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THE TIDAL THAMES
A virtual journey down the tidal Thames
Thames Estuary Partnership
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The River Thames is London's greatest open space. It is our link with the natural world. - Sir David Attenborough
Welcome
Starting at Teddington, through the bright lights of central London to the quieter, less visited areas near the North Sea, this virtual tour was created to discover the Tidal Thames.
Here you can follow the meandering Thames through London and learn more about its diverse stories of history, environment and local culture, via text, photos, videos and links at various locations.
The journey
Overview of the Thames
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Tour of the Thames
If you hover and click your cursor over the images of locations below, the marker on the map to the right will stand out and show you where that location is found along the river.
Click on any photo below to proceed to that location. To return to the default view (with all the photos and locations), click on the little x in a circle appearing over the text.
There are 50 locations for you to explore -- 50 stops on our Tour of the Thames -- so feel free to choose where you want to go directly. Or for a more life-like experience of a boat ride downriver, keep your cursor scrolling as it takes you along from one stop to the next.
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Teddington
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Eel Pie Island
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Richmond Bridge and Corporation Island
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Richmond Lock and Weir
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Isleworth Ait and the Pavilion
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Syon Park and Syon House
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Kew Gardens and Kew Palace
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River Brent and the Grand Union Canal
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Brentford Ait and Lots Ait
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Oliver's Island
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Chiswick Eyot
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Hammersmith Bridge
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London Wetland Centre
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The Big Ben
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Tideway Tunnel
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River Fleet
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The Globe
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The Steelyard
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The Golden Hinde
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London Bridge
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The Monument
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HMS Belfast
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Tower of London
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Tower Bridge
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St Saviour's Dock and the River Neckinger
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Wapping Old Stairs
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London Docks
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The Mayflower Pub
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Execution Dock
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Limehouse Basin
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Greenland Dock
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Deptford Creek
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Isle of Dogs
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Cutty Sark
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Greenwich
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East India Dock Basin
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North Greenwich Reedbeds
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Thames Barrier
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Royal Docks
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Woolwich Tunnel
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Barking Creek
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Crossness Pumping Station
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Rainham Marshes
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Erith
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Gravesend
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London Gateway Port
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North Kent Marshes
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Leigh-on-Sea
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Maunsell Forts
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Outer Thames Estuary
Teddington
The town of Teddington has existed for at least a thousand years. It is first mentioned as a settlement in the 11th century, whilst later in medieval times, it became a riverside village. Today Teddington is known for its lock and weir system, which mark the limit of the tidal Thames. Thus Teddington’s lock acts as a border for the Port of London Authority (PLA), which is in charge of river navigation from here all the way to the North Sea.
A lock system like the one in Teddington allows for a small section of the river to be raised or lowered to let boats pass up- and down stream. Teddington Lock boasts both the largest and smallest locks on the River Thames. The smallest lock here is the skiff lock, which is rarely used nowadays, while the barge lock, built to accommodate long barges, steamers or passenger ferries, has an additional set of gates half-way to operate more quickly for shorter craft. The staggered structures incorporate two reinforced narrow islands, with the upper island accessible by the lock gates or Teddington Lock Footbridge.
Teddington’s waterways and land areas are also important for their huge diversity of birds. Species regularly seen here include Canada geese, Egyptian geese, mallards, magpies, mute swans, kingfishers and coots.
Eel Pie Island
Eel Pie Island has evidence of settlements from Neolithic times, but its name dates back to the Tudor period when eel pies were made at the local inn. Legend has it that Henry VIII found them so delicious he insisted on the first pie of each season!
The island continued to attract famous fans throughout its history, and the Eel Pie Island Hotel built in 1831 hosted visitors such Charles Dickens and William Turner. In the 1950s and 1960s the hotel’s dance hall featured performances by famous musicians , including The Rolling Stones, The Who, Pink Floyd, Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton and David Bowie.
Today the island counts about 50 houses and is home to small businesses, artists’ studios and the Twickenham Rowing Club .
Richmond Bridge and Corporation Island
Built between 1774 and 1777, Richmond Bridge is the oldest surviving bridge across the River Thames in London, connecting the two halves of the present-day London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.
Just downstream from Richmond Bridge is Corporation Island, which is an uninhabited and heavily wooded island with white willow, crack willow and weeping willow trees, as well as hybrid black poplar. These trees were planted in the 1960s after Richmond Borough Council felled the London plane trees that had originally grown here. The island is home to a heronry, with a nesting colony of grey heron that had 12 active nests in 2016.
The island is also famous as the site of one of the last photographs of The Beatles together, taken on the Thames foreshore here in 1969. There is now no public access to the island.
Richmond Lock and Weir
With the construction of Teddington Lock in 1810 and the removal of the Old London Bridge in 1831, which had acted as a dam against the incoming tide, river levels in Richmond significantly dropped with the outgoing tide. To stop the river draining away twice a day and to maintain navigation, the Richmond Lock and Weir was built and opened in 1894.
The weir has three vertical steel sluice gates suspended from the footbridge. These gates are raised for around two hours each side of high tide. The rest of the day the gates remain closed, but the integrated lock still allows river traffic to pass. The structure is maintained by the Port of London Authority (PLA) and is used as a base for their upper river patrol boats.
Every year for a few days in November, the gates of Richmond Lock are lifted, allowing the river below Teddington to drain down during low tide, exposing the river bed. During this ‘ draw-off ’ volunteers clean the river bed, mudlarkers look for treasures and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) carries out its annual Thames Invasive Species Survey .
Isleworth Ait and the Pavilion
An ait or eyot (Old English igoþ: "islet") is to refer to small river islands found on the River Thames and its tributaries. These river islands are formed by accumulated sediment deposits carried by the river which also gives its long and narrow shape. There are about 180 aits on the entire stretch of the River Thames with nine aits on the tidal Thames.
Isleworth Ait, which is maintained by the London Wildlife Trust , is an important sanctuary for more than 50 species of birds and two rare species of mollusk (the two-lipped door snail and German hairy snail). Tree species on the island include poplar and willow.
The River Crane flows into the River Thames just at the northern tip of the island, while the Duke of Northumberland's river enters just a bit further downstream. The pink-coloured Pavilion close to the island’s northern tip was commissioned by the Second Duke of Northumberland in 1803 and used to watch regattas. Following the embanking of the river, the Pavilion could no longer be used, and subsequently it was converted into living accommodation.
Syon Park and Syon House
Syon Park has a huge diversity of habitat with more than 200 species of rare trees. The park is connected to a larger expanse of green space, including Kew Gardens and Richmond Park, linked by the tidal Thames.
The most important part of Syon is the undisturbed tidal meadow that floods at each high tide. This meadow is one of the few remaining Thames-side wetland areas and the only natural riverbank in Greater London. It is classified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Species living here include bats, invertebrates, birds, fungi and lichen. Chinese mitten crabs also live in the soft mud of the river bank.
Syon House was originally called Syon Abbey, named after Mount Zion in the Holy Land. Rumour has it that after Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church and disbanded the monasteries, a curse was laid upon him foretelling that dogs would one day lick at his blood. Following his death, his body was kept here overnight on the way to Windsor, and according to certain sources, his body did burst open and his blood was licked up by the household dogs!
After the dissolution of the abbey, Syon House became the property of the Crown and later the London seat of the Duke of Northumberland. It was opened to the public in 1951.
Kew Gardens and Kew Palace
Kew Gardens and Kew Palace are located in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.
Kew Palace , a Royal palace built in 1631, was used until the mid-1800s. Today, its main surviving building is the Dutch House, a royal residence from 1728 until 1818, with a final short-lived occupation in 1844. This Grade I listed house is now cared for by the independent charity Historic Royal Palaces , which receives no funding from the government or the Crown. Part of Dutch House remains open to visitors.
Kew Gardens , the grounds, are far more famous as a destination. Including a world-renowned botanic garden and research facility, Kew Gardens houses the largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections on the planet. Around 50,000 living plants are to be found across this UNESCO World Heritage site .
Founded in 1840 as the exotic garden at Kew Park, Kew Gardens counts 330 acres of gardens and botanical glasshouses, four Grade I listed buildings and 36 Grade II listed structures. Although it is a popular place for outings today, with its eateries, cafes and places for children to play, century draconian rules made it distinctly less fun in the 19th century. No food, no smoking, no prams, no playing and no refreshments -- besides, there was a dress code as well!
