The
Thames Embankment is a major feat of 19th century
civil engineeringCivil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works such as bridges, roads, canals, dams and buildings...
designed to reclaim marshy land next to the
River ThamesThe River Thames is a major river flowing through southern England. While best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows through several other towns and cities, including Oxford, Reading and Windsor....
in central
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
. It consists of the
VictoriaThe Victoria Embankment, is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and walkway along the north bank of the River Thames in London. Victoria Embankment extends from the City of Westminster into the City of London....
and
Chelsea EmbankmentChelsea Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and walkway along the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England.The western end of Chelsea Embankment, including a stretch of Cheyne Walk, is in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea; the eastern end, including...
.
There had been a long history of failed proposals to embank the Thames in central London. Embankments along the Thames were first proposed by
Christopher WrenSir Christopher Wren was one of the best known and highest acclaimed English architects in history,...
in the 1660s, then in 1824 former soldier and aid to George IV, Sir Frederick Trench suggested an embankment known as 'Trench's Terrace' from Blackfriars to
Charing CrossCharing Cross denotes the junction of the Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in Westminster within Central London, England. It is named after the site of a long demolished Eleanor cross located at the former hamlet of Charing, at this point...
.
The
Thames Embankment is a major feat of 19th century
civil engineeringCivil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works such as bridges, roads, canals, dams and buildings...
designed to reclaim marshy land next to the
River ThamesThe River Thames is a major river flowing through southern England. While best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows through several other towns and cities, including Oxford, Reading and Windsor....
in central
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
. It consists of the
VictoriaThe Victoria Embankment, is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and walkway along the north bank of the River Thames in London. Victoria Embankment extends from the City of Westminster into the City of London....
and
Chelsea EmbankmentChelsea Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and walkway along the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England.The western end of Chelsea Embankment, including a stretch of Cheyne Walk, is in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea; the eastern end, including...
.
There had been a long history of failed proposals to embank the Thames in central London. Embankments along the Thames were first proposed by
Christopher WrenSir Christopher Wren was one of the best known and highest acclaimed English architects in history,...
in the 1660s, then in 1824 former soldier and aid to George IV, Sir Frederick Trench suggested an embankment known as 'Trench's Terrace' from Blackfriars to
Charing CrossCharing Cross denotes the junction of the Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in Westminster within Central London, England. It is named after the site of a long demolished Eleanor cross located at the former hamlet of Charing, at this point...
. Trench brought a bill to parliament which was blocked by river interests. In the 1830s, the painter
John Martin-In the Arts:*John Martin , American actor in TV soap operas One Life to Live and Sunset Beach*John Martin , English-born Canadian broadcaster*John Martin , dance critic at the New York Times...
promoted an embankment to contain an intercepting sewer. In January 1842 the City Corporation's adopted a plan designed by James Walker but the plan fell foul of Government infighting. The Government itself built the
Chelsea EmbankmentChelsea Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and walkway along the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England.The western end of Chelsea Embankment, including a stretch of Cheyne Walk, is in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea; the eastern end, including...
in 1854 from Chelsea Hospital to Millbank.
Started in 1862, the present embankment on the northern side of the river was primarily designed by Sir
Joseph BazalgetteSir Joseph William Bazalgette, CB was one of the great English civil engineers of the 19th century. As the chief engineer of London's Metropolitan Board of Works, his major achievement was the creation of a sewer network for central London, which helped relieve the city from cholera epidemics,...
. It incorporates the main low level interceptor
sewerThe London sewerage system is part of the water infrastructure serving London. The modern system was developed during the late 19th century, but as London has grown the system has been expanded and needs further investment.-History:...
from west London, and an underground railway over which a wide road and riverside walkway were also constructed, as well as a retaining wall along the north side of the
River ThamesThe River Thames is a major river flowing through southern England. While best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows through several other towns and cities, including Oxford, Reading and Windsor....
. In all Bazalgette's scheme reclaimed of land from the river.
