the country, at the distance of 138 miles above London, and enters the
sea on the east coast about sixty miles below it. It comes flowing
between low, fertile, and village-clad banks, out of a richly ornamented
country on the west; and, arriving at the outmost suburbs of the
metropolis, it pursues a winding course, between banks thickly lined with
dwelling-houses, warehouses, manufactories, and wharfs, for a space of
several miles, its breadth being here from an eighth to a-third of a
mile. The tides affect it for fifteen or sixteen miles above the city;
but the salt water comes no farther than Gravesend, or perhaps
Greenhithe. However, such is the volume and depth of water, that vessels
of great magnitude can sail or steam up to London. Most unfortunately,
the beauty of this noble stream is much hidden from the spectator, there
being very few quays or promenades along its banks. With the exception
of the summit of St. Paul’s or the Monument, and the Custom House quay,
the only good points for viewing the river are the bridges, which cross
it at convenient distances, and by their length convey an accurate idea
of the breadth of the channel. Formerly there were many light and
fanciful boats for hire on the Thames; but these are now greatly
superseded by small steamers, which convey crowds of passengers up and
down the river.
The part of the river between London Bridge and Blackwall, an interval of
several miles, constitutes the _Port_; and here are constantly seen lying
at anchor great numbers of vessels. The portion immediately below the
bridge is called the _Pool_, where coal-ships are usually ranged in great
number. It is curious to watch, while passing up and down the river, the
way in which coals are transferred, by labourers called _coal-whippers_,
from the ships into barges, in which they are conveyed to the wharfs of
the several coal-merchants. At wharfs between the Custom House and the
bridge lie numerous steam-vessels which ply to Greenwich, Woolwich,
Gravesend, Margate, and other places of resort down the Thames; also
steamers for continental ports. London, as has already been observed,
possesses no line of quays on the river. The trade with the ships is
carried on at wharfs jutting upon the water. The Thames is placed under
strict police regulations with respect to trade; certain places being
assigned to different classes of vessels, including those which arrive
from the Tyne, Wear, and Tees with coal, and all coasters. The trade
connected with the Port is mostly carried on in the closely built part of
the metropolis adjacent to the Thames. Almost the whole of this district
consists of narrow streets, environed by warehouses and offices, making
no external show, but in which an incalculable amount of trade is
transacted.
[Picture: Entrance West India Docks]
The Docks.—As a relief to the river, and for other reasons, there are
several very large _Docks_. The lowest or most eastern are the _Victoria
Docks_, in Essex, just beyond the river Lea. They cover an area of 200
acres, and have been the means of introducing many improvements in the
accommodation of shipping. The _hydraulic lift_ at these docks, for
raising and supporting ships during repair, is well worth looking at.
Next are the _East India Docks_, constructed in 1806; they consist of two
docks and a basin, covering 32 acres. Near these are the _West India
Docks_, the entrances to which are at Blackwall and Limehouse; in these
large _depôts_ of shipping connected with the West India and other trade
may at all times be seen some hundreds of vessels, loading or unloading
in connection with the warehouses around. The largest of these docks is
24 feet deep, 510 feet long, and 498 wide; and, with a basin, they cover
nearly 300 acres. Farther up the river, and near the Tower, in the
district called Wapping, are the _London Docks_ and _St. Katharine’s
Docks_. The London Docks consist of one enclosure to the extent of 20
acres, another of smaller dimensions, a basin, and three entrances from
the river. These are surrounded by warehouses for the reception of
bonded goods, and beneath the warehouses are vaults for bonded liquors.
The principal warehouse for the storing of tobacco in bond till it is
purchased and the duties paid, is situated close beside a special dock
called the Tobacco Dock. The Tobacco Warehouse occupies no less than
five acres of ground, and has accommodation for 24,000 hogsheads of
tobacco. The sight of this extraordinary warehouse, and of the
Wine-Vaults, is not soon to be forgotten. The vaults are arched with
brick, and extend east and west to a great distance, with diverging lines
also of great length, the whole being like the streets of an underground
town. Along the sides are ranged casks of wine to an amount apparently
without limit. There is accommodation for 65,000 pipes. These cellars
being dark, all who enter and go through them carry lights. Admission
may be had by procuring an order from a wine-merchant to taste and
examine any pipes he may have in bond: a cooper accompanies the visitor
to pierce the casks. Besides this large vault, which principally
contains port and sherry, there are other vaults for French wines, &c.