It was only after Kew’s second director, Sir Joseph Hooker retired that the first Tea Pavilion opened in 1888. A century later in 1985, during the construction of the Princess of Wales Conservatory construction, Sir David Attenborough, the famous naturalist and wildlife documentary presenter, buried a time capsule in its foundation. This capsule contains seeds of important food crops and several endangered species and is set to be opened in 2085, when many of the plants it contains could be rare or extinct.
River Brent and the Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal is connected to the River Thames through the River Brent. The River Brent begins at the junction of Dollis Brook and Mutton Brook and joins the River Thames at Brentford. It is one of London’s longest rivers, and the section of the Brent that contains canals was once important to trade, linking the Thames with the canal network of the Midlands in Northamptonshire.
Like the Thames, the River Brent has encountered a series of environmental problems. As early as 1886, it became contaminated from sewage disposal outlets, rubber works and the early oil industry. This pollution eventually led to the disappearance of some fish species by the 1920s. From the early 1990s, thanks to clean-up policies and actions, the health of the river started to improve, but environmental issues like road run-off remain due to urban pollution and drain misconnections.
Brentford Ait and Lots Ait
The trees on Brentford Island were planted in the 1920s, as requested by Kew Palace residents, who wished to hide Brentford’s gasworks from view. The island is now covered by willows and alders and houses a significant heronry, a breeding ground for herons.
The 600 m long island has a gap in the middle called Hog Hole, which splits the island at low tide into upper and lower aits.
For centuries, Lots Ait was used for growing grass and osiers, the kinds of willows that grow in wetlands, whose branches are used for cattle fodder and for making baskets, furniture and carts. Lots Ait was known as Barbel Island when it was an area for fishing. The island was one of the last tidal boatyards to be closed in the early 1970's.
Oliver's Island
Located between Kew Bridge and Kew Rail Bridge, Oliver’s Island derives its name from a story that Oliver Cromwell once took refuge here in 1642 during the Battle of Brentford in the First English Civil War. It was rumoured that Cromwell was trapped in the nearby Bull’s Head Pub , having escaped to the island via a secret tunnel.
In the 18th century, the City of London’s Navigation Committee installed a tollbooth to levy charges on passing craft to fund improvements to the river’s navigability. By 1865, it had become a place where barges were built and repaired. It is now a breeding ground for river birds such as herons, cormorants and Canada geese. Occasionally, seals can also be spotted basking in the sun on the foreshore just opposite Oliver's Island during the spring and summer months.
This area of the river between Kew and Hampton is referred to as the Arcadian Thames , a multi-layered landscape created in the 18th century. The Arcadian Thames, overseen by the Thames Landscape Strategy , is the largest connected open space in London.
You can discover the Arcadian Thames with London's premier paddleboarding company, Active360 based at Kew Bridge arches.
Chiswick Eyot
Chiswick Eyot is one of the unbridged islands on the tidal Thames. It is smaller then Eel Pie Island and Isleworth Ait with a historic significance. The island has a dense vegetation and was once used for growing fodder for horses and cattle. The channel between the island and the foreshore was used for trapping fish.
The Environment Agency regularly carries out fish surveys here, and Thames21 helps clear the island from litter and invasive species.
The London Borough of Hounslow declared the island a local nature reserve in 1993.
Hammersmith Bridge
With its oxidised green colour and intricate details, Hammersmith Bridge is an iconic 19th century iron suspension bridge that adorns the River Thames. It links the southern part of Hammersmith and its borough of Hammersmith and Fulham on the north side of the Thames to Barnes in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the south side of the river.
The current construction is actually the second version of the bridge, though it still stands on the original stone placed in 1827. The first bridge was designed by William Tierney Clark and required compulsory purchase orders to create the approach roads to the bridge on both banks. Built of steel, wrought iron, cast iron and plywood, the bridge was sturdy and lasted well. It was tolled until the late 1870s, when cracks and concerns for public safety resulted in its closure. After a number of refurbishments, the bridge was finally reopened, only to suffer a collison from a boat resulting in the commissioning of a replacement bridge.
The second, current, version of the bridge was designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette and opened by the Prince of Wales in 1887. In the 20th century it survived three bombing attempts by the IRA, but in 2020, due to increased traffic volumes and cracks caused by a summer heatwave, the bridge was closed altogether.
With an estimated £141 million needed to fully repair the bridge, and with neither district on either side of the bridge solvent enough to fund repairs, the future of London’s oldest suspension bridge remains uncertain.
London Wetland Centre
The first urban project of its kind in the UK, the London Wetland Centre is a haven for people and wildlife in the Barnes area of London. These 100 acres of reclaimed Victorian reservoirs have been converted to rich and diverse wetland habitats, providing a home for animals not seen elsewhere in the capital city. The wetlands host a stunning diversity of birdlife and mammals, such as adorable otters . It’s a fantastic place to breathe fresh air and enjoy lovely vistas of nature that thrive and change with the seasons.
The Big Ben
A decade after the Palace of Westminster was destroyed by fire in 1834, it was decided that the new buildings for the Houses of Parliament should include a tower and a clock. The official name of the tower in which Big Ben (the great bell) is located was originally the Clock Tower, renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II . The tower stands at 315 feet (96 metres) tall, with a climb of 334 steps from ground level to the belfry.
Big Ben is the largest of the tower's five bells and weighs 13.5 long tons (13.7 tonnes; 15.1 short tons). Four quarter bells chime at 15, 30 and 45 minutes past the hour, and just before Big Ben tolls on the hour.
The clock still uses its original Victorian mechanism, but an electric motor can be used as a backup. The Latin inscription under the clock face reads DOMINE SALVAM FAC REGINAM NOSTRAM VICTORIAM PRIMAM: "O Lord, keep safe our Queen Victoria the First."
Since the tower and clock were built, there have been a few incidents of damage, with the most significant being a German bombing raid on 10th May 1941, which damaged two of the clock’s dials. During WWII the clock faces were not illuminated at night to avoid guiding bomber pilots during the Blitz . A couple decades later, on 31st December 1962, the clock slowed due to heavy snow and ice on the hands, causing the pendulum to detach from the clockwork. It thus chimed in the 1963 new year nine minutes late.
On 21 August 2017, a four-year schedule of renovation works began on the tower, including the addition of a lift. There are also plans to re-glaze and repaint the clock dials. With a few exceptions, such as New Year's Eve and Remembrance Sunday , the bells are to be silent until works are completed in 2021.
Tideway Tunnel
Just on the west side of Blackfriars Bridge is one of the main sites of a massive works project to upgrade London’s Victorian sewer system for the 21st century.
In the 1800s, at the start of the Industrial Revolution, London's population rapidly increased, doubling from one million to two million residents in just 40 years. By the middle of the century, London had a huge sewage problem. Waste was commonly discharged into cesspits, waterways and onto the city’s streets, leading to a massive outbreak of cholera in 1849.
Initially, due to London's horrid stink, cholera was attributed to bad smelling air (the miasma theory). But in 1854, a London-based doctor tracked down the source to a public water pump , which was leaking into a nearby cesspit at Broad Street in Soho.
With untreated human and industrial waste combining in the streets and the river, by the summer of 1858 things had gotten so bad that Parliament sittings were suspended. The press pounced on this ' Great Stink ,' and Parliament rapidly passed a law for construction of a new sewer system – proof that disease outbreaks and press shaming are not new ways to spur environmental action!
The engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette was named as the lead constructor of a new sewer . Bazalgette proposed an underground system that would intercept outflows and divert raw sewage to the east, discarding them further down into the Thames Estuary with the outgoing tide. This intercepting sewer system was built along the Thames and on top of it the Thames Embankment (Victoria and Chelsea Embankments on the north and Albert Embankment on the south), causing the Thames to be significantly narrowed and therefore its flow increased.
The project also came with a couple of built-in faults: as a combined system, it collected both street runoff and household waste, and it was designed for four million people. As London's population grew (it now stands at around 8.6 million people), the system became overwhelmed, eventually leading to sewage overflows and heavy river pollution.
By the 1950s the Thames became so polluted once again that it was declared ecologically dead! Clean ups began but city planners also knew the old sewage system was no longer fit for purpose. Most sewage doesn't go into the river today, however, after just 2mm rain treatment works are unable to cope with the sudden flow and existing outflows release untreated sewage into the river.
To address this issue, in 2016 construction began for a massive underground tunnel, the Thames Tideway Tunnel or the so-called 'Super Sewer.' When it is completed in a few years' time, this 25 kilometres-long tunnel will run under the tidal section of the Thames and through central London, capturing, storing and transferring the raw sewage and rainwater that currently overflow into the river.