Much of the
graniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as porphyry. Granites can be pink to dark gray or even black, depending on their...
used in the projects was brought from
Lamorna CoveLamorna is a small fishing village on the Penwith peninsula in Cornwall, England. It is effectively a small congregation of houses clustered around a beautiful boat place...
in Cornwall. The quarried stone was shaped into blocks on site before being loaded on to barges and transported up the English Channel into the Thames.
From
Battersea BridgeBattersea Bridge is a cast iron and granite five-span cantilever bridge crossing the River Thames in London, England. It is situated on a sharp bend in the river, and links Battersea south of the river with Chelsea to the north...
in the west, the Thames Embankment includes sections of
Cheyne WalkCheyne Walk is a historic street in Chelsea. Most of the houses were built in the early eighteenth century. Before the construction in the nineteenth century of the busy Embankment, which now runs in front of it, the houses fronted the River Thames.Today, Cheyne Walk forms part of the A3212 and...
,
Chelsea EmbankmentChelsea Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and walkway along the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England.The western end of Chelsea Embankment, including a stretch of Cheyne Walk, is in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea; the eastern end, including...
, Grosvenor Road,
MillbankMillbank is an area of central London in the City of Westminster. Millbank is located by the River Thames, east of Pimlico and south of Westminster...
and
Victoria Tower GardensVictoria Tower Gardens is a public park along the north bank of the River Thames in London. As its name suggests, it is adjacent to the Victoria Tower, the south-western corner of the Palace of Westminster...
. Beyond the
Houses of ParliamentThe Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament, is the seat of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
, it is named
Victoria EmbankmentThe Victoria Embankment, is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and walkway along the north bank of the River Thames in London. Victoria Embankment extends from the City of Westminster into the City of London....
as it stretches to
Blackfriars BridgeBlackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying the A201 road. The north end is near the Inns of Court and Temple Church, along with Blackfriars station...
; this stretch also incorporates a section of the
London UndergroundThe London Underground, Underground or Tube is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and neighbouring areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire in the UK. The first section opened in 1863, and was the first underground railway system in the world, and, starting in...
network used by the
DistrictThe District line is a line of the London Underground, coloured green on the Tube map. It is a "sub-surface" line, running through the central area in shallow cut-and-cover tunnels. It is the busiest of the sub-surface lines and the third busiest overall on the Underground network. Out of the 60...
and Circle Lines, and also passes
Shell Mex HouseShell Mex House is situated at number 80, Strand, London, UK. The current building was built in 1930-31 on the site of the Cecil Hotel and stands between the Adelphi and the Savoy Hotel. Broadly Art Deco in style, it was designed by the architectural firm of Messrs Joseph, with F...
and the
Savoy HotelThe Savoy Hotel is a five-star hotel located on the Strand, in the City of Westminster in central London that opened on 6 August 1889. The hotel, called "London's most famous hotel", remains one of London's most prestigious and opulent hotels, with 263 rooms and panoramic views of the River Thames...
. The embankment also incorporates several stretches of gardens and open space, collectively known as the
Embankment Gardens, which provide a peaceful oasis within the heart of
Central LondonThe term Central London refers to the districts of London which are considered closest to the centre. There is no conventional definition, nor any official one, for the entire area that can be called "central London". Central London covers about 10 square miles on areas both north and south of the...
. The gardens include many statues, including one of Bazalgette himself.
The much smaller
Albert EmbankmentThe Albert Embankment is a stretch of the river bank on the south side of the River Thames in Central London. It stretches approximately one mile northward from Vauxhall Bridge to Westminster Bridge, and is located in the London Borough of Lambeth.Albert Embankment is also the name given to the...
is on the south side of the river, opposite the Millbank section of the Thames Embankment. It was created by Bazalgette for the Metropolitan Board of Works between July 1866 and November 1869.
Some parts of the Embankment were built in the 20th century, having been reconstructed following wartime bomb damage or
natural disasterA natural disaster is the effect of a natural hazard that affects the environment, and leads to financial, environmental and/or human losses...
s such as the
1928 Thames floodThe 1928 Thames flood was a disastrous flood of the River Thames that affected much of riverside London on 7 January 1928, as well as places further downriver. Fourteen people were drowned in London and thousands were made homeless when flood waters poured over the top of the Thames Embankment and...
.