Secrets of the Thames

Gabriel's Wharf Causeway

You’ll see a few causeways just like this along the Thames Foreshore. This causeway is narrower than others you will see along this trail, so most likely was used solely by foot passengers to board smaller boats crossing the river. The Thames is a busy river, as you look across it now I’m sure you can see more than one watercraft upon it. However, until the early 18 ^th  century London Bridge was the main bridge crossing the Thames and the main way to cross it was by boat, with the taxi-drivers of the day; the Watermen. The Thames would be bustling with small boats crossing back and forth.  

Image 1: Gabriel's Wharf Causeway. Author's own

Image 2: A panorama of London by Claes Visscher, 1616, showing many boat upon the river at Bankside.  Image Source 

Stratigraphy

Often some of the best archaeological clues we can find are hidden in the earth and mud. Stratigraphy is the study of geology and different levels (strata) that we can analysis to tell us a story of how the geology came to be this way. Here is a great example of this and you can see the different levels including clay, rubble and chalk.  Our greatest clue in this case is the chalk you can see here. These are created barge beds; the chalk has been built up here over the harder limestone in order to protect the boats. Boats could come into Bankside on the tide and rest above the barge beds as the tide goes out. Then when the tide comes in again they can go back out.

Image: Statigrapghy of the Barge Beds. Author's own

Mooring Features

As well as barge beds you will find many mooring features along the walk. Again this can indicate just how many boats may be using the Thames and coming to rest on the foreshore. How many can you spot as you walk along? Some are made of reused materials, what different materials can you find and what does that tell us about how they were made?

Image: Mooring Feature. Author's own

Log Drain

Now to the less salubrious archaeology of sewage and drains! Perhaps not the most appealing but we can learn so much from the changing sewage and drainage of London. The Thames itself could be seen as one giant sewage drain, it was declared biologically dead in the 1950s by the Natural History Museum, although it's now getting a little cleaner, with wildlife returning. Sir Joseph Bazalgette in the 19 ^th  century created a new sewage system that would change London, and its stinky ways, forever. Prior to that however, in the 16 ^th -18 ^th  centuries, log drains like this were common. They are also helpful in telling us about some of the buildings that were once on Bankside as they are usually found on property divisions. Can you find any more along your walk?

Image: Log Drain. Author's own

Crossing the River

Flowing through the busy city of London, the ability to cross the Thames is essential. At this point on the foreshore is a great amount of evidence of the different ways this has been possible over the years. Here you can see both the Blackfriars bridge and the Blackfriars railway bridge, both currently active modes of crossing the river. You can also see the supports for the old railway bridge that was removed in 1985. Also visible are the remains of the Blackfriars causeway, considerably wider than the Gabriel’s Wharf causeway we saw earlier, most likely to facilitate transporting goods and livestock. Londoners have crossed the river by boat, by bridge, by railway – can you think of another way to cross? It may surprise you to hear that they could walk right over…on ice! Without the embankments now built on the river and in a much colder climate, the Thames would freeze over (much to the detriment of the waterman’s earnings) so Frost Fairs were thrown on the river. It is even said that an elephant was marched across the ice by Blackfriars bridge.

Image 1: Blackfriars bridge, Blackfriars Railway bridge, the post remains of the old railway bridge and the remains of the Blackfriars causeway. Author's own

Image 2: Woodcut showing the activities of the 1715-1716 Frost Fair. Museum of London

Industrial Archaeology

In the Victorian era Bankside was a hive of industrial activity. As you walk along the foreshore look at some of the imposing buildings like the OXO Tower and the Tate; both once power stations and reminders of the industrial past of the area. The foreshore is littered with industrial archaeology, look out for this as you go along, some archaeology is more difficult to identity its original purpose than others. Here, it is presumed that these were hydraulic crane bases or water inlets serving the power station that used to operate there. If you look around you will also see remnant coal on the foreshore, another hint to an industrial past.  

