martin's.
Horniman’s Pub. This is a waterfront public house and restaurant. The interior is based on the life of the 19th tea shipper and traveller, Frederick John Horniman. A painted frieze around the walls depicts his expeditions.
Hays Lane
This runs down the west side of the Galleria. It seems to be on the site of what was once Tooleys Water Gate, which had ‘inconvenient wooden stairs’ but where boats could call and be hailed.
Holyrood Street
The street runs alongside the arches of the London to Greenwich Railway
Named for the Rood of Grace. This stood in Crucifix Lane and after the dissolution in 1537 it stood on Horselydown Common until it was destroyed by Elizabethan Protestant mob. It appears to have been a Saxon cross.
Rooneys – boxing gym under the railway arches. It opened in 2009 in what had been Gleason’s Gym.
Horsleydown Lane
The street name has been known since at least the 16th and led to an area called Horsleydown, allegedly associated with horses. The lane led to Horseleydown Old Stairs on the river and by the late 19th dominated by the Anchor Brewhouse on its east side.
Anchor Tap pub. This is a Samuel Smith’s House, tiny with a curved corner. It is said to be the first pub owned by John Courage in the late 18th and was the tap house for the Anchor Brewhouse. The building is mid 19th and licensing records start in the 1830as. On the ground floor is a wooden bar front with original curved double doors to the corner. Inside the original bar divisions remain and there is an early 19th staircase. A back bar has the original chimneybreast while the first floor function room has a marble fireplace.
Magdalen Street
The link through Sir John Falstoff to Magdalen College Oxford should be noted here.
Magdalen Circus. Until the late 19th the centre of the street widened into a circular area. This seems to have been a residential area but with many residents connected with the wool trades.
Magdalen Street School. This was a branch of the St.Olave’s Grammar School and built as an extension in 1824 for 300 boys. It was called ‘The English School’. Later there was a London County Council elementary school here
Morgan’s Lane
Morgan’s Lane once ran from Tooley Street to the river, but now only the northern half remains as a footpath.
The Rosary – to the east of here was a medieval moated house built by Edward II in 1325 called the rosary. There was also a mill stream running parallel and to the east
More London Riverside
This is a recent developers name for the riverside area ‘regenerated’ from wharves and warehouses. Since 2002 More London says it has transformed this part of London and is today a mixed-use business district and a recognised art and performance destination..
Pickle Herring Street
This ran parallel to the river from Stoney Lane to Horseleydown. This is now a riverside walkway.
Pickleherring Pottery. In the 17th century, Dutch potters who had fled religious persecution produced Delftware here.
Potters Fields
This was a road which ran from Tooley Street to the river. Now it is largely an area of parkland
Potters Fields Park. When the first park opened it was a recreation ground in the late 19th called The Tooley Street Garden. When the riverside area became derelict, an ecology park was created here in 1977, named for William Curtis and remaining until 1985. The park was laid out again in 1988 as Potters Fields Park, and included the burial ground. It was extensively landscaped and reopened in 2007. The layout consisted of a grassy bank near the river and with plane trees and some gravestones remained in the park along the east wall towards the south of the gardens. It was used for various events but suffered considerable damage with large crowds. It was then re-designed as part of the public open space along the river and re-opened following landscaping by Gross Max with Piet Outdo with paths, lawns, planting of trees and beds and fixed seating. The gravestones can now be seen. It is managed by Potters Fields Park Management Trust,
St.Olave’s Burial Ground. The bane Potters' Fields’ can refer to burial area. St, Olave’s Church was in Tooley Street near London Bridge Station. An additional burial ground to serve it here in 1586 and was in use until c.1853. It was the responsibility of St John Horsleydown from the 1790s. It was laid out as a public recreation ground in 1888 by St Olave's Board of Works as the The Tooley Street Garden with eventually a children's playground and a netball pitch
The William Curtis Ecological Park was England’s first urban ecology park. It was set up by the Trust for Urban Ecology on a derelict lorry park in 1976 abs named for the 18th botanist William Curtis. It opened in 1977 to commemorate the Queen's Silver Jubilee. In 1985 it was taken by the London Docklands Development Corporation who provided the Stave Hill Ecological Park in Rotherhithe as a replacement
Pottsfield was the name given to the area in 1682. Excavations in 1965 have shown that it was the site of the earliest delftware kilns in England, established here in.1618.
Riverside
The Queens Walk. This is now the name of a riverside walkway which stretches between London and Tower Bridges. For some riverside buildings on this stretch this constitutes their postal address
London Bridge City Pier. This was originally built and owned by St. Martin’s property company. It serves the Thames Clipper services
Coxe’s Wharf. This appears on the mid-18th plan and may relate to a brewery owned by Charles Cox MP, described as Hays Wharf, in the early 18th. It had also been associated with a brewery owned in this area in the early 19th by Richard Cox, of Cox’s apple.
Hays Galleria (see above)
Wilsons Wharf, Battlebridge lane. The name of this wharf appears to date from the 18th or possibly earlier but it was taken over by Hays in the 19th. By the 20th the site included cold stores. Wines and spirits were stored in the cellars here and Hays operated their first wine and spirit bottling plant here as well as handling coffee and cocoa. They also handled dried fruit and provisions. There was a major fire here in 1971. This is now the site of Southwark Crown Court (see above)
South Thames Wharf. Owned by Hays Wharf
Griffiths Wharf. This wharf was present with this name in the early 19th. In the mid 19th it is given as an address of Thomas Farncombe. He was a Tallow Chandler, Chair of South Met. Gas and –‘a Tory Quean’. The wharf is later taken in conjunction with Gun and Shot Wharf and also operated by Union Cold Storage Co
Gun and Shot Wharf. In the late 18th this was operated by wharfingers Perkins and Robinson. It is also said to have been used by the Navy Board. Operated by Union Cold Storage Co. it closed in the 1960s.