This massive work of engineering is another feat of human ingenuity and proves that people can solve problems and improve the natural environment if they set their hearts and minds to the task.
Find out more about the Tideway Tunnel in our podcast .
River Fleet
In Roman Times, the Fleet was a major river in the Thames Estuary with the oldest tidal mill in the world. The Fleet’s springs and waters were believed to have healing properties, and it was a source of well water to many communities that thrived along its banks.
As London grew, the Fleet was increasingly used as a sewer and was finally built over. Beginning as two streams on Hampstead Heath (parts of which were dammed into the Hampstead and Highgate ponds in the 18th century), the Fleet’s waters descend and converge underground and join the sewage network in Camden Town. From there the Fleet flows another 6 kilometres to the Beckton Sewage Treatments Works . The southern reach of the Fleet flows into the River Thames just under Blackfriars Bridge.
The River Fleet is not the only secret river in London. On the north side of the Thames other subterranean rivers are the Walbrook, Tyburn, Westbourne, Counter’s Creek and Stamford Brook. On the south side are the Peck, Earl’s Sluice, River Neckinger, Effra and Falcon Brook.
The Globe
The Globe Theatre was first built in 1599 by William Shakespeare’s playing company ‘ The Lord Chamberlain's Men .’ Such is the mythology surrounding this world-famous theatre that one story tells of a cold winter night, when actors dismantled their old playhouse in Shoreditch, hauled the timber across the icy Thames and rebuilt it as the Globe in Southwark. However, there is no record of the Thames freezing over in that year. The company was actually rehoused in the Globe Theatre, built by Richard and Cuthbert Burbage on the south bank of the Thames.
In 1613, a fire broke out and the original theatre was destroyed. A second Globe was built on the same site, but it was shut down in 1642 by the puritan movement that closed all theatres at the time. Today’s Globe, a reconstruction of the original and renamed ‘ Shakespeare’s Globe ,’ opened in 1997. It is 750 feet from the site of the original theatre in the London Borough of Southwark on the south bank of the Thames.
The Steelyard
The south side of Upper Thames Street, between today’s London Bridge and Cannon Street Station, was once the site of the Hanseatic League in England, established in 1241. The Hanseatic League was a commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Northwestern and Central Europe that grew from a few North German towns in the late 1100s to dominate Baltic maritime trade for three centuries along the coasts of Northern Europe.
In London, the Steelyard or Stahilhof, was the League’s base. It was a walled community with direct access to the river and its own warehouses, weighhouse, residential buildings and a chapel. Important goods such as precious metals, fish, timber, textiles and grains were traded here. About 45% of England’s wool and 70% of its cloth exports passed through this London site by 1500.
Most of the Steelyard’s buildings were destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, but the merchants rebuilt them and continued to trade. The Steelyard was given up by the Hanseatic League in 1851, and the land was sold. In 1866, Cannon Street Station was built here.
The Golden Hinde
The Golden Hinde was the galleon ship that first circumnavigated the globe, captained by Sir Francis Drake between 1577 and 1580. The ship’s original name was Pelican but Drake renamed it mid-voyage in honour of his patron whose crest was a golden hind.
After Drake's circumnavigation, the Golden Hinde was permanently moored at Deptford Creek, where the ship eventually rotted away and was broken up.
The newly reconstructed Golden Hinde was built over the course of three years in Appledore, Devon, and launched from Plymouth in 1973. It then travelled more than 140,000 miles, including a complete circumnavigation of the earth. After 19 years of travel, the Golden Hinde returned to the UK and spent a number of years sailing around the ports of Europe before settling into Bankside as a major tourist attraction.
London Bridge
Until the arrival of the Romans, there was no solid structure over the Thames and it acted as a border between warring tribes. The Romans built the first London Bridge as part of their road-building programme to hold conquered areas and allow troops to move swiftly. The first bridge structure was a temporary pontoon, later replaced by a timber piled bridge. Between AD 43 and until the late 1100s, the bridge was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt whilst London continued to grow and evolve around it.
Old London Bridge was built between 1176 and 1209 and located slightly downstream to the east in line with Fish Street Hill, where St Magnus the Martyr's church currently stands. Here the old pedestrian entrance to the bridge still remains to this day.
That stone bridge was 8 metres wide, 240-270 metres long, with 19 broad-pointed arches and a drawbridge in the middle to allow the passage of tall ships during high tides. With houses and shops built on the bridge, it was a hive of activity and remains evocative to this day. In fact, at times the bridge became so congested that in 1722 the Lord Mayor ordered that bridge traffic should keep to the left. This was the first time that driving on the left was made compulsory in Britain.
Interestingly, the bridge’s narrow arches and wide pier bases allowed the bridge to act as a tidal barrier restricting the river’s flow. As a result, the upstream part of the river often froze over, giving way to the famed Thames Frost Fairs . These used to occur between the early 1600s till 1814, when the Thames would freeze for up to two months at a time. Apart from the Old London Bridge acting as a tidal barrier, the northern hemisphere was also locked into a climatic period now called Little Ice Age , when average global temperatures were about one degree Celsius lower than pre-industrial levels.
Natural disasters in the form of fires and cold weather equally caused significant damages to the bridge, so in 1821 a committee was appointed by Parliament to consider building a new bridge. The new London Bridge was completed in 1831, 30 metres west of the old bridge. This structure counted 5 arches and was 283 metres long and 15 metres wide.
Over the years the new spacious bridge became congested, as it was never designed for increased volumes of modern city traffic. In the early 1960s, the bridge was discovered to be sinking into the Thames, and in 1967 it was put up for sale. A year later it was purchased by American entrepreneur Robert McCulloch, who calculated the bridge would be an attraction for local property sales in Arizona and to connect an island where he would build a hotel.
The bridge was taken apart, with each of its more than 10,000 blocks numbered and then shipped via the Panama Canal to California. It was then taken to Arizona, where it was reconstructed and reinforced. It opened in 1971 and still stands in Lake Havasu City , where it continues to be a draw for visitors because of its historic connections.
Meanwhile in London, a new modern London Bridge was built from 1967 to 1972 and opened in 1973. In the early 2000s, several bridges in London were furnished with red lighting. The red lights still remain on London Bridge and are regularly switched on at night.
The Monument
At 202 feet, the Monument is the tallest isolated stone column in the world. It was erected at the conjunction of Monument Street and Fish Hill Street, exactly 202 feet from where the Great Fire of London started on 2nd September 1666. The fire began at a baker’s house in Pudding Lane and burnt for three days, damaging hundreds of streets and consuming thousands of houses and famous buildings, including The Royal Exchange, Guildhall, St Paul's Cathedral and a section of the Old London Bridge.
As part of the city’s reconstruction, which took over 30 years, this permanent memorial to the tragedy was completed in 1677.
HMS Belfast
HMS Belfast is a Town-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy, now permanently moored as a museum ship on the River Thames in London and operated by the Imperial War Museum.
Belfast is the first ship in the navy to be named after the capital city of Northern Ireland and one of ten Town-class cruisers. Construction began in December 1936 and the Belfast was launched on St Patrick's Day in 1938.
Commissioned in early August 1939, shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, Belfast was initially part of the British naval blockade against Germany. In November 1939, Belfast struck a German mine and, in spite of fears that she would be scrapped, spent more than two years undergoing extensive repairs.
Belfast returned to action in November 1942 with improved firepower, radar and armour, and in 1943 the vessel escorted Arctic convoys to the Soviet Union. In December of that year, the Belfast played an important role in the Battle of North Cape, assisting in the destruction of a German warship. In June 1944, Belfast took part in Operation Overlord supporting the Normandy landings, and a year later she was redeployed to the Far East to join the British Pacific Fleet, arriving shortly before the end of the war.
Belfast saw further combat action in the early 1950s during the Korean War and underwent an extensive modernisation at the end of that decade. A number of further overseas commissions followed before she entered reserve in 1963.
In 1967, efforts began to avert Belfast's expected scrapping and to preserve her as a museum ship. In 1971, with the government having decided not to fund preservation, it handed over ownership of the ship to a private trust. Brought to London, the ship was moored on the River Thames near Tower Bridge in the Pool of London .
Opened to the public in October 1971, Belfast became a branch of the Imperial War Museum in 1978. A popular tourist attraction, Belfast receives over a quarter of a million visitors per year. As a branch of a national museum and part of the National Historic Fleet , Belfast is supported by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport , admissions income, and the museum's commercial activities.
