Wapping's western gateway
St Katharine Docks
London's oldest surviving dock and now its most picturesque marina.
Designed by Thomas Telford and opened in 1828, St Katharine Docks were carved from the parish of St Katharine by the Tower — eleven hundred families displaced for what became one of the wonders of Victorian commerce.
Today the basin is filled with sailing yachts and barges rather than tea and ivory, and its warehouses house restaurants, offices and quiet hidden squares. Cross the iron footbridges at dusk and the air still smells faintly of tar and river water.
“A pool of stilled water within the roar of the city.”