St Katherine Docks
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St Katharine Docks is a former dock in the St Katherine and Wapping ward of the
London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...
. It lies in the East End on the north bank of the
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...
, immediately downstream of the
Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...
and
Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Listed building#Grade I, Grade I listed combined Bascule bridge, bascule, Suspension bridge, suspension, and, until 1960, Cantilever bridge, cantilever bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones ...
. From 1828 to 1968, it was one of the commercial docks that made up the
Port of London The Port of London is that part of the River Thames in England lying between Teddington Lock and the defined boundary (since 1968, a line drawn from Foulness Point in Essex via Gunfleet Old Lighthouse to Warden Point in Kent) with the North Se ...
. It is in the redevelopment zone known as the
London Docklands London Docklands is an area of London encompassing the city’s former docks. It is located in inner east and southeast London, in the boroughs of London Borough of Southwark, Southwark, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Tower Hamlets, London ...
and is now a popular housing and leisure complex.


History

St Katharine Docks took their name from the former hospital of St Katharine's by the Tower, built in the 12th century, which stood on the site. An intensely built-up area, the entire 23-acre (9.5 hectares) Precinct of St Katharine by the Tower and part of
East Smithfield East Smithfield is a small locality in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, east London, and also a short street, a part of the A1203 road. Once broader in scope, the name came to apply to the part of the ancient parish of St Botolph without ...
, was earmarked for redevelopment by an act of Parliament, the ( 6 Geo. 4. c. cv), with construction commencing in May 1827. Some 1,250 houses were demolished, together with the medieval hospital of St. Katharine. Around 11,300 inhabitants, mostly port workers crammed into unsanitary slums, lost their homes; only the property owners received compensation. The scheme was designed by engineer
Thomas Telford Thomas Telford (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotland, as well ...
and was his only major project in London. George Turnbull and James Waylen were working for Telford. To create as much quayside as possible, the docks were designed in the form of two linked basins (East and West), both accessed via an entrance lock from the Thames. Steam engines designed by
James Watt James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was f ...
and
Matthew Boulton Matthew Boulton ( ; 3 September 172817 August 1809) was an English businessman, inventor, mechanical engineer, and silversmith. He was a business partner of the Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century, the par ...
kept the water level in the basins about four feet above that of the tidal river. By 1830, the docks had cost over £2 million to build. Telford aimed to minimise the amount of quayside activity and specified that the docks' warehouses (designed by the architect Philip Hardwick) be built right on the quayside so that goods could be unloaded directly into them. The docks were officially opened on 25 October 1828. Although well used, they were not a great commercial success and were unable to accommodate large ships. They were amalgamated in 1864 with the neighbouring
London Docks The London Docks were one of several sets of docks in the historic Port of London. They were constructed in Wapping, downstream from the City of London between 1799 and 1815, at a cost exceeding £5½ million. Traditionally ships had d ...
. In 1909, the
Port of London Authority The Port of London Authority (PLA) is a self-funding public trust established on 31 March 1909 in accordance with the Port of London Act 1908 to govern the Port of London. Its responsibility extends over the Tideway of the River Thames and its ...
took over the management of almost all of the Thames docks, including St Katharine Dock. By the 1930s the only regular use was by ships of the
General Steam Navigation Company The General Steam Navigation Company (GSN), incorporated in 1824, was London's foremost short sea shipping line for almost 150 years. It was the oldest shipping company in the world to begin business with seagoing steam vessels. Foundation ...
. St Katharine Docks were badly damaged by
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
bombing during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. All the warehouses around the eastern basin were destroyed, and the site they had occupied remained derelict until the 1960s. The dock entrance lock was rebuilt in 1957 but the docks ceased commercial use in 1968. The remaining warehouses on the western side were demolished to make way for redevelopment. File:St Katharine Dock.jpg, Plan drawn up for the St Katharine Dock Company showing the street and buildings which would need to be demolished to make way for the new dock File:St katharine docks 1828.jpg, Opening of St Katharine Docks, 25 October 1828 File:Print (BM 1880,1113.1688).jpg, Bird's-eye view, 1829