Tower of London
The Tower of London , officially Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames. It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England.
The Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. The castle encloses an area of almost 12 acres with a further six acres around the Tower of London constituting the Tower Liberties.
The Tower of London has played a prominent role in English history and controlling it has been important to ruling the country. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the castle was used as a prison, and many figures such as Elizabeth I (before she became queen) were held within its walls. Sir Walter Raleigh and the Queen’s lady-in-waiting Elizabeth Throckmorton were also kept here for marrying without the Queen’s permission.This use of the tower as a prison led to the common phrase ‘sent to the Tower.’
During the First and Second World Wars, the Tower was again used as a prison and witnessed the execution of 12 men for spying. Damage caused during the Blitz was repaired after WWII and the castle reopened to the public.
Today, the Tower of London is one of the country's most popular tourist attractions. It houses the Crown Jewels, which includes 23,578 gemstones, the 800-year-old Coronation Spoon, St. Edward's Crown (worn during all crownings at Westminster Abbey) and the Imperial State Crown. The tradition of housing the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London probably dates from the reign of Henry III (1216–1272). The Jewel House was built specifically to house royal regalia, jewels and symbols of royalty like the crown, sceptre and sword, and the jewels have been on display there since 1994.
Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge built between 1886 and 1894. A bascule is a movable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. Tower Bridge crosses the River Thames close to the Tower of London. With its amazing location and distinctive architecture and pale coloured stone, it has become a world-famous symbol of London. You can visit Tower Bridge to learn more about its history.
If you find yourself there, you’ll also be within what is known as the ' Pool of London ,' the section of the Thames that extends from London Bridge down to Limehouse where the ' Thames Gateway ' begins and continues to tidal areas in Essex and Kent and finally onto the ocean. So although you may not have thought of Tower Bridge in this way, it's here that we understand that London is a coastal city!
So the next time you visit Tower Bridge, remember that while you might not feel like you're at the seaside, just look downstream and think of that coastal connection!
St Saviour's Dock and the River Neckinger
In the late 1000s, a community of Cluniac monks began developing the marshes surrounding Bermondsey Abbey which cultivated local land. The monks built embankments on the riverside and dug dykes, turning the mouth of the river into Saint Saviour's Dock, named after the abbey’s patron, and the area became a centre for trade for centuries.
By the 18th century, however, the Thames became so busy that cargoes were often stranded on ships for weeks in the ' Pool of London '. At this time, the area became notorious for pirates who attacked the moored vessels. If caught, they were hanged at the mouth of Saint Saviour's Dock and the River Neckinger was named from a slang term for "devil's neckcloth" for the hangman's noose.
Charles Dickens set his novel Oliver Twist in this location -- Jacob’s island is where the story’s character Bill Sykes falls from a roof and dies in the mud.
Wapping Old Stairs
Wapping Old Stairs are among the best examples of ' watermen's stairs ,' also known as 'Thames steps' or 'stairs.' These steps once formed part of a complex transport network of public stairs, causeways and alleys used by watermen. They needed to access the waters of the tidal Thames as they taxied passengers across and along the river in London from the 14th century onwards.
Nowadays, these stairs are used by people to reach the Thames foreshore during low tide. One especially popular activity is mudlarking , searching for interesting archaeological finds that can date back to hundreds or even thousands of years. Mudlarking requires a permit from the Port of London Authority (PLA). To find out more about Thames foreshore archaeology, visit the Thames Discovery Programme , and listen to our podcast dedicated to archaeology.
The Thames foreshore is also a place for nature enthusiasts as it is a key natural habitat, home to many invertebrates like worms and molluscs which live in the mud. The area is used by fish to migrate or 'surf' up the river, and if you're strolling onshore and carefully peer under a large stone, you might be lucky enough to see a baby eel known as an elver. Elvers keep out of sunlight and wait for the tide to return and usher them upriver. They journey to freshwater parts of the river where they mature into adults, before returning back downstream to the North Sea and across the Atlantic Ocean to the Sargasso Sea where they spawn.
When accessing the foreshore, safety is a priority, as this area is a wild environment with uneven surfaces, an unpredictable river and risks from floating objects. The Thames steps and stairs are not owned or maintained by any one organisation, and are few and far between. So always plan your visit before embarking on or along the river – check tide tables , wear sturdy footwear and keep a look out for vessels that can cause waves. Also check the PLA website for a comprehensive safety guidance and any permissions you may need for your activities.
At the top of the stairs is the Town of Ramsgate Pub, where Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian met for a drink before setting off on the HMS Bounty for the Pacific.
London Docks
One of several sets of docks in the historic Port of London, the London Docks were built in Wapping between 1799 and 1815. Originally, ships had docked at wharves along the Thames, but more capacity was needed by the late 1700s due to the arrival of steam power. The London docks were the closest docks to the City of London, until St Katharine’s Dock was built two decades later in 1825.
During the mid 19th century as London expanded rapidly, more docks were needed. It was then that a man named George Parker Bidder and a group of entrepreneurs created plans to make the docks bigger and deeper than ever before to allow for giant ironclad steamships to pass through and to serve London for centuries to come.
The team dredged the ports out of the marshland, an incredible feat of engineering that took much man-, horse- and steam power to complete. Eventually, the site saw hundreds of thousands of cargoes of grain, tobacco, fruits, vegetables and meat unloaded onto the quayside, after which they were stored in giant refrigerated warehouses that sat along the Thames. Along with this cargo came passenger ships, which resulted in an influx of workers and traders filling the opportunities throughout London.
The Mayflower Pub
The Mayflower is a traditional pub surrounded by cobbled streets. It has seating on an outside decked jetty, with views of the original 1620 mooring point of the Mayflower ship. The pub sits on the site of the old Shippe pub, dating back to 1550. In 1780, the pub was rebuilt as the Spread Eagle and Crown and finally renamed The Mayflower in 1957.
The famous Mayflower ship set sail in July 1620, having taken on board 65 passengers at its London home port of Rotherhithe. In Southampton, it met another ship from Holland, the Speedwell, which was transporting Puritans and Pilgrims, exiled English members of religious sects who wanted to escape persecution and emigrate to America. After repeated leaks and returns to port, Speedwell was left behind, so the Mayflower got underway in early September alone and with depleted supplies, just as gales made sailing the North Atlantic dangerous.
After a terrible ten weeks at sea, the Mayflower and its 102 passengers and a crew of about 30 reached America, dropping anchor near the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts in early November. The delays meant that the Mayflower’s travellers faced a harsh winter unprepared. Only half of the original Pilgrims survived that first winter at Plymouth. Without the help of indigenous Americans, who taught them food gathering and other survival skills, the colonists might all have perished. The following winter in 1621, they celebrated the colony's first fall harvest along with the Indigenous people, which became the first Thanksgiving.
The Mayflower’s crossing remains an important historical moment for Americans because the Pilgrims agreed to self-government while on board. The travellers signed the so-called Mayflower Compact before disembarking, establishing a rudimentary form of democracy for their new colony. Major celebrations for the 400th anniversary of the crossing and landing were planned for the U.S. and England and Netherlands in November 2020, but unfortunately the events were mostly scuppered by the Covid pandemic.
Execution Dock
London was once the largest port in the world, attracting pirates and smugglers, as well as honest traders. Criminals who were caught and sentenced by the Admiralty Courts would be taken to Execution Dock, a simple wooden structure on the Thames foreshore just below the low tide mark. There, transgressors were subject to an unusual hanging: the rope used on the gallows was too short to break the neck on the drop, so pirates died from a long and protracted suffocation. The bodies were then left hanging until three tides had washed over them, while particularly notorious offenders had their corpses tarred and placed in cages along the river as a warning for sailors.
The most famous pirate hanged at Execution Dock was Captain William Kidd , whose gibbeted body was left in the Thames estuary for three years. Today the exact location of the Execution Dock is disputed with three riverside pubs -- the Prospect of Whitby , Captain Kidd Pub and the Town of Ramsgate -- all claiming the site.
Limehouse Basin
The Limehouse basin connects the River Thames with the River Lea Navigation through the Hertford Union Canal and with Regent’s Canal and the Grand Union Canal. These connections played an important role in transporting goods such as coal, timber and ice to the industrial north before the advance of the railway system.