Symonds Wharf. Built 1936-9 by Hay's Wharf Estate Department. Four-storey for Aiming and Chadwick skin brokers. Warehouse, 1856, with unusual circular ground-floor windows. Demolished.
Stanton’s Wharf. The wharf probably dates back to at least the 18th when it was handling wool. It was demolished and replaced by a wharf for Hays. A 19th provisions warehouse here was owned by Wigan Richardson’s Cold Stores Ltd.
Battle Bridge stairs. At the end of Mill Lane. There is said to have been a mill here and clearly, as an access point to the river it is very very ancient
HMS Belfast. This 1938 built warship is moored here. It took part in the Second World War and is now a floating naval museum. At 11,500 tonnes, the ship was the largest cruiser ever built for the Royal Navy and became famous for the part it played in the Battle of North Cape and D-Day. The six decks of the ship are full of naval objects including uniforms and firearms Opened to the public in October 1971, Belfast became a branch of the Imperial War Museum in 1978.
Thames Subway. This runs from an entrance in Vine Lane
Pickle Herring Stairs. These stairs lay above the Thames Subway.
St Olave's Wharf. This was a 19th sufferance wharf operated by Beresford. It handled skins for the local leather trade. It was demolished in the 1950s.
Pickle Herring Upper Wharf. This wharf existed by 1661 and was made a sufferance wharf in the 19th. It was later part of the Hays Group,
Mark Brown’s Wharf. This was a sufferance wharf created in the 19th. One building carried the date of 1906. They handled provisions from Europe in a warehouse dated 1914. They were owned by Hays who built a cold store here for dairy produce. This is now the site of City Hall.
Parkside Kiosk, refreshment stall for More London
The Scoop. This is an outdoor amphitheatre underneath City Hall, providing seating for approximately 800 people. It was designed by Townshend Landscape Architects
City Hall. This is the headquarters of the Greater London Authority. It was designed by Norman Foster and opened in 2002; it does not belong to the GLA but is leased under a 25-year rent. It is not in the City and does not serve a city. The new GLA was unable to use County Hall which had been flogged off by Thatcher. A 500-metre helical walkway ascends the full height of the building. At the top is an open viewing deck
Water feature for More London: a channel called the Rill runs the length of the street; at the City Hall end there are 210 fountains
Davis Wharf. This wharf, present in the 19th, handled general cargoes and some coal
Hartley's Wharf. This wharf, present in the 19th handled hops, grain and bacon
Still Stairs. These, along with a causeway dated to the late 18th
Tower Bridge Wharf. 19th wharf which handled skins for the local leather trade. This was also owned by Hays.
Dancing bridge
Tower Bridge (see below). The underpass below the road way leads into Horsleydown Lane and Shad Thames.
Burtt’s Portland Wharf. This handled rough bulk cargos.
Horsleydown Old Stairs. This also has a causeway
Jerusalem wharf. Said to have belonged the Priory of St.John of Jerusalem in Clerkenwell
Anchor Brewhouse. This was the Courage Brewery. They had brewed here since 1789 but this section was rebuilt by 1895 by Inskip and McKenzie. The date is displayed below the boiler house chimney. The vat house adjoins that and also the granary with a cupola. It closed in 1981 and has been converted to housing. (See below)
Butler‘s Wharf West. This is Butler’s D and E warehouses built by John Aird in 1971-73 to designs of James Tolley and Daniel Aird. They have brick vaulted basements and fireproof floors with iron and timber columns and wrought iron roof trusses. When built they were the largest wharf on the river and linked across Shad Thames with overhead cartways. They closed in 1972. (See below_
Lock’s Wharf. Locke, Lancaster & Co, This lead works was established in 1854 with a house between two three-storey brick warehouses with a timber quay, there were a smelting house and a landside extension where there was probably a facility for recovering silver from lead. This later became part of the Butler’s complex
Cole’s Wharf. Six storey granary building. In the 1930s this was used by Addis and Keen handling grain, seeds and flour. This later became part of the Butler’s complex
Coventry Wharf. This later became part of the Butler’s complx
Horsleydown New Stairs. The site of these ancient stairs is marked by a passageway between developments.
Shad Thames
Shad Thames is a corruption of "St John at Thames". This relates to settlemet in the period in the 12th of the Knights Templar. Until the early 1980s it was an industrial street, which was redesigned in the 1980s
Anchor Brewhouse. Courage’s brewery was founded in 1789 and was rebuilt after a fire in 1891, and closed in 1982. It was then refurbished by Andrew Wadsworth with Pollard Thomas & Edwards as flats and offices in 1989. John Courage was a shipping agent from Aberdeen buying the brewery in 1787. There is a boiler house with a chimney, the vat house where ingredients were brought together and fermented, the granary building and malt store with a cupola. There were also fermenting rooms, offices and cooperage. The beer was delivered by horse-drawn dray. The brewery employed over 430 people, had the largest output of any firm in London. In 1955 the company merged with Barclay & Perkins and company was known as Courage, Barclay & Company Ltd. From 1960 they became Courage, Barclay, Simonds & Company Limited. After more takeovers the company was renamed Courage Ltd in 1970 and was itself taken over in 1972 by Imperial Tobacco Group Ltd which itself was later acquired by the Hanson Trust in 1986 who sold Courage as a separate concern to Elders IXL. The Anchor Brewhouse closed in 1981, (see also riverside)
Butler’s Wharf. The first Mr. Butler here was in 1794 in partnership with Mr. Holland and by 1808 Butler was operating a Wharfingers Company in Tooley Street. In 1872, Butlers Wharf Company was registered and handled tea here for the next century. Under Henry Lafone, the 1880s and 90s, warehouses were built to six storeys creating the densest warehousing in London. Goods were carried on gangways high above the street, Tolley and Dale were the architects and the builders were Aird. The company handled 6,000 chests of tea a day as well as coffee, cocoa, cassia, pimento, canned salmon and drugs, pepper, nutmegs, wines and spirits. Later they spread down river. Ships of the General Steam Navigation Company served the wharf .The Butler’s Wharf Company, led by Terence Conran, took over in 1984 to convert the warehouses to housing. (See also riverside)
Penfold pillar box. Replica cast in 1988
The Queens Walk
Riverside walkway – see above
Tooley Street
This was probably originally a Saxon road but the earliest recorded name for the street is a version of "Royal Street" - a public highway. In the 16th it is "Barms Street", referring to Bermondsey; and later "Short Southwark", "Tooley" is a corruption of St. Olave
Plaque to Braidwood. This says “To the memory of James Braidwood, superintendent of the London Fire Brigade, who was killed near this spot in the execution of his duty at the great fire on 22nd June 1861. A just man and one that feared god, of good report among all the nation. Erected by the M. or Southwark Division of the Metropolitan Police. The inscription is inside a laurel wreath, in front of a burning building. A hose snakes from the building, over the top of the wreath and coils up at the bottom right while over at the left rests a fireman's helmet. The imagery includes a fire engine and an axe.