_St. Katharine’s Docks_, between the Tower and the London Docks, were
formed in 1828, on a site which required the removal of more than 1,200
houses and 13,000 inhabitants; the earth obtained by the excavation was
employed in raising the site for some of the new streets and squares of
Pimlico. There are twelve acres of water area, and about as much of
quays and warehouses. On the south of the Thames are the _Commercial_
and the _Grand Surrey Docks_, the great centre of the timber trade. The
various docks are the property of joint-stock companies, who receive
rents and dues of various kinds for their use.
Thames Tunnel.—With the view of effecting a ready communication for
wagons and other carriages, and foot-passengers, between the Surrey and
Middlesex sides of the river, at a point where, from the constant passage
of shipping, it would be inconvenient to rear a bridge, a _tunnel_ or
sub-river passage was designed by a joint-stock company. The idea of
tunnelling under the river, by the way, was not a novel one. In 1802 a
company was got up with a similar notion, Trevethick, the inventor of the
high-pressure engine, being its engineer. It came to nought; and in 1825
Mr. (afterwards Sir) Marc Isambard Brunel began his tunnel, at a point
about two miles below London Bridge, entering on the southern shore at
Rotherhithe, and issuing at Wapping on the other. The water broke in in
1827, and again in 1828, when six men perished. After all the funds were
exhausted, and the Government had advanced no less than £246,000 by way
of loan, the work, after many delays, was opened in 1843. The total,
cost was £468,000. The tunnel consisted of two archways, 1,300 feet
long, the thickness of the earth being about 15 feet between the crown of
the tunnel and the river’s bed. As a speculation—toll 1d.—it never paid.
The descent was by a deep, dirty staircase; and only one arch was open
for foot-passengers. But now that the East London Railway Company have
purchased it, a wholesome change has come. Some 40 trains are now
running backwards and forwards through it, from Wapping to Rotherhithe,
and thence to Deptford and New Cross, and _vice versâ_. And so, at last,
the once well-nigh useless scheme, which wore out Brunel’s heart, has
been, some twenty-two years after his death, made of great service to
that part of London.
The Tower Subway.—In the neighbourhood of the Tunnel a subway has been
formed, consisting of an iron tube, 7 feet in diameter, laid below the
bed of the Thames. It belongs to a Limited Liability Company. It was
commenced in February, 1869, and opened for tramway traffic on 12th
April, 1870. Being a losing speculation, the tramway cars ceased to run
on 7th December, 1870; but it was opened for foot-passengers on the 24th
of that month, and it is the intention of the Company to continue it only
as such. It is reached at each end by a spiral staircase of 96 steps.
Its whole length is 1225 feet. A charge of ½d. is made for each person
passing through this Tunnel. The Tunnel is well lighted up with gas, and
the average heat by the thermometer is 65 degrees.
[Picture: Albert Bridge, Chelsea]
Bridges.—The communication between the northern and southern sections of
the metropolis is maintained by means of various bridges. Excluding
_Albert Suspension Bridge_, (between Cadogan Pier, Chelsea, and Albert
Road, leading into Battersea Park,) commenced in 1865, and not yet open,
the number is 14—as follow: 1. _London Bridge_, built by Rennie, and
opened in 1831; it is 928 feet long, and 54 wide; it has 5 arches, of
which the centre is 152 feet span, and cost, with the approaches,
£2,000,000. This is regarded as one of the finest granite bridges in the
world. 2. _South-Eastern Railway Bridge_, to connect the London Bridge
Station with a new terminus in Cannon Street; this bridge, having five
lines of railway, is midway between London Bridge and the one next to be
named. 3. _Southwark Bridge_, by Rennie, was opened in 1819; it is of
iron, 708 feet long, with three magnificent arches, the centre one of 402
feet span; it was a toll bridge, and cost £800,000. In 1865, it was made
free, and remains so, by arrangement between the Company and the
Corporation. 4. _Blackfriars Railway Bridge_, with four lines of rail,
connects the Metropolitan Railway north of the Thames with the Chatham
and Dover Railway on the south. [Picture: Blackfriars Bridge] 5. _Old
Blackfriars Bridge_, by Mylne, was opened in 1769; it consisted of 19
arches, and was 995 feet long. The foundations, however, having become
decayed, the bridge was pulled down, and a magnificent new one, by Mr.