The riverside area at Limehouse has long been an important port, with docks, wharves and shipbuilding sites alongside it since medieval times. The basin, once known as the Regent’s Canal Dock, was built just after the Regent’s Canal was completed in 1820. It was here that seagoing vessels and lighters used to offload cargoes onto canal barges to be transported to the north. The canal towpath was used either by a team of human pullers or horses to tow the barges.
However, canal traffic significantly fell as the railway network grew and as steam-powered boats appeared, to the extent that local business was greatly reduced by the end of the Second World War. In the 1980s, the redevelopment of the Limehouse Basin began, and by the early 2000s, the site surrounding the basin was developed into luxury flats.
Greenland Dock
Greenland Dock is the oldest of London's riverside wet docks, located in Rotherhithe. It was built at the end of the 1600s, and from 1720 was used specifically by whalers coming from Greenland -- hence its name.
For centuries, whaling was a big industry worldwide. Many common household products like soap and candles were made from whale blubber, which was also used to fuel lamps in the days before kerosene or paraffin came to be extracted from petroleum. Other parts of the whale, such as teeth, were also prized as they were used to manufacture chess pieces and piano keys.
London, which had been a major port city for hundreds of years, became a key whaling port in the 18th century. To accommodate demand for fuel for oil-burning street lamps in London, the British government even introduced payments of 20 shillings per tonne of whale caught in the Arctic and returned to Britain.
Whalers moored their ships at Greenland Dock, which became surrounded by blubber boiling houses, and as the UK’s whaling industry grew, so did the number of independently-owned London whaling ships. With the start of the Industrial Revolution, whaling expanded towards the southern hemisphere to catch sperm whales. Sperm whale oil in particular became an important lubricant for new types of machines developed at this time.
Greenland Dock continued to be London’s centre of whaling until the 1830s, when the Thames became crowded by merchant ships that boasted even greater financial return. For the rest of the 19th century, trade at the dock focused on Scandinavian and Baltic timber and Canadian grain, cheese and bacon.
At the turn of the century and by the early 1900s, Greenland Dock was greatly expanded by the same engineer who built Tower Bridge. More than doubling in length and nearly doubling in depth, this renovation enabled the dock to take large cargo ships and even ocean-going liners, which sailed regularly to the St. Lawrence River in Canada. In 1909 the dock, along with all of the other London docks, was amalgamated into the Port of London under the management of the Port of London Authority (PLA).
Greenland Dock suffered greatly during World War II, but it was technological changes to the shipping industry-- specifically containerisation, which required bulk carriers far too large to be accommodated in London’s docks -- that pushed Greenland and other upstream Thames docks into terminal decline. In the 1970s, Greenland Dock was sold to Southwark council.
The whole area, known as Surrey Docks remained derelict for over a decade, with much of the warehousing demolished and over 90% of the docks filled in. Greenland Dock escaped this fate because it was part of a local authority, and in 1981, it was handed over to the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC).
Around the same time, the Inner London Education Authority ran a Surrey Docks Watersports Centre , where many young people who would not have been exposed to sailing or canoeing were trained.
When the area’s redevelopment plans foresaw evicting the remaining industrial occupiers of the quaysides and transforming the dock into a residential area, a new watersports centre was also built on the former entrance to the now infilled Grand Surrey Canal . This has maintained the dock as a popular site for sailing, windsurfing, canoeing and dragon boat racing.
While the dock is still mostly intact and retains a working connection to South Dock, which is now a marina, there are few traces of Greenland Dock’s former warehouses or its previous economic lives. Perhaps the most vivid nod to local history is the waterside pub Moby Dick , built in the 1980s. Amid Greenland Dock’s townhouses and apartment blocks, the pub is a reminder of the area’s once booming whaling industry.
Deptford Creek
Deptford Creek, an 800 metre-long muddy tidal reach, is located at the mouth of the River Ravensbourne, opposite the Isle of Dogs. The River Ravensbourne flows through Bromley, Lewisham and Greenwich, where it joins the River Thames at Deptford.
In medieval times, a bridge made of wood was built ‘to ford’ -- or cross at a shallow place -- the River Ravensbourne. Hence ‘deep ford’ was used as a description of this crossing, which morphed into ‘Deptford’.
From 1513 and four centuries onwards, the area was home to the Deptford Royal Navy Dockyard, created by Henry VIII. It became an important shipbuilding site producing vessels that were used in the fight against the Spanish Armada in 1588, and one of Captain James Cook's ship the HMS Revoltion .
When Sir Francis Drake returned from his circumnavigation of the globe in 1580, he was knighted here on board of his ship, the Golden Hinde. The Golden Hinde remained moored in Deptford Creek until it deteriorated and was rebuilt.
In 1607 the East India Trading Company began to build its own ships and leased a yard at Deptford to do so. But maintaining the yard was expensive and the ships needed were too big, so the Company moved its shipbuilding activity to Blackwall (East India Dock Basin), where Bow Creek flows into the Thames.
Deptford Bridge was rebuilt from stone twice: in 1628 and again in 1829. The current bridge was built in 1980 to carry a much wider road for modern traffic.
Deptford Creek is also important for the Thames Estuary Partnership, as the creek is one of the sites for the Estuary Edges project.
Isle of Dogs
Looking down from above, the Isle of Dogs is a large peninsula with a horseshoe shaped bend embraced by the river -- perhaps one of the most distinct natural features of the Thames.
The area had many names in the past: Stepney Marsh, as it was a sparsely populated marshland and Isle of Ducks for its large popultion of waterflowl. Its current name Isle of Dogs likely derives from the word dogger. Doggers were Dutch fishers operating on rich fishing grounds known as Dogger Bank .
The first attempts to drain the area began in the Middle Ages, but only in the 17th century, when Dutch engineers brought over reliable methods of drainage, were these efforts to permanently drain the land successful.
In the 18th century, the West India Docks and East India Docks were opened and later merged. Urbanisation followed, and the area became an important centre for shipyards, barge builders and trade, especially sugar trading ships.
During the Second World War the island became a key target and was heavily bombed (unexploded bombs continue to be discovered today!). After the war, the docks were rebuilt and flourished until the 1970s, when they, like Greenland Docks, could no longer handle large cargo ships and dock-related activity was moved to Tilbury.
Like Greenland Dock in the 1980s, land ownership on the Isle of Dogs was transferred to the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) and a massive regeneration project got under way. Today it is home to London’s main business centre, Canary Wharf, with its famous high rise office buildings and luxury flats.
Cutty Sark
The Cutty Sark is famous as one of the world’s great clippers: fast sailing ships of the nineteenth century that travelled the world’s major trading routes.
Commissioned by shipping magnate Jock Willis, the Cutty Sark was built in a Scottish shipyard and launched at Dumbarton in 1869. Although technology at that time was already favouring steam ships, the Cutty Sark was still a masterpiece and a pinnacle of sailing design. The ship’s timber and iron hull was strong, with three masts that propelled it to speeds of up to 17 knots. As a result (but only for the one decade of the 1870s), Cutty Sark was one of the fastest ships afloat.
Speed meant prestige and profits: the Cutty Sark completed eight runs to China and back with cargoes of tea, which were highly prized during the British Victorian era. The first batch of each new tea harvest was much sought after, so much so that the first tea cargo to arrive fetched the highest price and an annual race became a sensation followed by the press. The Cutty Sark never came in first, but in 1872 she was involved in one of the most famous tea races of all time.
The opening of the Suez Canal the same year suddenly offered steamships a shorter route to the Far East, shortening the journey by two months. Soon the clippers were redundant and pushed out of the tea trade. The Cutty Sark’s future took another dark turn during an ill-fated voyage in 1880, when a captain threw himself overboard and the ship was considered cursed. In 1885 Willis, still the ship’s owner, took on a new clipper captain named Richard Woodget, who thought the Cutty Sark’s only real commercial opportunity now lay with the dangerous wool run to Australia. Once more the Cutty Sark rose to the challenge, and for another decade she was famed for fast sailing, setting new speed records between London and Melbourne and Sydney.
But by 1895, these trips too stopped being profitable. After being sold to a Portuguese company, the Cutty Sark spent 25 years transporting cargoes between Portugal, Africa and the Americas, somehow avoiding the infamous German U-boats of World War I. In the 1920s, purchased by a former clipper captain, the Cutty Sark was brought to Falmouth, restored and opened to the public.