69 Duke of Clarence (1914) classical 1870s. Closed and demolished.
71-73 a stationer's warehouse, built 1870 with large windows. Demolished and now part of the galleria frontage
75 Tolhurst lead (1914) 75-81 an early Victorian wholesaler's warehouse. Small Egyptian pediment and cast-iron window frames. Demolished and now part of the galleria frontage
More London Place. This is the southern exit to More London. There are three features: "Water Tables" continuously overflowing with water and above these is a statue, of an ordinary member of the public.
5 More London Place. Hilton Hotel. This is now in the TripAdvisor Hall of Fame!
84 South Eastern Railway offices, in red and yellow brick with terracotta diapering below the windows, and the earlier viaduct, c. 1862-4, extending westward by Charles Barry Jnr. Said to be scheduled for demolition
88 Shipwrights Arms. Pub entrance distinguishable by the large ships figure head made in plaster over the doorway. Simply furnished interior with a central island bar. Optics stand constructed from scaffold poles.
90 Built as the London City and Midland Bank . This is now a restaurant
113 Royal Oak. Used as a live recording venue, once by drummer Phil Seamen for a recording for his album "Now! ... Live!”. Closed and demolished
115-121. Boord and Sons. Office building by Aston Webb which is the remains of Boord's Gin Distillery, 1889-1901. This stretched to the river in a complex of distillery and warehouses, all now demolished. Inside were two basements and four offices around a large rear atrium. The first floor was reached by a grand central staircase going to a number of offices and a boardroom. The second floor consisted of a large sample room and one other. The basement housed a flat for the caretaker, and storage areas and a second basement area contains bins,
139-141 small, Gothic former Southwark Fire Station built 1879. And said to have been built as a result of the fire which killed Braidwood. It is now a restaurant.
147 Unicorn Theatre. UK’s first purpose built theatre for children. Asymmetric pavilion with a translucent core. David Cotterell’s ‘Underworld’ is an alternate virtual space embedded in the floor through a LED screen.
All Saints' Roman Catholic School. 1894-1915)
151 Southwark Arms. Pub closed and demolished
154 The Britannia. This pub was built in 1881 and is an office called Britannia House. This features Britannia head and union jacks
155 Antigallican. An early to mid-19th pub, closed and gone. The name celebrated a wooden battleship named after the ancient enmity that existed between the English and the French. Converted into a commercial building and Now part of the Red Bull HQ
167 The Anchor & Castle. This pub has now been demolished.
171 St John's Tavern. Basic pub now closed down and part of Red Bull UK's headquarters.
178 The Kings Head. This pub has now been demolished.
Tooley Street garden (see above). The site includes that of a demolished public library.
Devon Mansions. Built in 1875
182 The Admiral Hood. This pub has now been demolished.
183 King of Belgium. Bright family pub, once a Charrington Pub of the Year. This is now The Bridge Lounge and Dining Room.
Tower Bridge Road
Tower Bridge. This is the largest opening bridge in the world and it is owned by the City of London’s Bridge House Estates. It was built in 1894and designed by City Surveyor and architect Sir Horace Jones. Sir John Wolfe Barry was responsible for the engineering work and allowing a clear passage for navigation 200 ft width and 135 ft headroom and to remain unobstructed for two hours at each high tide. It took 8 years to build and had 80 staff. The stonework conceals a semi-suspended steel framework and has no structural function but makes up the Gothic style which was required by Parliament. Jones died in 1887, and the work was taken over by Stevenson. The bridge bascules were raised by hydraulic power; with engines housed in the bases of the piers bur they were electrified in 1976. Some of the hydraulic machinery by Armstrong Mitchell & Co. is preserved, including the cross-compound steam pumping engines under the viaduct. Hydraulic lifts in the towers give access to the overhead walkway, which is now open to the public. The bridge is 800 feet long between the abutments. At the tower bases, across the footways were turnstiles and decorative gates... Visitor Centre by Michael Squire, .1992.
Power House. This stand alongside with a boiler chimney and accumulator tower
Ticket Office, discreet and sleek entrance by Michael Squire Associates, 1992. Built against the northern approach,
Bridgemasters House. Early 18th -style built in 1906, by Anthony Perks, with the Tower Bridge below and under the arches. The wrought-iron gate steps goes down to them
Tower bridge workshops, upper floor has the machine tools for the maintenance section, blacksmiths and carpenters
The Draft House Pub
218 The Bridge House Pub
Tower Bridge Plaza
Horsleydown Square a large building complex with apartments, offices and shops, and parking for 300 cars. This is on the Anchor Brewery site
Bronze fountain of Renaissance-cistern shape, surrounded by undersized nymphs disporting themselves: Waterfall, 1991, commissioned by the architects from Anthony Donaldson.