Closure and redevelopment

Because of their very restricted capacity and inability to cope with large modern ships, the St Katharine Docks were among the first to be closed in 1968, and were sold to the
Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...
. The site was leased to the developers
Taylor Woodrow Taylor Woodrow was one of the largest housebuilding and general construction companies in Britain. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until its merger with rival housebuilder George Wimpey ...
and most of the original warehouses around the western basin were demolished and replaced by modern commercial buildings in the early 1970s, beginning with the bulky Tower Hotel (designed by Renton Howard Wood Partnership; opened in September 1973) on a site parallel to the river just to the east of Tower Bridge. This was followed by the World Trade Centre Building and Commodity Quay (both designed by architects Watkins Gray International). Development around the eastern basin was completed in the 1990s; the docks themselves becoming a
marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...
. The development has often been cited as a model example of successful urban redevelopment. In 1980, a plan was approved to open a St Katharine Docks Underground station on the proposed extension of the
Jubilee line The Jubilee line is a London Underground line that runs between in suburban north-west London and in east London, via the West End of London, West End, South Bank and London Docklands, Docklands. Opened in 1979, it is the newest line on the ...
. It would have been between
Fenchurch Street Fenchurch Street is a street in London, England, linking Aldgate at its eastern end with Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street in the west. It is a well-known thoroughfare in the City of London financial district and is the site of many cor ...
and
Wapping Wapping () is an area in the borough of Tower Hamlets in London, England. It is in East London and part of the East End. Wapping is on the north bank of the River Thames between Tower Bridge to the west, and Shadwell to the east. This posit ...
. An eastwards extension was eventually built as part of the
Jubilee line The Jubilee line is a London Underground line that runs between in suburban north-west London and in east London, via the West End of London, West End, South Bank and London Docklands, Docklands. Opened in 1979, it is the newest line on the ...
, but took a different route south of the
Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...
. The closest stations to the Docks today are
Tower Hill Tower Hill is the area surrounding the Tower of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is infamous for the public execution of high status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid 18th century. The execution site on the higher gro ...
(tube) and
Tower Gateway DLR station Tower Gateway is a Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station in the City of London and is located near the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. It adjoins the tracks to Fenchurch Street railway station, Fenchurch Street station and is located on the si ...
, both roughly equidistant from the north-west corner of the Docks.
Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...
made the first ever cellular telephone call in the United Kingdom on 1 January 1985, from St Katharine Docks to Newbury, and launched the UK's first cellular network later that year. Between 2005 and 2008, the former Danish lightship "Lightship X" (Ten) was moored on the west dock, and used as a restaurant, before returning to Denmark. The marina, including restaurants and offices, was owned by Max Property Group, operated by investor
Nick Leslau Nick Leslau (born 18 August 1959) is an English commercial property investor, with an estimated net worth of £400 million. Leslau is chairman and chief executive of Prestbury Investment Holdings Limited, and chairman of Prestbury Investm ...
, since 2011, and was sold to
Blackstone Group Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. It was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions firm by Peter Peterson and Stephen Schwarzman, who had previously worked together at Lehman ...
in 2014. Over the next three years, Blackstone completed a major restoration. In May 2017, the company retained agents to find potential buyers for the complex; the listing price was £435m. In October 2017, however, Blackstone withdrew the property from the market because bids were below the asking price.


The docks today

The former docks now features offices, public and private housing, a large hotel, shops and restaurants, a pub (The
Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by many as the great ...
Inn, a former brewery dating back to the 18th century), a yachting marina and other recreational facilities. It remains a popular leisure destination. The east dock is now dominated by the City Quay residential development, comprising more than 200 privately owned flats overlooking the marina. The south side of the east dock is surrounded by the South Quay Estate which was originally social housing. The dock is still used by small to medium-sized boats on a daily basis. The
anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...
from the wreck of the Dutch East Indiaman ''
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
'' is on display at the entrance to the east dock.


