A SHORT WALK TO ST KATHARINE’S DOCK 🇬🇧 ALONG THE RIVER THAMES NORTH BANK

Описание: A walk starting from SUGAR QUAY
ending at ST KATHARINE’S DOCK
passing The Tower of London
and Tower Bridge

SUGAR QUAY
The quay was named after the cane sugar trade,
which relied on Caribbean plantations originally worked by African slaves.
As early as 1377 the site was known as Wool Quay.
England’s major export during the early Middle Ages was wool and London’s duties were paid here at a Customs House.
By 1840, over £11 000 000 was collected in duty at this customs house, nearly half of the total trade from the United Kingdom combined!
Since 1899 the quay has been used as a berth for the ships.
By 1934 the site was refereed to alternatively as Wool Quay and Custom House Quay, as there had throughout history often been a customs house there , and it was by then owned by Wm H Müller Co, who operated a steam passenger service between Rotterdam and London.

This area of the river is called “The Pool of London”.
Walking along the north bank of the pool, from London Bridge to The Tower of London is like a stroll along a historical transept from the medieval times to modern.
The Pool of London played an integral part in the growth of the City of London and has a long history of commerce.
This is where all imported cargo had to be delivered for inspection by customs officers.
London Bridge prevented ships from going any further up the river, as it doesn’t open, but as trade increased, the area expanded, eventually reaching Rotherhithe/Limehouse area in the east.
By the end of 18th century with the slave trade and Caribbean Colonies in full swing the pool could no longer cope with demands so the first off-river dock was constructed specifically for the West Indian trade.
The West India Docks was the first dock, opened 1802 in the Isle of Dogs,
in what has now developed into Canary Wharf since its closure in 1981.
Other docks followed.
The Pool of London remained viable right into the 1950’s.

Continuing the sugar theme, in 1970 an office for Tate & Lyle, the British sugar refinery, was built at Sugar Quay.
In 1878 Tate & Lyle opened Thames Refinery along the river Thames, by Silvertown, and by 1939 this was the biggest sugar refinery in the world.
The company and the whole industry sourced raw sugar from the Caribbeans, in particular from the colonies Jamaica and Barbados.

ST KATHARINE’S DOCK
Until the beginning of the 19th century all goods were loaded or unloaded at wharfs along the open river.
To alleviate shipping congestion on the Thames, a group of merchants dealing with the Caribbean, mainly sugar and rum, created new enclosed tide-free docks.

The last of the docks bringing commerce to London was ST KATHARINE’S DOCK, constructed 1827, situated next to The Tower of London and the bridge later built called Tower Bridge.
It was higher up the river than the other docks, The West India Dock, The London, East India and Surrey Docks, and close to the Wool Quay.
It was designed very cleverly with 2 linked basins, an east and a west dock, to accommodate up to 120 ships.

As late as the 1930’s, St Katharine’s Dock enjoyed a roaring trade of sugar and rum from the Caribbeans, teas and spices from India, wool from Australia aswell as perfumes, ivory, marble, indigo, wine and brandy and was described as a focal point for the worlds greatest concentration of portable wealth.


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