Cubitt, built its place. A wooden bridge of remarkable construction,
with a foot-way _over_ the carriage-way, did duty for traffic till the
opening of Mr. Cubitt’s present structure. This was formally done by the
Queen in person, November 6, 1869. The entire width of the new bridge is
75 feet, the foot-paths being 15 feet each, with a fine road between
them, 45 feet in breadth from kerb to kerb. The entire length of the
bridge, including approaches, is 1,272 feet, and its centre arch has a
span of 185 feet in the clear. It has four piers. All its iron (except
the ornamental portion, which is of cast metal) is hammered. With its
handsome polished red granite piers, Portland stone capitals, and florid
Venetian Gothic ornamentation, light-looking yet massive iron arches,
spandrils, and parapets, and its general _tout ensemble_, new Blackfriars
is, bearing all things in mind, one of the cheapest permanent bridges
thrown across the Thames. Its total cost is under £400,000. 6.
_Waterloo Bridge_, one of the most magnificent in the world, was built by
Rennie, and was opened in 1817; it is flat from end to end, 1,380 feet
long, or 2,456 with the approaches; it consists of nine beautiful arches
of 120 feet span, and cost £1,000,000; a toll of one halfpenny per
passenger yields a very poor return on this outlay. 7. _Hungerford
Suspension Bridge_ has been replaced by a fine new bridge, partly for
foot-passengers, and partly for the Charing Cross extension of the
South-Eastern Railway. 8. _Old Westminster Bridge_, opened in 1750, is
now all removed, to make way for a beautiful new bridge of iron, with
granite piers, built by Mr. Page, opened for traffic in 1862. It is
about 1,160 feet long by 85 feet wide. 9. _Lambeth Bridge_, a wire-rope
suspension bridge of economical construction, from Westminster to near
Lambeth Church, was opened in 1862. 10. _Vauxhall Bridge_, built by
Walker, was opened in 1816; it is of iron, 798 feet long, and consists of
nine equal arches. 11. _Pimlico Railway Bridge_, from Pimlico to the
commencement of Battersea Park, connects the Victoria Station with the
Brighton and other railways. 12. _Chelsea Suspension Bridge_, very near
the bridge last named, gives easy access from Chelsea to Battersea, and
is a light and elegant structure. 13. _Battersea Bridge_ is an old
wooden structure, unsightly in appearance, inconvenient to passengers
over it, and still more so to steamboats under it. 14. _West London
Extension Railway Bridge_, opened in 1863, crosses the Thames from a
point a little above Cremorne Gardens to Battersea town; it is a link to
connect various railways on the north of the river with others on the
south. _Putney Bridge_, _Hammersmith Suspension Bridge_, _Barnes Railway
Bridge_, and _Kew Bridge_, may or may not be included in this series,
according to the acceptation of the indefinite word ‘Metropolis.’
Steam-boat Piers.—If you wish to go eastward of London Bridge, on the
north side of the river, you will find steam-boats at London Bridge to
take you to Thames Tunnel Pier, Limehouse, Blackwall, and North Woolwich.
On the south side, at the Surrey end of London Bridge, you can take boat
for Rotherhithe, Commercial Docks, Greenwich, Charlton, and Woolwich. If
you wish to go westward from London Bridge, on the north side, you can
take boat thence for the following piers:—Bridge, Paul’s Wharf, Temple
Stairs, Waterloo Bridge, Hungerford Bridge, Westminster Bridge, Millbank,
Pimlico, Thames Bank, Chelsea, and Battersea; and on the south side, at
Westminster Bridge, Lambeth Stairs, Vauxhall, Battersea Park, Wandsworth,
Putney, Hammersmith Bridge, and Kew. The steamers make an amazing number
of trips each way daily, between these several piers, at intervals
varying with the season, and at fares ranging from one penny to
fourpence. For example, the fare by the _Citizen_ boats from London
Bridge to Westminster is 1d.; to Pimlico, 2d.; Chelsea and Battersea, 3d.