Vine Lane
Site which was once a coach park and heliport and then the William Curtis Ecological Park. Destroyed for the site of City Hall.
Tower Subway. This tunnel runs from Tower Hill to Vine Lane,It dates from and was dug using a wrought iron shield been patented in 1864 by Peter Barlow. Initially a passenger railway was operated in it but this was not economic. It was converted to pedestrian use with a toll but this failed when Tower Bridge opened. It closed in 1898, after being sold to the London Hydraulic Power Company. Today it is used for service equipment and water mains. The entrance on the south bank of the Thames was demolished in the 1990s, and a new one has been built in its place. It is located just behind then Unicorn Theatre but there is no plaque
Sources
Bird. Geography of the Port of London
British History On line. Bermondsey. Web site
British Listed Buildings. Web site
Carr Dockland
Cavanagh. Public Sculpture in South London
Port of London Magazine
Docklands History Survey,
Field. London place names
GLIAS Newsletter
GLIAS- walk,
Historic England. Web site
History of Parliament on line. Web site
London Borough of Southwark. Web site
London Docklands Guide
London Encyclopedia
London’s Little Gardens. Web site
Pevsner and Cherry. South London
Stocks. Forgotten Fruits.
Thames Basin Archaeology of Industry Group. Report
Thomas London’s first railway
Williamson and Pevsner. London Docklands
Post to the east Wapping and Wapping
Post to the south Bermondsey
Post to the west Bankside
Abbot’s Lane
The lane is now a short side turning off Tooley Street alongside the sides of larger buildings. It was once known as Stoney Lane and led to the western end of Pickle Herring Street and the river. It is said to have been a Roman road and to have led to a Roman ferry
Sir John Falstaffe. Falstaff is said to have been landowner in this area and to have had a house here. It is said that Cecily Neville, Duchess of York stayed here. He left the bulk of his fortune to Magdalen College, Oxford, and hence the local link to the College
Phoenix Brewery. In the late 17th the brewery was owned by Sir George Meggott. He died I 1723 and the brewery was taken over by his son Smith Meggott, who subsequently traded in partnership with Robert Hucks. By the late 18th the principle partner was Charles Clowes, a lawyer turned brewer, who installed a James Watt's engine in 1796. At that time it was known as the Phoenix Brewery and by the 1850s was in the hands of Courage Barclay and Perkins.
Two Brewers Pub, present in the late 19th
Battle Bridge Lane
Battlebridge Lane appears to be on the same site of what was once called Mill Lane and the name changed in the late 19th. Both led to Battlebridge Stairs’. It was said to stands on a water course belonging to Battle Abbey which ended at a mill site on the river. This is said to have been ‘arched over’. A number of warehouses were here in the 19th some connected with the leather trade. This road now runs alongside Hays Galleria and has a barrier to stop traffic half way down with the sign ‘private road
Borough Compter. This was built just before 1787
9 Lion and Key. This pub was still extant by at least 1920. It is said that the name related to Lyon’s Quay – but this was on the north bank of the river.
1-10 Old Red Cocks pub. This was present in 1889. This was a Camden Brewery Pub and is long since demolished. The landlady lost her licence in 1903.
18 Plymouth Arms Pub. 1790s. now demolished
Bermondsey Street
The vast majority of the street in this square runs under 14 rail lines into London Bridge Station, above, and includes some sets of points. It is a dark narrow passage although some doors go off into vaults under the lines,
7 Printworks House. This is now offices for the Kent, Surrey Sussex Deanery. In 1894 it way used by. Measures Varnish and Mastic
11 This was a factory for a number of firms, including Kings who made tents and blinds and other canvas items. In 1894 it was a site for British Patent Glazing and Glass Ltd. 1894
27 Old Sword and Bucker pub. The pub was there from the early 19th and was a Clowes Brewery House. It remained until at least the 1860s
32 Baptist Head pub. Present at least between 1839 and 1872
34 Griffiths Rents. This lay in the area which is now covered by railway lines. And like other buildings was swept away by Acts of Parliament for the various railway companies. In this case by the South Eastern Railway.
Valiant Soldier Alley. This lay in the area which is now covered by railway lines. The pub itself lay in Bermondsey Street and was demolished.
Wheatsheaf Alley This lay in the area which is now covered by railway lines. Both pub and alley were demolished
Cross Keys Alley. This lay in the area which is now covered by railway lines and was demolished for the London and Greenwich Railway.
Naked Boy Alley. This lay in the area which is now covered by railway lines and was a pub demolished for the railway
Christopher Inn. This lay in the area which is now covered by railway lines for which is was demolished. It was said in 1805 to be very old and to have a stucco sign of St, Christopher outside. In 1471 it had been bequeathed to a Cambridge College in support of a fellow there.
Braidwood Street
This is now merely the entry to a controlled car park. It was named for James Braidwood, superintendent of the London Fire Brigade, who was killed near here in a terrible fire in 1861. There is a plaque on the wall further up Tooley Street.,
Brewery Square
Narrow, more private. On part of Courage Anchor Brewery site, which is listed here under Shad Thames.
A gateway is made by twin turrets of flats.
Torso. This is at the rear of the square and is by Anthony Donaldson. It is a bronze female torso in ‘classical’ style. The base is a truncated cone and part of the ventilation system for the car park below
A brewery building remains in the south west corner
Counter Street
This may have originally been Comptor Street. It is now effectively an internal street of Hays Galleria and thus gates and locked. When the Comptor was there it seems to have been called ‘County Row’.