Upon the captain’s death in 1936, the Cutty Sark went to the navy Training College at Greenhithe, and for another generation, cadets learned how to work a sailing ship. After World War II, facing the scrapyard, the ship was rescued by the Cutty Sark Society, established by admirers in 1951. With the support of the public and the Society’s patron, the Duke of Edinburgh, funds were raised, and in 1954, the Cutty Sark was placed in a dry dock in Greenwich especially built to hold her.
Since then, and with a major refurbishment effort in 2007, the Cutty Sark has stood as a unique example of ship design and a symbol of Britain’s maritime heritage. The ship remains an integral part of Greenwich and is listed by National Historic Ships as part of the National Historic Fleet (the nautical equivalent of a Grade 1 Listed Building). The Cutty Sark can be explored and is open to the public. Booking available here .
Greenwich
Greenwich is a UNESCO World Heritage Site renowned for its maritime history. You can delve into its history on the Greenwich Historical Society blog or visit the digital collections of the National Maritime Museum. But what you won't hear about in tourism leaflets is that the foreshore at Greenwich is now a Thames litter hotspot, especially for plastic pollution. Along with other places like Hammersmith and Queenhithe, Greenwich seems to accumulate litter because of the shape of the river and currents.
Plastic pollution can enter the river from land via many different routes: through poor waste management, like lack of bins or collection, by direct littering, or indirectly as tiny particles. These tiny particles can be microfibres that make their way downriver from washing machines far away, or from car tyre particles as runoff from roads in the rain. Even the air carries tiny particles that can land on the water and settle into the ecosystem.
As larger chunks or even bits of plastic break down into ever smaller pieces known as microplastics or tiny nanoplastics, they threaten wildlife. The waves in the river, along with salt and sun, repeatedly wear down the plastic. Plastic of any size is hazardous to animals: they ingest or get trapped in larger pieces and as a consequence suffocate or starve to death. Also, plastics may emit toxins into the water, leaving behind harmful chemicals. As the Thames links to the ocean, this presents a global and local problem that needs global and local solutions.
Thankfully, the area around Greenwich and many spots along the Thames benefit from passive debris collectors (PDC), like the one shown above which gather floating litter. Caring volunteers from organisations like Thames21 , which runs the project Thames River Watch , also help to keep the river clean. But litter monitoring and picking is not enough, and the estuary area and the natural world beyond need people to adopt better ways of using and disposing of plastics.
Unfortunately, the way we use plastic now is unsustainable: plastic water bottles and food wrappers designed to be used once are made of materials that last for around 400 years. Making products fully recyclable and disposable is a challenge at every level, from individual users to waste management at local businesses and industry, right up to the authorities and governments that set policies.
Each of us can make a huge difference by choosing sustainable options as part of our lifestyle. At Thames Estuary Partnership, we've pledged to go #OneLess and use a reusable water bottle, filling up at home or work and on the go at cafes. This is a simple solution with far reaching results – so far the #OneLess Campaign has helped people eliminate more than 4 million plastic water bottles from their businesses and organisations. That's 4 million less bottles in the ocean, so listen to our podcast all about it, and join the campaign today!
East India Dock Basin
The East India Dock Basin is now a public space and nature reserve, a Thames-side site based around the former entrance basin of the East India Docks. Having survived relatively unscathed compared with other local sites, this area now has special features to attract wildlife. The reserve includes a tidal lagoon and the closest patch of genuine saltmarsh to Central London, along with a reedbed and small areas of meadow and woodland.
Originally completed in 1806, East India Docks was one of London's great dock complexes and included three bodies of water: the Export and Import docks, and the Basin. The Export Dock was heavily damaged during WWII and filled in, and Brunswick Power Station was built there. Later, its imposing entrance gate was demolished in 1958 as part of the expansion of the Blackwall Tunnel.
The rest of the complex remained open until 1967, but most of the Import Dock has since been filled in. Docklands Light Railway (DLR) now has a station here, and several new roads on the site have been named after spices once handled here: Oregano Drive, Nutmeg Lane, Coriander Avenue and Saffron Avenue.
Otherwise, there is little to commemorate this set of docks and the area with the key role it played in history -- as part of operations for the East India Trading Company . Until Sir Francis Drake completed his circumnavigation of the globe from Plymouth, England in 1577, only the Spanish and Portugese had sailed across the Pacific. But following Drake’s achievement, new trading opportunities opened for England, and the East India Company was formed for the exploitation of trade with East and Southeast Asia and India.
Incorporated by royal charter on December 31, 1600, the East India Trading Company started off as a monopoly, so that England could compete with other nations in the East Indian spice trade. The company later added such items as cotton, silk, indigo, saltpeter, tea, and opium to its wares, as well as participation in the slave trade.
The Company created its own shipbuilding yard on a marshy area at Blackwall, where Bow Creek flows into the Thames. Works were completed by 1619, and subsequently ships would moor at Blackwall and have their cargoes unloaded onto barges to be taken upriver for inspection. From there the goods were moved to Company warehouses in the City of London.
During its first century of operation, the focus of the Company was trade and not building an empire in India. But by the early 1800s when the East India Docks were being built, the East India Company was at the height of its rule in India and had a private army of about 260,000 — twice the size of the British Army! Rebellion brought about the effective abolition of the East India Company in 1858, and the company was dissolved in 1874.
North Greenwich Reedbeds
The North Greenwich reedbeds are man-made terraces that were established in 1997 as part of the development of the Millenium Dome (now O2 Arena ). Putting in reedbeds was a way of replicating intertidal habitats that would occur naturally if the river hadn't been developed by man over hundreds of years.
Planted with common reeds at the time of construction, the reedbeds are now well-established and make a perfect habitat for a range of fish, birds and butterflies. Wildlife depends on areas like these as nurseries and feeding grounds, which act as stepping stones for animals like bass and eels to move upstream as part of their life cycle.
The reedbeds are now a case study for the Estuary Edges project, run by Thames Estuary Partnership (TEP), the Port of London Authority (PLA) and the Environment Agency (EA), supported and advised by a range of private companies. Estuary Edges seeks to promote reedbeds and saltmarshes as natural flood defences to replace lost intertidal habitat and to encourage biodiversity into the area.
To appreciate these reedbeds close-up, you can access them via the Thames Path , which runs along the river.
Thames Barrier
The Thames Barrier , located near Woolwich, spans 520 metres across the Thames. Its ten steel gates are engineered to protect central London from tidal surges and upstream flooding, and when raised, each of these 3,300-tonne gates stands as tall as a five-storey building!
In storm surge conditions, the barrier is closed to protect London from risk of flooding from the sea. But it also shuts during periods of high flow upstream over Teddington Weir to reduce risk of flooding in areas of west London such as Richmond and Twickenham.
The Thames Barrier is run and maintained by the Environment Agency (EA). Since becoming operational in 1982, the barrier has closed 186 times – 99 times to protect against tidal flooding and 87 times to protect against combined tidal/river flooding, according to statistics from October 2019.
The future of the Thames Barrier is governed by the Thames Estuary 2100 (TE2100) plan run by the Environment Agency. The TE2100 plan, which is adaptable to changes in predictions for sea-level rise and climate change, sets out how flood risk will be managed in the Thames Estuary to 2100 and beyond. TE2100 is currently undergoing a major 10-year review to update it and so that the plan can expand work on how it meets the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals .
If you want to hear more about London and flooding issues, tune into our podcast where a TE2100 expert talks about how the Environment Agency is tackling plans for dealing with flooding in the future.
Royal Docks
Royal Docks is an area and a ward in the London Borough of Newham in London Docklands. The area is named after three docks – the Royal Albert Dock, the Royal Victoria Dock and the King George V Dock. The three docks together were the largest enclosed docks in the world, with a water area of nearly 250 acres (1 sq km) and an overall estate of 1,100 acres (4.5 sq km). This is equivalent to the whole of central London from Hyde Park to Tower Bridge!
The three docks were completed between 1855 and 1921 on riverside marshes. The Victoria and Albert docks were built by the London & St Katharine Docks Company to provide berths for large vessels that could not be accommodated further upriver. They were a great commercial success, becoming London's main docks for the first half of the 20th century. They specialised in the import and unloading of food products, with rows of giant granaries and refrigerated warehouses populating the quays. The size and provision of numerous finger quays gave these docks a collective span of over 12 miles (19.3 km) of quaysides, serving hundreds of cargo and passenger ships at a time.
After the opening of the Royal Albert Dock in 1880, the rival East & West India Docks Company responded with the construction of Tilbury Docks even further down the river. Ruinous competition between the two companies eventually led to all enclosed docks being taken over by the Port of London Authority (PLA) in 1909. The PLA completed the King George V Dock in 1921.