If you wish to go _quickly_ from Westminster Bridge to London Bridge, you
will avoid delays at piers by getting one of the penny boats which run
every ten minutes from Westminster to London Bridge, only calling at
Hungerford. Steamers for Kew, in the summer, run about every half-hour
from London Bridge, calling at intermediate up-river piers—return ticket,
1s. From Cadogan Pier, Chelsea, you can go to Kew for 4d. And on
Sundays and Mondays you can go up as far as Richmond, if the tide allow,
at half-past 10 a.m. from Hungerford—return ticket, about 1s. 6d. For
more distant journeys, such as to Erith, Gravesend, Sheerness, Southend,
&c., by excursion steam-boats. To Gravesend and back, the fare is 1s.
6d.; Sheerness and Southend and back, 2s. 6d. Boats generally leave
Hungerford Bridge for Gravesend and Erith every half-hour up to 12, and
leave London Bridge at 2 and half-past 4 p.m.; they leave Hungerford
Bridge for Southend and Sheerness at various times from half-past 8,
calling at London Bridge, returning in the afternoon or early evening.
[Picture: The Thames Embankment]
The Thames Embankment is one of the noblest works in the metropolis. As
long ago as 1666 Sir Christopher Wren advocated such a scheme. Till Mr.
Bazalgette, the engineer to the Metropolitan Board of Works, (who, by the
way, planned the main drainage,) came forward with his plans, there had
been scores of others, all over-costly and few practicable. The work was
virtually begun in 1862. Both south and north embankments are now open.
The former (or _Albert Embankment_) was opened the entire length, from
Westminster Bridge to Vauxhall, on the 1st September, 1869; the latter,
(or _Victoria Embankment_,) from Westminster Bridge to Blackfriars, in
the middle of July, 1870. What the ultimate cost will be of both these
gigantic works it is for us here impossible to tell. Already the
metropolitan public hare paid for their new Thames boulevard £1,650,000.
And now—in the case of the northern embankment, for example—let us
consider what vast difficulties have had to be surmounted. The words of
an excellent authority put the matter very concisely as follows:—“The
river had to be dammed out for some thirty-eight acres—the mud had to be
dredged out down to the London clay—the granite walls had to be built
below low-water mark; behind these the low-level sewer had to be
constructed. Over this, again, had to come the subway, and behind all
the District Railway, which runs at an average of about eighteen feet
below the surface. It is not known what materials were required for the
railway; but what was used for the Embankment is known. It was:—Granite,
650,000 cubic feet; brickwork, 80,000 cubic yards; concrete, 140,000
cubic yards; timber, (for cofferdam, &c.,) 500,000 cubic feet; caissons,
(for ditto,) 2,500 tons; earth filling, 900,000 cubic feet; excavation,
144,000 cubic feet; York paving, 90,000 superficial feet; broken granite,
50,000 yards superficial. The railway works would make these totals
still more formidable. London is now the metropolis of engineering
works, but there is no part of it in which so many and such varied and
difficult kinds centre as in the Thames Embankment. A section of it
would be a study for engineers for all time.”
The public foot-way had been open since July, 1868. It was for the
formal opening of the carriage-way that the Prince of Wales, on 13th
July, 1870, drove from Westminster Bridge to Blackfriars along the
Northern Embankment’s carriage-way. This is sixty-four feet wide, and
the foot-way on the land-side is sixteen feet wide, and that on the
river-side is twenty feet wide. Along the river-side are planted rows of
trees, which in a few years will afford an unbroken line of shade,
doubtless. As the railway works were completed sufficiently to admit of
it, this main roadway has been extended to the Mansion-House, by means of
a new street—_Queen Victoria Street_—referred to in a former page. There
is thus one broad, airy thoroughfare between the Houses of Parliament,
and the West End, and the heart of the city.