The Counting House. This block of shops and flats was built as a warehouse and offices, in 1887 By Henry Stock of Snooke & Stock and restored and the interior rebuilt in the 20th. It is reached from the street through an arcaded walkway. This is part of the southern block of Hay's Wharf complex, which was once linked to buildings across the street by bridges at the 4th storey. This block was a late addition to the complex.
English Grounds
Southwark Crown Court. Built 1979- 82 by P. S. A. Architects. This is one if three crown courts in SE1. It was opened in 1983 and has 15 courtrooms and is a designated as a serious fraud centre
Gibbon’s Rents
Community Garden – this is a curving tarmac path is lined with greenery on either side, from smaller plants in pots, to long-rooted trees. There is an information board at the entrance. There's no grass, but a few benches and chairs. A wardrobe against a wall acts as a Little Library.
Hays Galleria
Hay’s Wharf. . The Wharf and Galleria were built on a complicated area of wharves and warehouses. Alexander Hay had acquired property in this area in the late 17th. The area including some of some East India Warehouses and Coxe's Wharf. Hay’s new wharf had been the site of a granary. He opened a brewery which he rented out. He dealt with tallow as well as hides and skins. Theodore Hay was a pioneer in lighterage and this began the company’s shipping work. At his death in 1838, the company passed to John Humphrey whose family was wharfingers in the area around Clink Street. In 1862 the Proprietors of Hay's Wharf reorganised the wharf. It was rebuilt by John Humphery for a fleet of clippers and with a link to bankers Jardine Matheson. A painting in the Chairman’s office commemorated the Flying Spur which made the fastest passage in 1862 – the spur being the Jardine crest. Later New Zealand dairy produce was handled here arriving refrigerated from 1867, and frozen lamb from 1882. This area became the main centre for provision merchants and Hays Wharf owned all wharves except one between Tower Bridge and London Bridge. Tooley Street became as the main provision importing centre nationally. There were eight steamer berths se3rving twenty vessels a week. The warehouses could take about 104,000 tons with: 25,000 tons in cold stores; 9,000 tons in cool air stores; and 70,000 tons in general warehouses. They handled cheese and eggs, bacon, butter, meat, and fresh vegetables.
Hay’s Dock. The Galleria is an adaption of what was Hayes Dock. This was built in 1856 and consisted of a horseshoe of buildings around a small dock. . It was used primarily for the storage of tea and was thought to be the best development of its kind. The buildings were among the first to be designed with a deliberately fireproof construction, using incombustible floors of brick arches on cast iron beams. In the basement remained acme rubble wall from the medieval Abbot of Battle's Inn. The warehouses, themselves were built in 1851-7 by William Cubitt for the Hay's Dock Co. to the designs of William Snook and Henry Stock, Surveyor to the Board of St Olave's Parish. The western range was rebuilt after the Tooley Street fire. The original riverside warehouses were replaced by cold stores in 1947 because of bomb damage and. the current the riverfront is a facsimile built in the 1980s.
London Bridge City. This was the generic name for the redevelopment from London Bridge down river along Tooley Street, was developed as offices. The Company of the Proprietors of Hay's Wharf closed their wharves in 1969. They began to redevelop in 1980 with the St Martin's Property Corporation with a master plan in 1982 by Michael Brown & Partners.
Hays Galleria. This arcade was developed by Michael Twigg Brown & Partners in 1982-6, built out of Hay's Dock and the warehouses around it. It is entered through an archway of 1887 and the dock itself is covered over and the area roofed in steel and glass. The dock has become an underground car park and there are flats and offices above shops. The 'galleria' is follows the line of the dock, in a shape originally decided by the placing of neighbouring Beale's Wharf.
The Navigators. A Heath Robinson-style ship by David Kemp. Huge fantastic moving sculpture is in the shape of a fish which is really a boat. It has water jets; fountains bronze fishes and found objects. It dates from 1987 and was commissioned by St.Martin's.
Horniman’s Pub. This is a waterfront public house and restaurant. The interior is based on the life of the 19th tea shipper and traveller, Frederick John Horniman. A painted frieze around the walls depicts his expeditions.
Hays Lane
This runs down the west side of the Galleria. It seems to be on the site of what was once Tooleys Water Gate, which had ‘inconvenient wooden stairs’ but where boats could call and be hailed.
Holyrood Street
The street runs alongside the arches of the London to Greenwich Railway
Named for the Rood of Grace. This stood in Crucifix Lane and after the dissolution in 1537 it stood on Horselydown Common until it was destroyed by Elizabethan Protestant mob. It appears to have been a Saxon cross.
Rooneys – boxing gym under the railway arches. It opened in 2009 in what had been Gleason’s Gym.
Horsleydown Lane
The street name has been known since at least the 16th and led to an area called Horsleydown, allegedly associated with horses. The lane led to Horseleydown Old Stairs on the river and by the late 19th dominated by the Anchor Brewhouse on its east side.
Anchor Tap pub. This is a Samuel Smith’s House, tiny with a curved corner. It is said to be the first pub owned by John Courage in the late 18th and was the tap house for the Anchor Brewhouse. The building is mid 19th and licensing records start in the 1830as. On the ground floor is a wooden bar front with original curved double doors to the corner. Inside the original bar divisions remain and there is an early 19th staircase. A back bar has the original chimneybreast while the first floor function room has a marble fireplace.
Magdalen Street
The link through Sir John Falstoff to Magdalen College Oxford should be noted here.
Magdalen Circus. Until the late 19th the centre of the street widened into a circular area. This seems to have been a residential area but with many residents connected with the wool trades.