Notable boats

Notable boats regularly moored in the docks include: * Gloriana, royal barge * MV Havengore, former Port of London Authority hydrographic survey vessel Several
Thames sailing barge A Thames sailing barge is a type of commercial sailing boat once common on the River Thames in London. The flat-bottomed barges, with a shallow draught and leeboards, were perfectly adapted to the Thames Estuary, with its shallow waters and na ...
s are also based in the docks. * *


Notable residents

*
David Mellor David John Mellor (born 12 March 1949) is a British broadcaster, barrister, and former politician. As a member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet of Prime Minister John Major as Chief Secretary to the Treasury (1990–1992) ...
, broadcaster and former politician, and Penelope, Viscountess Cobham *
David Suchet Sir David Courtney Suchet ( ; born 2 May 1946) is an English actor. He is known for his work on stage and in television. He portrayed Edward Teller in the television serial '' Oppenheimer'' (1980) and received the RTS and BPG awards for his pe ...
, actor *Sir Michael Hodgkinson, business man


In media

The docks were used as one of the main filming locations for the
Hammer Film Productions Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classi ...
version of
Dennis Wheatley Dennis Yates Wheatley (8 January 1897 – 10 November 1977) was an English writer whose prolific output of thrillers and occult novels made him one of the world's best-selling authors from the 1930s through to the 1960s. Early life Wheatley w ...
's novel '' To The Devil - A Daughter'' in 1976, with the character played by
Richard Widmark Richard Weedt Widmark (December 26, 1914March 24, 2008) was an American film, stage, and television actor and producer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, ''Kiss of Death (1947 film ...
living in one of the residential flats. Scenes featured the Ivory House and the retractable bridge. In April 2021, it was filmed for ''
Men A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fa ...
'', a folk horror film directed by
Alex Garland Alexander Medawar Garland (born 26 May 1970) is an English author, screenwriter, and director. He rose to prominence with his novel '' The Beach'' (1996). He received praise for writing the Danny Boyle films '' 28 Days Later'' (2002) and '' Sun ...
and starring Jessie Buckley, released in 2022. It was used for Buckley's character's apartment with her abusive husband, and also where he died. The inner gatefold photograph for The Rolling Stones album ''Through the Past Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2)'' was taken at St Katherine Docks by Ethan Russell in May 1969.


Tower Bridge Quay

Tower Bridge Quay is close to the St Katharine Dock, providing river transport services managed by
London River Services London River Services Limited is a division of Transport for London (TfL), which manages passenger transport—leisure-oriented tourist services and commuter services—on the River Thames in London. It does not own or operate any boats itself, ...
. The main service from Tower Bridge Quay is a circular river cruise operated by Crown River Cruises which goes non-stop to
Westminster Millennium Pier Westminster Pier is a pier on the River Thames, in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is operated by Uber Boat by Thames Clippers and served by various river transport and cruise operators. It is located next to Westminster Bridge ...
before returning via the
South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial area on the south bank of the River Thames, in the London Borough of Lambeth, central London, England. The South Bank is not formally defined, but is generally understood to be situated betwe ...
arts centre, as well as a Westminster-Greenwich express service run by Thames River Services. The nearby Tower Millennium Pier, located on the other side of Tower Bridge, now provides the main commuter river boat services to
Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is a financial area of London, England, located in the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The Greater London Authority defines it as part of London's central business district, alongside Central London. Alongside ...
and
Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...
in the east and the West End in the west, and a fast visitor service to the
London Eye The London Eye, originally the Millennium Wheel, is a cantilevered observation wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames in London. It is the world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel, and the most popular paid Tourist attractions in the ...
.


References


External links

*
St Katharine Docks Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Katharine Docks London docks Geography of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets History of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Tourist attractions in London Wapping Transport infrastructure completed in 1828 Works of Thomas Telford Redeveloped ports and waterfronts in London Marinas in England Port of London