The Royal Docks suffered severe damage from German bombing in World War II, but recovered post-war only to steadily decline from the 1960s onwards. After the adoption of containerisation, their fate was sealed but they survived longer than other upstream docks and only closed finally in 1981. The closure led to high levels of unemployment and social deprivation in the surrounding communities of North Woolwich and Silvertown.
Because of their relative remoteness from central London and poor transport links, the redevelopment of London's Docklands proceeded more slowly in the Royals than in other former docks. The London Docklands Development Corporation undertook much work during the 1980s and 1990s to improve local transport and promote new residential and commercial developments in the area, and many new homes were built at Beckton, just north of the Royal Docks.
An extension of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) opened in 1994 to provide direct links to the City of London and Canary Wharf. This was later extended round the south side of the docks with the link to London City Airport opening in December 2005. The line was later extended to Woolwich. Crossrail will serve the area from 2021.
Woolwich Tunnel
Two historic foot tunnels travel under the Thames: one at Greenwich built in 1902, and the other at Woolwich built in 1912. Both are still in use, with an average annual footfall of 1.2 million and 300,000, respectively.
The original purpose of these tunnels was to provide reliable all-weather access for local residents to London's shipyards and docks on the north side of the Thames. Today they offer pedestrians and cyclists an alternative way to cross the river. The Royal Borough of Greenwich jointly manages the tunnels on behalf of its respective partners, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and the London Borough of Newham. The foot tunnels and their entrances are listed buildings.
At the Woolwich Foot Tunnel, the National Trails Thames Path meets the England Coast Path (to be designated by the end of 2021), providing a continuous publicly accessible footpath along the estuary banks. Thames Estuary Partnership chairs the National Trails Thames Path Tidal Group , which seeks to join up work across key organisations to keep the Thames Path open to the public and well managed across its entire length.
Barking Creek
At the mouth of Barking Creek, where the river Roding meets the Thames, stands the 38-metre-wide Barking Creek tidal flood barrier, built as part of the Thames flood defence system.
Just behind this barrier is an area of reedbeds that provides a natural habitat for a wide range of plants and animals. Like the reedbed site at North Greenwich, this is one of many Estuary Edges sites being monitored and developed to help protect natural habitats.
At Barking Creek, the tidal Thames goes up the Roding and reaches all the way to Barking Barrage further upstream. This barrage is a man-made barrier built to help manage local water supplies and flooding, but barriers like these can pose problems for wildlife.
As the Thames further downstream is one of the UK's most important aquatic wildlife corridors, a variety of fish species migrate up the Thames and into its tributaries like the Roding as part of their life cycle. Barriers such as weirs and locks and barrages like these can significantly hinder animal movement.
At Thames Estuary Partnership (TEP) we have launched the Greater Thames Estuary Fish Migration Roadmap to focus on these issues and identify locations like these where we can all work together to improve river connectivity and fish migration, as well as meet the water and flood management needs of local communities.
Crossness Pumping Station
As a former sewage pumping station, the Crossness Pumping Station is an unlikely site for a museum. But it is an incredibly beautiful structure in both architectural and engineering terms, built as part of the redevelopment of the London sewerage system by the famed British civil engineer, Sir Joseph Bagalzette.
Decommissioned in the 1950s, the pumping station was abandoned and the site fell into disrepair. In the late 2000s financial support was received from the Heritage Lottery Fund , English Heritage and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to develop the building into a museum.
The pumping station opened as a museum in 2016 and is well worth the visit. Crossness boasts Romanesque style and features some of the most remarkable ornamental Victorian cast ironwork. The four original pumping engines still found here are possibly the largest remaining rotative beam engines in the world!
Rainham Marshes
Rainham Marshes is one of the few ancient landscapes that remain in London. For most of the 20th century the marsh was used as a military firing range, and much of this military heritage is still visible.
Since the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) acquired the land in 2000, this site has been restored to its original condition as a low-lying grazing marsh. Rainham Marshes Nature Reserve opened to the public in 2006, and today it serves as a wildlife sanctuary for a wide range of species, including water voles, brown hares and dragonflies. Due to its proximity to the Thames, the marsh is also a major habitat for migratory bird species such as redwing, swallow, swift and nightingale.
Besides supporting a variety of wildlife, marshes provide protection against flooding. Salt marshes, which are found between land and coastal water environments, are particularly important habitats, shaped by communities of salt-tolerant plants. These marshes have a significant role in capturing and storing carbon-dioxide emitted by various human activities and by nature itself, as well as functioning as filters for nutrients and pollutants.
Climate change will alter this landscape as waters rise and more freshwater marshes take on salt water. Managing this delicate balance between fresh and saltwater habitats will be a key task in the years to come in order to try and preserve the unique biodiversity of these areas.
Erith
Erith is located on the southern bank of the Thames, just upstream from Dartford Marshes and the Dartford crossing. About 21 kilometres east of Charing Cross in central London, Erith was historically part of the county of Kent, but since 1965 it's been a part of the London Borough of Bexley.
Sailing is one of the main recreational attractions at Erith, with sailors not only finding great winds and space out on the water, but also a rich and diverse natural and cultural heritage to enjoy.
The historic Port of Erith was the estuary's first deep-water berth, used by the East India Company and the infamous Lascars militiamen. Erith Yacht Club , founded in 1900, was built on a historic land reclamation site, close to a burial area used during the Black Death.
Today the area boasts multiple industrial uses, with a mix of utility structures and flood defences. The Erith Saltings in the area form a primeval Thames landscape, with a 5000-year-old drowned forest entwined with intertidal mudflats, saltmarshes and reedbeds, which support a stunning diversity of estuary wildlife.
You’ll find the protected Erith marshes not far downstream from Woolwich or Canning Town and a bit upstream from Erith itself. The marshes provide a key habitat for the water vole , which is among Britain's fastest declining mammal species. On a positive note and proof that preserving marshland does work, in 2007 a type of heron not seen since 1866 was spotted at Crossness Nature Reserve , part of the Erith marshes.
People and wildlife can mix: nature walks, sailing and other forms of recreation promote physical as well as mental health and well-being. Whilst the popularity of recreation and diversity of activities in this area have created conflicts between enthusiasts and people earning a living, as well as increased pressure on wildlife, there are easy ways to try and manage the balance.
When out on the Thames, always remember: enjoy the Thames and stay safe, respect other people and share the Thames, and protect nature and environment, making sure your activities are wildlife friendly.
Gravesend
Gravesend has been at the forefront of the defence of London throughout its history. In 1381, despite a series of warning beacons, combined French and Spanish forces sailed up the Thames, burnt Gravesend and carried off many of its inhabitants into slavery.
Subsequently, in 1401, a Royal Charter was granted at Gravesend, allowing boats to operate between there and London. These vessels became known as the 'Long Ferry,' owing to the distance travelled upstream to the City of London. However, the river was still preferable to roads because of the dangers of travel by land in those days!
From these origins as a landing place and shipping port, Gravesend gradually extended southwards and eastwards. Today it boasts a range of attractions, including Gravesend Town Pier (the world’s oldest surviving cast iron pier), Royal Terrace Pier (the location of one of the busiest RNLI lifeboat stations in the UK), Gravesend Clock Tower, Windmill Hill and Gravesend Power Station. Before the Dartford Crossing was constructed, there was a vehicle ferry here too.
Gravesend is the home to the Port of London Authority (PLA) Port Control Centre, formerly known as the Thames Navigation Service. The PLA works to monitor shipping and incoming vessels of all kinds, providing vessels with radar information and playing an important role in guiding navigation up the Thames. It has also played a key role in the defense of public health, as the COVID-19 pandemic has required additional health and safety measures and inspections aboard ships and at ports.
The PLA owns Denton Wharf, which is the base for its fleet of more than 40 vessels. The PLA's operations cover the entire tidal Thames and are responsible for keeping commercial and leisure users safe whilst protecting the environment and promoting the use of the river for trade and travel. They are also one of Thames Estuary Partnership's key partners and custodians of the Thames Vision , a framework for how to develop trade and travel on the river in the decades to come.
London Gateway Port
As the UK's most advanced, connected and integrated logistics hub, London Gateway forms a vital connection between London and the largest consumer markets in western Europe. Construction began in early 2010, with the facility opening in November 2013.