Magdalen Street School. This was a branch of the St.Olave’s Grammar School and built as an extension in 1824 for 300 boys. It was called ‘The English School’. Later there was a London County Council elementary school here
Morgan’s Lane
Morgan’s Lane once ran from Tooley Street to the river, but now only the northern half remains as a footpath.
The Rosary – to the east of here was a medieval moated house built by Edward II in 1325 called the rosary. There was also a mill stream running parallel and to the east
More London Riverside
This is a recent developers name for the riverside area ‘regenerated’ from wharves and warehouses. Since 2002 More London says it has transformed this part of London and is today a mixed-use business district and a recognised art and performance destination..
Pickle Herring Street
This ran parallel to the river from Stoney Lane to Horseleydown. This is now a riverside walkway.
Pickleherring Pottery. In the 17th century, Dutch potters who had fled religious persecution produced Delftware here.
Potters Fields
This was a road which ran from Tooley Street to the river. Now it is largely an area of parkland
Potters Fields Park. When the first park opened it was a recreation ground in the late 19th called The Tooley Street Garden. When the riverside area became derelict, an ecology park was created here in 1977, named for William Curtis and remaining until 1985. The park was laid out again in 1988 as Potters Fields Park, and included the burial ground. It was extensively landscaped and reopened in 2007. The layout consisted of a grassy bank near the river and with plane trees and some gravestones remained in the park along the east wall towards the south of the gardens. It was used for various events but suffered considerable damage with large crowds. It was then re-designed as part of the public open space along the river and re-opened following landscaping by Gross Max with Piet Outdo with paths, lawns, planting of trees and beds and fixed seating. The gravestones can now be seen. It is managed by Potters Fields Park Management Trust,
St.Olave’s Burial Ground. The bane Potters' Fields’ can refer to burial area. St, Olave’s Church was in Tooley Street near London Bridge Station. An additional burial ground to serve it here in 1586 and was in use until c.1853. It was the responsibility of St John Horsleydown from the 1790s. It was laid out as a public recreation ground in 1888 by St Olave's Board of Works as the The Tooley Street Garden with eventually a children's playground and a netball pitch
The William Curtis Ecological Park was England’s first urban ecology park. It was set up by the Trust for Urban Ecology on a derelict lorry park in 1976 abs named for the 18th botanist William Curtis. It opened in 1977 to commemorate the Queen's Silver Jubilee. In 1985 it was taken by the London Docklands Development Corporation who provided the Stave Hill Ecological Park in Rotherhithe as a replacement
Pottsfield was the name given to the area in 1682. Excavations in 1965 have shown that it was the site of the earliest delftware kilns in England, established here in.1618.
Riverside
The Queens Walk. This is now the name of a riverside walkway which stretches between London and Tower Bridges. For some riverside buildings on this stretch this constitutes their postal address
London Bridge City Pier. This was originally built and owned by St. Martin’s property company. It serves the Thames Clipper services
Coxe’s Wharf. This appears on the mid-18th plan and may relate to a brewery owned by Charles Cox MP, described as Hays Wharf, in the early 18th. It had also been associated with a brewery owned in this area in the early 19th by Richard Cox, of Cox’s apple.
Hays Galleria (see above)
Wilsons Wharf, Battlebridge lane. The name of this wharf appears to date from the 18th or possibly earlier but it was taken over by Hays in the 19th. By the 20th the site included cold stores. Wines and spirits were stored in the cellars here and Hays operated their first wine and spirit bottling plant here as well as handling coffee and cocoa. They also handled dried fruit and provisions. There was a major fire here in 1971. This is now the site of Southwark Crown Court (see above)
South Thames Wharf. Owned by Hays Wharf
Griffiths Wharf. This wharf was present with this name in the early 19th. In the mid 19th it is given as an address of Thomas Farncombe. He was a Tallow Chandler, Chair of South Met. Gas and –‘a Tory Quean’. The wharf is later taken in conjunction with Gun and Shot Wharf and also operated by Union Cold Storage Co
Gun and Shot Wharf. In the late 18th this was operated by wharfingers Perkins and Robinson. It is also said to have been used by the Navy Board. Operated by Union Cold Storage Co. it closed in the 1960s.
Symonds Wharf. Built 1936-9 by Hay's Wharf Estate Department. Four-storey for Aiming and Chadwick skin brokers. Warehouse, 1856, with unusual circular ground-floor windows. Demolished.
Stanton’s Wharf. The wharf probably dates back to at least the 18th when it was handling wool. It was demolished and replaced by a wharf for Hays. A 19th provisions warehouse here was owned by Wigan Richardson’s Cold Stores Ltd.
Battle Bridge stairs. At the end of Mill Lane. There is said to have been a mill here and clearly, as an access point to the river it is very very ancient
HMS Belfast. This 1938 built warship is moored here. It took part in the Second World War and is now a floating naval museum. At 11,500 tonnes, the ship was the largest cruiser ever built for the Royal Navy and became famous for the part it played in the Battle of North Cape and D-Day. The six decks of the ship are full of naval objects including uniforms and firearms Opened to the public in October 1971, Belfast became a branch of the Imperial War Museum in 1978.
Thames Subway. This runs from an entrance in Vine Lane
Pickle Herring Stairs. These stairs lay above the Thames Subway.
St Olave's Wharf. This was a 19th sufferance wharf operated by Beresford. It handled skins for the local leather trade. It was demolished in the 1950s.
Pickle Herring Upper Wharf. This wharf existed by 1661 and was made a sufferance wharf in the 19th. It was later part of the Hays Group,
Mark Brown’s Wharf. This was a sufferance wharf created in the 19th. One building carried the date of 1906. They handled provisions from Europe in a warehouse dated 1914. They were owned by Hays who built a cold store here for dairy produce. This is now the site of City Hall.
