N.B. this walk will not take place on the following dates:
29-01-2025
Introduction
Unfamiliar London – memories of the days when Bermondsey was at the heart of the biggest port in the world. Victorian warehouses, old docks – still there but adapting to the C21. See it before it changes.
Walking Tour Practicals
Meeting time: Every Wednesday at 10.45 am
Meeting point: Bermondsey Tube Station
Price: £20 per person (full adult); £15 concessions (full-time students, over 65s and people with the London Walks Loyalty Card; £10 for Concessions Loyalty Card holders (full-time students and over 65s); £5 for kids; tinies go free.
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THE GUIDING
Don’t just take it from us…
Itinerary
Leave the traffic and the tube station and within minutes you’re walking along a historic riverside street. It’s still, calm, and there are wonderful views across the Thames to Wapping, downriver to Canary Wharf and Rotherhithe, and upriver to Tower Bridge and the new tall buildings of the City of London. You are only minutes from Central London but it is a world away from its bustle.
Shad Thames
A bridge by the riverfront over St Saviour’s dock takes you to Shad Thames, its warehouses once full of grain and spices, now transformed into expensive apartments. This street is full of history and features dating back to Victorian times, with its Grade II listed warehouses, cobbled street and overhead iron bridges. You will discover how this part of London once was the heart of the trade of the city, where exotic commodities such as tea and coffee were stored.
When in the C20 the new huge container ships couldn’t sail this far up the Thames, the port moved away down river. But in the 1980s and 1990s the area was regenerated where warehouse conversions became new homes. To help bring back life to the heart of Shad Thames, restaurateur Sir Terence Conran opened well-known restaurants including Le Pont de la Tour and Butler’s Wharf Chop House. For those looking for the Design Museum, its first home is here, but it moved from Shad Thames to Kensington in 2016, to an amazing structural design and should not be missed!
Shad Thames and its criss-cross walkways
Butlers Wharf
This brings us to Butlers Wharf and Tea Trade Wharf. Both iconic buildings on the River Thames, overlooking St Katharine Docks. The Butlers Wharf building was completed in 1873 to house goods arriving at Butlers Wharf Pier for distribution all over the United Kingdom. As in much of the rest of the area, these buildings have been converted into luxury flats. As we walk around, you will be transported to a different era, when the south bank of the River Thames was an industrial hub, and Horselydown was the home of a favourite brewery.
Bermondsey
Turn inland to Tooley Street to see more of Bermondsey’s social history, the changes brought by the railway that turned it into ‘London’s larder’. Here are street names to remind you that for centuries Bermondsey’s biggest industry was leather tanning. The smell has gone, the names remain.
Southwark
Come back to the C21 as we pass the Shard, tallest building in London – for now. Its glittering peak dominates the surrounding area by London Bridge. And end just by London Bridge – for centuries the only way of crossing the river. Everyone used the bridge – merchants and visitors, kings and queens. Now you’re at the best place in London for a snack – Borough Market. This is foodie heaven – treat yourself to a toasted cheese sandwich.
Frequently asked questions
What can I do after the tour?
After a little snack at Borough Market, you can visit Southwark Cathedral then continue on to the South Bank, walking past Shakespeare’s Globe, the Tate and all the way to the National Theatre.
What the guide says
One of the reasons I love this walk is that people are always surprised. After all, they know what Buckingham Palace and Westminster look like – but often they have no idea of just how fascinating this part of London is. Bermondsey in its heyday was at the heart of the port of London. Its river banks were crowded with docks and shipping, its lanes with warehouses storing goods brought into the port.
The riverside in Bermondsey is now peaceful, with great views across to the City. The narrow street of Shad Thames seems unchanged since the dockers unloaded sacks of grain, and the magnificent warehouses of Butler’s Wharf stored tea, instead of restaurants.
There’s plenty of history to interest foodies – many household names manufactured jam, biscuits and canned food here. But the early industry was leather tanning, a process guaranteed to turn your stomach. And we’ll tell you all about it.
Dig a little deeper and find out how what was a country village became a slum, over which hung a ‘graveyard smell’. How it was transformed by industry, and how local pressure transformed it yet again – bringing in radical housing policies and pioneering health care long before the days of the NHS.
And to end, we can even offer you a really good Victorian murder.
LONDON WALKS PRIVATE WALKS
If you can’t make one of the regularly scheduled, just-turn-up, Undiscovered London, Butlers Wharf and Shad Thames it can always be booked as a private tour. If you go private you can have the Undiscovered London, Butlers Wharf and Shad Thames walk – or any other London Walk – on a day and at a time that suits your convenience. We’ll tailor it to your requirements. Ring Fiona or Mary on 020 7624 3978 or email us at [email protected] and we’ll set it up and make it happen for you. A private London Walk – they’re good value for an individual or couple and sensational value for a group – makes an ideal group or educational or birthday party or office (team-building) or club outing.
