St Katherine's dock and yacht haven is a beauty spot and marina
on the outskirts of the City of London. Often missed by visitors to central
London because of it's out of the way location. A great place to visit on a
summers day with its bars and shops and riverside location. It's only a short
walk from the Tower of London and London Bridge and its right next to the
Guoman Tower Hotel.
The marina always has a large range of yachts moored up and there also a lock
that leads to the River Thames itself. It's useful to note that there's a River
bus service that stops very close by at St Katherine's Pier.
The dock enjoys a long and rich history that dates back more than one thousand
years. Before the Roman era in British history the site was in use for trading.
In the 10th century King Edgar sectioned off 13 acres which he gave to thirteen
knights for them to use for profitable returns. Its name can be traced to 1150
when Queen Matilda sanctioned the Royal Foundation of St Katherine. It wasn't
until the mid 1550's when locals would refer to the area as the modern used St
Katherine's Dock (one of several docks that were collectively known as the Port
of London). The name St Catherine's (with a 'C') was itself actually a hospital
that stood here in the 1100's. In the 1820's the Dock was totally rebuilt by
Thomas Telford in what at the time was one of the biggest ever construction
projects ever taken on in London and involved connecting the West and East Docks
and building warehouses in the surrounding roads, innovative at the time
(allowing direct unloading between ships and warehouses). The docks prospered
until the 1920's to 1940's when ships became simply too big to use the docks. On
the 7th September 1940 the docks were badly damaged on a large scale in the
first large scale German bomber raid over London. It was something the docks
never truly recovered from with some parts never being rebuilt. The 160's saw
the end of the docks for any large scale use with much of the shipping being
relocated to docks nearer to Kent. The period that followed saw the area being
redeveloped and with an emphasis on its use as a leisure and residential
location with many warehouses being converted in flats.
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Hotels near St Katherine
Docks
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Guoman The Tower
Hotel
Entrance to St Katharine Docks.
Rear of the main dock area. Shops to the left, entrance to
main dock far corner.
Smaller part of St Katharine Docks with the Thistle Tower in
the background.
There's a good selection of bars and restaurants around St
Katherine Dock, this one recreates a medieval Banquet.
Looking across the residential corner of St Katharine Docks.
To the left and in the
distance are apartment blocks.
East side of the dock
No shortage of snack bars.
Rear of the dock.
Plenty of boutiques and souvenir shops.
Another spot for a quick snack.
Mala Indian Restaurant.
Dickens Inn Restaurant and Bar.
another view of the dock.
Tradewinds Restaurant.
Its just humans that enjoy St Katharine Docks.
Lock marking the entrance from the River Thames to St
Katherine dock.
Sun dial at the rear of the Thistle Tower Hotel.
Tower bridge in the background with St Katherine Pier in the
foreground.
Dolphin fountain at the rear of the Tower Thistle Hotel.
HMS Belfast which is permanently moored as floating museum on
the South side of
the River Thames opposite the Tower of London.
The Tower of London by Tower Bridge.