Parkside Kiosk, refreshment stall for More London
The Scoop. This is an outdoor amphitheatre underneath City Hall, providing seating for approximately 800 people. It was designed by Townshend Landscape Architects
City Hall. This is the headquarters of the Greater London Authority. It was designed by Norman Foster and opened in 2002; it does not belong to the GLA but is leased under a 25-year rent. It is not in the City and does not serve a city. The new GLA was unable to use County Hall which had been flogged off by Thatcher. A 500-metre helical walkway ascends the full height of the building. At the top is an open viewing deck
Water feature for More London: a channel called the Rill runs the length of the street; at the City Hall end there are 210 fountains
Davis Wharf. This wharf, present in the 19th, handled general cargoes and some coal
Hartley's Wharf. This wharf, present in the 19th handled hops, grain and bacon
Still Stairs. These, along with a causeway dated to the late 18th
Tower Bridge Wharf. 19th wharf which handled skins for the local leather trade. This was also owned by Hays.
Dancing bridge
Tower Bridge (see below). The underpass below the road way leads into Horsleydown Lane and Shad Thames.
Burtt’s Portland Wharf. This handled rough bulk cargos.
Horsleydown Old Stairs. This also has a causeway
Jerusalem wharf. Said to have belonged the Priory of St.John of Jerusalem in Clerkenwell
Anchor Brewhouse. This was the Courage Brewery. They had brewed here since 1789 but this section was rebuilt by 1895 by Inskip and McKenzie. The date is displayed below the boiler house chimney. The vat house adjoins that and also the granary with a cupola. It closed in 1981 and has been converted to housing. (See below)
Butler‘s Wharf West. This is Butler’s D and E warehouses built by John Aird in 1971-73 to designs of James Tolley and Daniel Aird. They have brick vaulted basements and fireproof floors with iron and timber columns and wrought iron roof trusses. When built they were the largest wharf on the river and linked across Shad Thames with overhead cartways. They closed in 1972. (See below_
Lock’s Wharf. Locke, Lancaster & Co, This lead works was established in 1854 with a house between two three-storey brick warehouses with a timber quay, there were a smelting house and a landside extension where there was probably a facility for recovering silver from lead. This later became part of the Butler’s complex
Cole’s Wharf. Six storey granary building. In the 1930s this was used by Addis and Keen handling grain, seeds and flour. This later became part of the Butler’s complex
Coventry Wharf. This later became part of the Butler’s complx
Horsleydown New Stairs. The site of these ancient stairs is marked by a passageway between developments.
Shad Thames
Shad Thames is a corruption of "St John at Thames". This relates to settlemet in the period in the 12th of the Knights Templar. Until the early 1980s it was an industrial street, which was redesigned in the 1980s
Anchor Brewhouse. Courage’s brewery was founded in 1789 and was rebuilt after a fire in 1891, and closed in 1982. It was then refurbished by Andrew Wadsworth with Pollard Thomas & Edwards as flats and offices in 1989. John Courage was a shipping agent from Aberdeen buying the brewery in 1787. There is a boiler house with a chimney, the vat house where ingredients were brought together and fermented, the granary building and malt store with a cupola. There were also fermenting rooms, offices and cooperage. The beer was delivered by horse-drawn dray. The brewery employed over 430 people, had the largest output of any firm in London. In 1955 the company merged with Barclay & Perkins and company was known as Courage, Barclay & Company Ltd. From 1960 they became Courage, Barclay, Simonds & Company Limited. After more takeovers the company was renamed Courage Ltd in 1970 and was itself taken over in 1972 by Imperial Tobacco Group Ltd which itself was later acquired by the Hanson Trust in 1986 who sold Courage as a separate concern to Elders IXL. The Anchor Brewhouse closed in 1981, (see also riverside)
Butler’s Wharf. The first Mr. Butler here was in 1794 in partnership with Mr. Holland and by 1808 Butler was operating a Wharfingers Company in Tooley Street. In 1872, Butlers Wharf Company was registered and handled tea here for the next century. Under Henry Lafone, the 1880s and 90s, warehouses were built to six storeys creating the densest warehousing in London. Goods were carried on gangways high above the street, Tolley and Dale were the architects and the builders were Aird. The company handled 6,000 chests of tea a day as well as coffee, cocoa, cassia, pimento, canned salmon and drugs, pepper, nutmegs, wines and spirits. Later they spread down river. Ships of the General Steam Navigation Company served the wharf .The Butler’s Wharf Company, led by Terence Conran, took over in 1984 to convert the warehouses to housing. (See also riverside)
Penfold pillar box. Replica cast in 1988
The Queens Walk
Riverside walkway – see above
Tooley Street
This was probably originally a Saxon road but the earliest recorded name for the street is a version of "Royal Street" - a public highway. In the 16th it is "Barms Street", referring to Bermondsey; and later "Short Southwark", "Tooley" is a corruption of St. Olave
Plaque to Braidwood. This says “To the memory of James Braidwood, superintendent of the London Fire Brigade, who was killed near this spot in the execution of his duty at the great fire on 22nd June 1861. A just man and one that feared god, of good report among all the nation. Erected by the M. or Southwark Division of the Metropolitan Police. The inscription is inside a laurel wreath, in front of a burning building. A hose snakes from the building, over the top of the wreath and coils up at the bottom right while over at the left rests a fireman's helmet. The imagery includes a fire engine and an axe.
69 Duke of Clarence (1914) classical 1870s. Closed and demolished.
71-73 a stationer's warehouse, built 1870 with large windows. Demolished and now part of the galleria frontage
75 Tolhurst lead (1914) 75-81 an early Victorian wholesaler's warehouse. Small Egyptian pediment and cast-iron window frames. Demolished and now part of the galleria frontage
More London Place. This is the southern exit to More London. There are three features: "Water Tables" continuously overflowing with water and above these is a statue, of an ordinary member of the public.
