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 like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
designed to reclaim marshy land next to the
River ThamesThe River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
in central
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. It consists of the
VictoriaThe Victoria Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and river walk along the north bank of the River Thames in London. Victoria Embankment extends from the City of Westminster into the City of London.-Construction:...
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 FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...
in the 1660s, then in 1824 former soldier and aide to
George IVGeorge IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
, Sir
Frederick TrenchGeneral Sir Frederick William Trench KCH , was a British soldier and Tory politician.Trench was the son of Michael Frederick Trench, a barrister and amateur architect, of Heywood, only son of Reverend Frederick Trench, of Ballinakill, in Queen's County...
suggested an embankment known as 'Trench's Terrace' from Blackfriars to
Charing CrossCharing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...
. Trench brought a bill to Parliament which was blocked by river interests. In the 1830s, the painter
John MartinJohn Martin was an English Romantic painter, engraver and illustrator.-Biography:Martin was born in July 1789, in a one-room family cottage, at Haydon Bridge, near Hexham in Northumberland, the 4th son of Fenwick Martin, a one time fencing master...
promoted an embankment to contain an intercepting sewer. In January 1842 the City Corporation 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 an English civil engineer of the 19th century. As chief engineer of London's Metropolitan Board of Works his major achievement was the creation of a sewer network for central London which was instrumental in relieving the city from cholera epidemics, while...
. 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, and as London has grown the system has been expanded.-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 flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
. In total, Bazalgette's scheme reclaimed 22 acres (89,030.9 m²) of land from the river.
Much of the
graniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
used in the projects was brought from
Lamorna CoveLamorna is a fishing village and cove in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated on the Penwith peninsula approximately four miles south of Penzance.-Newlyn School of Art and the Lamorna Colony:...
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, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It takes its name from William Lord Cheyne who owned the manor of Chelsea until 1712. Most of the houses were built in the early 18th century. Before the construction in the 19th century of the busy...
,
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 or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place 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 river walk along the north bank of the River Thames in London. Victoria Embankment extends from the City of Westminster into the City of London.-Construction:...
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 is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
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. Out of the 60 stations served, 25 are underground...
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 Hotel Cecil and stands behind the original facade of the Hotel and between the Adelphi and the Savoy Hotel. Broadly Art Deco in style, it was designed by the architectural...
and the
Savoy HotelThe Savoy Hotel is a hotel located on the Strand, in the City of Westminster in central London. Built by impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan operas, the hotel opened on 6 August 1889. It was the first in the Savoy group of hotels and restaurants owned by...
. 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 LondonCentral London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...
. 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 . It leads to financial, environmental 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...
.
See also
- Subterranean rivers of London
The subterranean or underground rivers of London are the tributaries of the River Thames and River Lea that were built over during the growth of the metropolis of London...