Located in Stanford-Le-Hope, the £1.5 billion megaport runs almost 3 kilometres along the Thames Estuary, redefining the Essex coastline and the entire country's consumer supply chain. The facility is twice the size of the City of London and its deep-water berths can handle the world's largest vessels. As a world leader, this port was even featured in BBC 2's popular Coast programme to explain the technology of its cranes on site.
Huge shipping vessels – up to the size of four football pitches end to end – carry thousands of containers of cargo. Before the construction of London Gateway, this cargo would never have made it so close to London via the sea. The goods arrived in the UK via Felixstowe or Southampton before much was transported by lorries to London, which made little sense in terms of efficiency or carbon emissions. Now, this part of global trade is more environmentally sustainable in some ways, but ever increasing global trade does raise questions about how much it can keep rising and be accommodated and still be balanced with carbon-dioxide emissions.
The London Gateway port now extends 400 metres beyond the original Thames shoreline. To create this artificial land mass, 30 million tonnes of silt were dredged, and construction saw a mass translocation of animals: 320,000 newts, water voles and adders were relocated to a new nature reserve nearby. This effort proves that working together, people and wildlife can accommodate each other. But attention will be needed to maintain this careful balance of interests, as trade and climate change continually alter the landscape.
You can take a virtual tour of the port and logistics park on the DP World London Gateway website .
North Kent Marshes
Located in the north of Kent on the Thames Estuary, the North Kent Marshes are one of 22 Environmentally Sensitive Areas recognised by the UK government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The marshes are monitored by local landowners and protected by the Kent and Medway Structure Plan.
Marshes and reedbeds here provide a perfect habitat for a range of valuable plants and animals. The grasslands are of international significance for birds, particularly for breeding wildfowl and waders. According to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), up to 300,000 migrant birds regularly use the mudflats of the Thames marshes as a much-needed rest stop in their journeys between the Arctic and Africa.
This marsh is already being challenged by impacts from climate change, such as wetter winters, drier summers and rising sea levels. Maintaining the freshwater supply during the breeding season has become increasingly difficult, resulting in a reduction in biodiversity. The Environment Agency (EA) is already on the case, looking at plans for the future management of the UK coastline as part of its Shoreline Management Plan , and the RSPB is helping authorities to look at how new methods might be used to save and transform these marshes for the long term.
Leigh-on-Sea
Leigh-on-Sea attracts thousands of visitors every year flocking to sample its world famous MSC Accredited cockles , dredged from nearby mudflats. A small scale trawling industry here also brings in many kinds of fish from the Thames Estuary and sea, so Leigh-on-Sea is known as a 'mixed fishery' – one that targets, catches and processes more than one species at a time.
Estuaries support many different fish species at all stages of life, some of which are commercially important target species, and some of which are not, but which might be caught at the same time, known as by-catch or non-quota species. The non-target species can be hard to avoid, as fisherman can’t always be selective in which species they catch.
Species in a catch can have different population numbers and breeding rates, and some species may be more affected by fishing than others. In addition, different species often interact with each other, so if one species is a predator or prey of another, then harvesting one will impact the abundance of the other.
Quota species landed here include Dover sole, rays, cod, herring, spiny dogfish and sprat. Non-quota species include bass, mullet, mussels, clams and smelt. Fisheries are locally managed by the Kent and Essex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA), which has launched a new service to help consumers buy Fish Local and support their local fishermen.
The fishing industry in this area supports around 50 full-time equivalent jobs including active cockle and trawlermen, fish producers, fishmongers and cockle processors. The industry is mostly located in three areas of Old Leigh: Cockle Wharf, Theobalds Wharf and Bell Wharf. Leigh Marina is also an important area for vessel and gear repair and overhaul, as well as providing secure moorings for boats of all kinds.
Thames Estuary Partnership (TEP) works with commercial fishermen through our long-running Fisheries Action Group which raised more than £1 million to support the industry and community with the Community Led Local Development (CLLD) through the North Thames Fisheries Local Action Group .
Maunsell Forts
Constructed in 1942 by Guy Maunsell, an eccentric civil engineer, the anti-aircraft tower forts of Maunsell formed part of the Thames Estuary Defence Network in WWII. German mines, mostly laid by aircraft, sank over one hundred ships in the Thames Estuary in the first months of the war, so a solid solution was needed to provide offshore protection. The three offshore forts fulfilled this function: collectively shooting down 22 planes and 30 flying bombs and helping in the destruction of a U-boat.
The forts were decommissioned in the 1950s, and only two of the original three army forts (the Redsands Fort and the Shivering Sands Fort ) remain standing. The third fort suffered storm damage and was struck by a ship, leading it to be dismantled in 1959-60.
The abandoned forts gained a subsequent round of fame when they were taken over as pirate radio stations in the 1960s and 70s, but have since been abandoned. Roughs Tower, a nearby navy fort also built by Maunsell, is still inhabited to this day by the residents of the controversial micronation of The Principality of Sealand .
The history of these forts' continues to evolve. In 2005, artist Stephen Turner occupied a tower of the Shivering Sands Fort as an experiment in isolation and wrote about his experience as part of the SeaFort Project . More information on the forts can be found at Project Redsand, set up in 2003 with the aim of protecting and possibly restoring the Redsands Fort.
Outer Thames Estuary
The outer Thames Estuary is large area with mudflats and sandbanks exposed during low tide giving home to a large colony of harbour and grey seals.
Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) are the larger of the two species with a longer, 'roman nose' profile and parallel nostrils. They spend most of their time at sea, only coming to shore along the coast during the winter months to mate, breed, nurse their younglings and moult. Nevertheless, occasional sightings can occur in the tidal Thames as far as Teddington as seals follow their favourite fish such as eels and flatfish.
Harbour or common seals (Phoca vitulina) are smaller than grey seals with a cat-like face and V-shaped nostrils. They are more frequently spotted hauled out on the Thames foreshore during the spring and summer months as this is when they mate, breed, nurse and go through their annual moult. They can also be spotted in the river chasing fish such as flounder, bass, and grey mullet.
Annual seal population surveys are carried out by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). They also gather data on sightings within the London area.
Walking the Thames
In January 2022 the new stretch of the England Coast Path was opened connecting the Thames Estuary to central London.
With the new section opened, keen explorers are now able to walk the entire stretch of the tidal Thames from Teddington to the North Sea.
Click on the different sections to find out more:
A Short Introduction to the Thames Estuary
This public talk below provides an overview of the ecology and natural history of the Thames Estuary.
A Short Introduction to the Thames Estuary by Wanda Bodnar
Talk of the Thames podcast
We release a new podcast every month so be sure to check back again for new and fascinating episodes where we talk all things Thames!
This series is meant to work a bit like an audio guide to accompany our virtual Tour of the Thames above, but we don’t focus on any one stop. Instead each podcast features speakers on a variety of issues affecting the tidal Thames. It’s a lively and engaging conversation with some of the greatest experts on the river and its wildlife, so click below to hear our latest episode!
Talk of the Thames podcast
The Living Thames documentary
The Living Thames trailer (Press play to watch)
If you enjoyed our tour and our podcast series, you’ll love our documentary about how the Thames was transformed from ecologically dead to one of the cleanest inner-city rivers in Europe. Presented by TEP President Chris Baines and introduced by the great naturalist and presenter Sir David Attenborough , The Living Thames is an odyssey you won’t want to miss!
You can watch the trailer here and rent the film on Amazon Prime .
Feedback
As we continue to work on both the podcast series and the virtual tour, we would appreciate your feedback. This would include what you've learnt and liked, what you'd like to see more of, and where we could improve. Please also do get in touch if you'd like to speak on our upcoming podcasts! Our journey is yours, and there is so much left to discover and view!
About us
The Thames Estuary Partnership (TEP) is an independent charity that builds understanding and appreciation of one of the world's most famous rivers.
We seek to bring together everyone who has a keen interest in the Thames, from those who work and travel on it, to the millions who enjoy it every day. Our partnership links developers, builders, engineers, and scientists, along with environmental campaigners and nature-lovers, to encourage all to play an active role in an improved river and coastal environment. We work with government agencies, ports, and local authorities, as well as NGOs and the wider public, to maximise our positive impact on this unique river.
Support us
Your generous donations to TEP contribute towards our core funds, which enable our staff to create a wide range of online resources, such as podcasts, maps, education materials and project developments. These resources help us to promote our work in conservation of the River Thames and creation of a more sustainable estuary.
Like many charities, TEP will be experiencing funding challenges for some time to come due to the impact of COVID-19, so we are very grateful for anything that you can donate!