5 More London Place. Hilton Hotel. This is now in the TripAdvisor Hall of Fame!
84 South Eastern Railway offices, in red and yellow brick with terracotta diapering below the windows, and the earlier viaduct, c. 1862-4, extending westward by Charles Barry Jnr. Said to be scheduled for demolition
88 Shipwrights Arms. Pub entrance distinguishable by the large ships figure head made in plaster over the doorway. Simply furnished interior with a central island bar. Optics stand constructed from scaffold poles.
90 Built as the London City and Midland Bank . This is now a restaurant
113 Royal Oak. Used as a live recording venue, once by drummer Phil Seamen for a recording for his album "Now! ... Live!”. Closed and demolished
115-121. Boord and Sons. Office building by Aston Webb which is the remains of Boord's Gin Distillery, 1889-1901. This stretched to the river in a complex of distillery and warehouses, all now demolished. Inside were two basements and four offices around a large rear atrium. The first floor was reached by a grand central staircase going to a number of offices and a boardroom. The second floor consisted of a large sample room and one other. The basement housed a flat for the caretaker, and storage areas and a second basement area contains bins,
139-141 small, Gothic former Southwark Fire Station built 1879. And said to have been built as a result of the fire which killed Braidwood. It is now a restaurant.
147 Unicorn Theatre. UK’s first purpose built theatre for children. Asymmetric pavilion with a translucent core. David Cotterell’s ‘Underworld’ is an alternate virtual space embedded in the floor through a LED screen.
All Saints' Roman Catholic School. 1894-1915)
151 Southwark Arms. Pub closed and demolished
154 The Britannia. This pub was built in 1881 and is an office called Britannia House. This features Britannia head and union jacks
155 Antigallican. An early to mid-19th pub, closed and gone. The name celebrated a wooden battleship named after the ancient enmity that existed between the English and the French. Converted into a commercial building and Now part of the Red Bull HQ
167 The Anchor & Castle. This pub has now been demolished.
171 St John's Tavern. Basic pub now closed down and part of Red Bull UK's headquarters.
178 The Kings Head. This pub has now been demolished.
Tooley Street garden (see above). The site includes that of a demolished public library.
Devon Mansions. Built in 1875
182 The Admiral Hood. This pub has now been demolished.
183 King of Belgium. Bright family pub, once a Charrington Pub of the Year. This is now The Bridge Lounge and Dining Room.
Tower Bridge Road
Tower Bridge. This is the largest opening bridge in the world and it is owned by the City of London’s Bridge House Estates. It was built in 1894and designed by City Surveyor and architect Sir Horace Jones. Sir John Wolfe Barry was responsible for the engineering work and allowing a clear passage for navigation 200 ft width and 135 ft headroom and to remain unobstructed for two hours at each high tide. It took 8 years to build and had 80 staff. The stonework conceals a semi-suspended steel framework and has no structural function but makes up the Gothic style which was required by Parliament. Jones died in 1887, and the work was taken over by Stevenson. The bridge bascules were raised by hydraulic power; with engines housed in the bases of the piers bur they were electrified in 1976. Some of the hydraulic machinery by Armstrong Mitchell & Co. is preserved, including the cross-compound steam pumping engines under the viaduct. Hydraulic lifts in the towers give access to the overhead walkway, which is now open to the public. The bridge is 800 feet long between the abutments. At the tower bases, across the footways were turnstiles and decorative gates... Visitor Centre by Michael Squire, .1992.
Power House. This stand alongside with a boiler chimney and accumulator tower
Ticket Office, discreet and sleek entrance by Michael Squire Associates, 1992. Built against the northern approach,
Bridgemasters House. Early 18th -style built in 1906, by Anthony Perks, with the Tower Bridge below and under the arches. The wrought-iron gate steps goes down to them
Tower bridge workshops, upper floor has the machine tools for the maintenance section, blacksmiths and carpenters
The Draft House Pub
218 The Bridge House Pub
Tower Bridge Plaza
Horsleydown Square a large building complex with apartments, offices and shops, and parking for 300 cars. This is on the Anchor Brewery site
Bronze fountain of Renaissance-cistern shape, surrounded by undersized nymphs disporting themselves: Waterfall, 1991, commissioned by the architects from Anthony Donaldson.
Vine Lane
Site which was once a coach park and heliport and then the William Curtis Ecological Park. Destroyed for the site of City Hall.
Tower Subway. This tunnel runs from Tower Hill to Vine Lane,It dates from and was dug using a wrought iron shield been patented in 1864 by Peter Barlow. Initially a passenger railway was operated in it but this was not economic. It was converted to pedestrian use with a toll but this failed when Tower Bridge opened. It closed in 1898, after being sold to the London Hydraulic Power Company. Today it is used for service equipment and water mains. The entrance on the south bank of the Thames was demolished in the 1990s, and a new one has been built in its place. It is located just behind then Unicorn Theatre but there is no plaque
Sources
Bird. Geography of the Port of London
British History On line. Bermondsey. Web site
British Listed Buildings. Web site
Carr Dockland
Cavanagh. Public Sculpture in South London
Port of London Magazine
Docklands History Survey,
Field. London place names
GLIAS Newsletter
GLIAS- walk,
Historic England. Web site
History of Parliament on line. Web site
London Borough of Southwark. Web site
London Docklands Guide
London Encyclopedia
London’s Little Gardens. Web site
Pevsner and Cherry. South London
Stocks. Forgotten Fruits.
Thames Basin Archaeology of Industry Group. Report
Thomas London’s first railway
Williamson and Pevsner. London Docklands
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