GIVE THE GIFT OF LONDON WALKS
A private London Walk makes a fab gift – be it a birthday or anniversary or Christmas present or whatever. Merchandise schmerchandise (gift wrapped or not) – but giving someone an experience, now that’s special. Memories make us rich.
50 reviews for Undiscovered London, Butlers Wharf and Shad Thames
Rated 5 out of 5
Cathy Anderson –
A very interesting walk with a very knowledgeable guide! This walk covered an area we had not been to before , a lot of history interspersed with new buildings – great insight into the rejuvenation of a dock area .
Rated 5 out of 5
Elizabeth –
Philip took us on a fascinating exploration of the Bermondsey area. Philip was friendly and knowledgeable. We learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed the walk.
Rated 5 out of 5
edward scanes –
Excellent walk and Ann was a great guide highly recommended.
Rated 5 out of 5
Alex –
It was a great pleasure walking with Ann.
She pointed out so many interesting and fascinating aspects. I enjoyed it tremendously. Thank you.
Rated 5 out of 5
Jancy Whyte –
This was such an interesting walk. Anne was able to weave her extensive political and economic knowledge together to tell the the history of the area, and explain how it came to be the way it is today.
Very highly recommended!
Rated 5 out of 5
William Lawrence –
A superb walk with Ann on Wednesday 26 June this year. Bermondsey, Butlers Wharf and Shad Thames provided a fascinating background for a most enjoyable tour illuminating the history of the Thames, the dockside warehouses (now re-purposed for riverside residences) and the social housing which improved the lives of so many Bermondsey residents. Ann’s tour was full of interesting insights, quirky details and intriguing stories. This was not an area of London that I knew at all but I came away with great admiration for all the things which had been achieved here. I thoroughly recommend it!
Rated 5 out of 5
John –
Ann was a delight! It was such an informative and personal experience and we learned so much historical context in a very small amount of time.
Rated 5 out of 5
JF Lehoux –
Ann is a great guide. I have done through the years many London Walks and this particular one was certainly one of the best. This is not only due to the topic of the walk itself but also in great part to Ann’s guiding the walk. Thanks again London Walks, and Ann, for making me discover and love even more the great city of London.
Rated 5 out of 5
Werner –
Lots of interesting facts and background information. Thank you Ann for introducing a unknown area of London to me. Bermondsey is definitely worth visiting.
Rated 5 out of 5
Cillian Lynskey –
Very enjoyable and very informative walk around Bermondsey with Ann
Reserve your place on Undiscovered London, Butlers Wharf and Shad Thames
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Cathy Anderson –
A very interesting walk with a very knowledgeable guide! This walk covered an area we had not been to before , a lot of history interspersed with new buildings – great insight into the rejuvenation of a dock area .
Elizabeth –
Philip took us on a fascinating exploration of the Bermondsey area. Philip was friendly and knowledgeable. We learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed the walk.
edward scanes –
Excellent walk and Ann was a great guide highly recommended.
Alex –
It was a great pleasure walking with Ann.
She pointed out so many interesting and fascinating aspects. I enjoyed it tremendously. Thank you.
Jancy Whyte –
This was such an interesting walk. Anne was able to weave her extensive political and economic knowledge together to tell the the history of the area, and explain how it came to be the way it is today.
Very highly recommended!
William Lawrence –
A superb walk with Ann on Wednesday 26 June this year. Bermondsey, Butlers Wharf and Shad Thames provided a fascinating background for a most enjoyable tour illuminating the history of the Thames, the dockside warehouses (now re-purposed for riverside residences) and the social housing which improved the lives of so many Bermondsey residents. Ann’s tour was full of interesting insights, quirky details and intriguing stories. This was not an area of London that I knew at all but I came away with great admiration for all the things which had been achieved here. I thoroughly recommend it!
John –
Ann was a delight! It was such an informative and personal experience and we learned so much historical context in a very small amount of time.
JF Lehoux –
Ann is a great guide. I have done through the years many London Walks and this particular one was certainly one of the best. This is not only due to the topic of the walk itself but also in great part to Ann’s guiding the walk. Thanks again London Walks, and Ann, for making me discover and love even more the great city of London.
Werner –
Lots of interesting facts and background information. Thank you Ann for introducing a unknown area of London to me. Bermondsey is definitely worth visiting.
Cillian Lynskey –
Very enjoyable and very informative walk around Bermondsey with Ann