It will be obvious that though so much has been done, much yet remains to
be accomplished ere the Thames Northern Embankment is regularly
completed. The carriage-way, for the present, has only been gravelled
and macadamized. The reason is, that in newly-made rotten earth its
sinking down must be allowed for, for some time, ere it can all be paved,
like London Bridge, with “granite pitching.” Four regular approaches
into the Strand—by way of Villiers, Norfolk, Surrey, and Arundel
Streets—have been made; and there are three other ways which go from
Westminster, Whitehall, and Blackfriars; another is in progress from
Charing Cross.
Starting from the western end, the Metropolitan District Railway has
already open, along this embankment, five stations, called Westminster,
Charing Cross, Temple, Blackfriars, and Mansion House.
The wall of the Thames Northern Embankment just alluded to is, to quote
once more, “constructed generally of brickwork faced with granite, and is
carried down to a depth of 32½ feet below Trinity high-water mark, the
foundation being of Portland cement concrete. The level of the roadway
generally is four feet above Trinity high-water mark, except at the two
extremities, where it rises to Westminster and Blackfriars Bridges to an
extreme height of about 20 feet above high-water. The rising ground for
both these approaches is retained by a granite faced wall, similar in
character to the general Embankment wall.
“The face of the Embankment forms a graceful curve, having a plane face
to about mean high-water level, and being ornamented above that level
with mouldings, which are stopped at intervals of about seventy feet with
plain blocks of granite, intended to carry lamp standards of cast-iron,
and relieved on the river face by bronze lions’ heads carrying mooring
rings. The uniform line of the Embankment is broken at intervals by
massive piers of granite, flanking recesses for pontoons or landing
stages for steamboats, and at other places by stairs projecting into the
river, and intended as landing-piers for small craft. The steamboat
piers occur at Westminster, Charing Cross, and Waterloo Bridges; and
those for boats midway between Westminster and Charing Cross, and between
Charing Cross and Waterloo Bridge; and both are combined opposite Essex
Street. It is intended eventually to surmount the several blocks and
pedestals with groups of statuary.”
FOOD SUPPLY; MARKETS; BAZAARS; SHOPS.
Food Supply.—The _Quarterly Review_, on one occasion, illustrated, in a
whimsical way, the vastness of the system. The following is described as
the supply of meat, poultry, bread, and beer, for one year:—72 miles of
oxen, 10 abreast; 120 miles of sheep, do.; 7 miles of calves, do.; 9
miles of pigs, do.; 50 acres of poultry, close together; 20 miles of
hares and rabbits, 100 abreast; a pyramid of loaves of bread, 600 feet
square, and thrice the height of St. Paul’s; 1000 columns of hogsheads of
beer, each 1 mile high.
Water and Coal Supply.—The _water_ used in the metropolis is chiefly
supplied by the Thames, and by an artificial channel called the _New
River_, which enters on the north side of the metropolis. The water is
naturally good and soft. The spots at which it is raised from the Thames
used to be within the bounds of the metropolis, at no great distance from
the mouths of common sewers; but it is now obtained from parts of the
river much higher up, and undergoes a very extensive filtration. Nine
companies are concerned in the supply of water,—viz., the _New River_,
_East London_, _Southwark and Vauxhall_, _West Middlesex_, _Lambeth_,
_Chelsea_, _Grand Junction_, _Kent_, and _Hampstead Water Companies_.
Some of the works, within the last few years, constructed by these
companies, up the river, are very fine. Returns furnished to the
Registrar-General by the London Water Companies shewed that the average
daily supply of water for all purposes to the London population, during
the month of May, 1870, was 107,540,811 gallons, of which it is estimated
the supply for domestic purposes amounted to about 88,381,700 gallons, or
26 gallons per day per head of population. The metropolis is supplied
with _coal_ principally from the neighbourhood of Newcastle, but partly
also from certain inland counties; the import from the latter being by
railway. Newcastle coal is preferred. It arrives in vessels devoted
exclusively to the trade; and so many and so excessive are the duties and
profits affecting the article, that a ton of coal, which can be purchased
at Newcastle for 6s. or 7s., costs, to a consumer in London, from 22s. to
27s. The quantity of coal brought to London annually much exceeds
5,000,000 tons, of which considerably more than 2,000,000 come by
railway. The wholesale dealings in this commodity are managed chiefly at
the _Coal Exchange_, a remarkable building just opposite Billingsgate.
[Picture: Smithfield Market]