Image: Industrial archaeology. Author's own

Prehistoric beginnings

Much of the archaeology we are looking at on this trail is post-medieval, however the history of this Southwark area stretches back to the prehistoric. Archaeologists found prehistoric tree stumps and organic clay with roots and rootlets under the Millennium Bridge. Where you are standing now would have been woodland thousands of years ago and the area consisting of a number of small islands that were divided by different river channels. Quite hard to imagine as the bustle of the city carries on around you.

We’re going to head off the foreshore now, turn back the way you came to leave by the next set of stairs upstream, close to Point 7.

Image: Millenium Bridge. Author's own

The Globe Theatre

During the Tudor era this area of Bankside was a hive of entertainment, with theatres such as The Swan, The Rose and The Globe as well as Bear Gardens.

Just like the Golden Hinde, the Globe is a modern recreation using traditional techniques. The Shakespeare Globe Trust was founded in the 1970s in order to recreate the original Globe Theatre that Shakespeare’s plays were performed in during the Elizabethan era. The theatre we see today was opening officially in 1997. The reconstruction gives a close idea to what many of the Tudor theatres along this area of the Thames would have been like.

This however is not the exact site of the original Globe theatre, which we will go in search of now…

Image 1: The Globe Theatre. Author's own

Image 2: The Globe Theatre and The Bear Gardens as shown on the Visscher Map, 1616.  Image Source 

Image 3: Map showing the original locations of the Tudor Theatres on Bankside. Shakespeare's Globe

Clues along the way...

A great clue in unearthing local heritage is to look at the road names and research their meaning. The two roads connecting the reconstructed Globe theatre and the original site are clear hints at the area’s past. Rose Alley is the original site of the first purpose built theatre on Southbank; The Rose Theatre. The parallel road – Bear Gardens – is a hint at the many bear gardens open for entertainment on Bankside in Tudor London.

Image 1: Bear Gardens. Author's own

Image 2: Rose Alley. Author's own

The Ferryman's Seat

Here is a preserved seat used by the watermen that worked at Bankside. The seat was located on buildings that used to stand here, showing that watermen were a huge part of the make up of the area.  Many of the watermen would be here ready to take people across the river who had come to the area to explore the many entertainments on offer.

Image: The Ferryman's Seat. Author's own

Southwark Bridge Causeway

If the gate is unlocked, go down on the foreshore to look at the causeway, but be careful as the steps can be slippery!

This is perhaps the best preserved causeway along this stretch of the Thames Foreshore. You may notice that many of the bridges are built over where a causeway used to be.

Use these stairs to exit the foreshore. Note: Be careful they are very slippery.

If you follow the next two points on this trail, you will have to double back to use this as an exit from the foreshore.

Image: Southwark Bridge Causeway. Author's own

The Original Site of The Globe Theatre

This is the original site the Globe theatre. Congratulations you found it, and have completed the Secrets of the Thames trail!  

Hopefully you’ve been able to see the area in a new way and understand further the changes of Bankside over hundreds and thousands of years. To challenge yourself further you could try and find the original sites of all the theatres on Bankside, and keep looking out for all those archaeological clues to reveal the past…

Image: Plaque at the original site of the Globe Theatre. Author's own

The Golden Hinde

As you walk towards London Bridge you will see a mast appear to your right, this is the mast of the Golden Hinde. This ship is a replica of the English Galleon, the Golden Hind that was captained by Sir Francis Drake to circumnavigate the globe in the late 16 ^th  century.

This is a recreation of the Golden Hind, made over many years of research and using traditional techniques. Experimental archaeology and exploring traditional techniques can be a really helpful tool to understanding the past. You can visit the Golden Hinde to find out more.

Image 1: The Golden Hinde as seen from the Foreshore. Author's own

Image 2: The Golden Hinde at Sea. The Golden Hinde

London Bridge

London Bridge is a famous landmark across the Thames; the one you see here was opened in 1972 however we know of at least eight different London Bridges. You may well know the song about London Bridge falling down, this refers to the first stone bridge in Britain being built replacing the wooden London Bridges that had come before. A pontoon bridge was first built by the Romans and since then both wood and stone bridges have stood here.

 Now head back to the stairs at Southwark bridge to leave the foreshore there.

Image 1: London Bridge. Author's own

Image 2: Old London Bridge before 1760 by Samuel Scott. City of London Corporation