How it all began

In 1825, the St. Katharine Docks Bill handed around 13 acres of land to the docks company. In the next few decades, the dock— constructed by Scottish engineer Thomas Telford (1757-1834) — emerged as one of London's most thriving docks. The location of new warehouses on the waterfront allowed imports like tea from India and wool from Australia, New Zealand, and the Falkland Islands to be unloaded straight from the ship into storage.