Ebb & Flow

An escape from the City in the heart of London, St. Katharine Docks transport you to another world, a world of glamorous boats, calm waters and a hint of the exotic…

Here follows a personal photo album of St. Katharine Docks from 2019 to 2024, and at the end, a timeline with a few important dates. I have added links to further information on some of the boats featured here, together with links at the foot of this article, to good sites for exploring the history of the docks.

Some special occasions and special boats

Andrew Murray, who came from South Africa to live in London, was best known in the 1980s for his cheerful naive paintings, widely reproduced on calendars, cards and posters. This painting of St. Katharine Docks shows the historic ships that were moored there at the time. The Royal Research Ship RRS DISCOVERY, now moored at Discovery Point in Dundee; the sailing barge SB CAMBRIA; the Light Vessel LV86 NORE; and the SS ROBIN.

Brief Historical Background of St. Katharine Docks
1148: Matilda of Boulogne, wife of the “usurper” King Stephen, founded a hospital “for the repose of the souls” of her son and daughter and for the “maintenance of a master and several poor brothers and sisters.” It was linked to the Priory of Holy Trinity at Aldgate.

Mid 13th Century: Peter Stone writes in The History of the Port of London that “from the time of Queen Eleanor wife of Edward I, the Foundation of St Katharine’s came under the patronage of each queen consort, queen dowager or reigning queen” and the Precinct was thereby protected from development. However, Stone explains that with the death of Queen Charlotte in 1818, wife of George III, who died in 1820, followed by the death of Caroline, the estranged wife of George IV in 1821, “St. Katharine’s lacked the royal protection of a queen consort”. Shortly afterwards, after much manoeuvring between conflicting parties, St. Katharine’s long and dramatic history as a religious and charitable institution was brought to a close when commercial pressures took precedence.
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Timeline from the creation of St. Katharine Docks
1825: The St. Katharine Dock Bill was passed by Parliament, transferring 13 acres of land to the St. Katharine Dock Company.

1828: The St. Katharine Docks, designed by chief engineer Thomas Telford were opened on October 25. The warehouses were designed by Sir Phillp Hardwick and allowed cargoes to be unloaded directly into the storage areas rather than onto the quayside, which greatly speeded up the process.

1940-1941: The docks and surrounding warehouses were badly damaged during the Blitz, and all those around the eastern basin were destroyed.

1957: The dock entrance lock was rebuilt.

1968: The docks were officially closed.

1973: The Tower Hotel, designed by the Renton Howard Wood Partnership in the Brutalist style, was opened.

1970s: Saw the demolition of most of the original warehouses

1976: The Dickens Inn was created from an old docks’ warehouse by Cedric Dickens, grandson of the great author.

1990s: Completion of development around the eastern basin.

Sources and further Information
British History Online: St. Kathrine Docks
A comprehensive history of the Docks by the author of A London Inheritance: St. Katharine Docks
Links to useful documents: St. Katharine Docks
Northern University of London: History of St. Katharine Docks
Story Maps of St. Katharine Docks’ History.
Peter Stone’s excellent: The History of the Port of London, 2017

You can follow three different Twitter-X accounts on St. Katharine Docks: @StKats and @StKatsMarina; Friends of St. Katharine Docks @OfficialFOSKD

From CHEVENING, through RIVER PRINCESS to SAPPHIRE OF LONDON….with help and images from Waterman and Lighterman Ben.

Walking along the banks of the River Thames in recent months, you might well have caught sight of M.V. SAPPHIRE OF LONDON in her freshly painted London Party Boats’ livery. But like many boats on the Thames, she wasn’t always like this: she has a history. And with the help of Ben of The Liquid Highway here is her story so far.

Her first iteration was as CHEVENING, built in 1974, working for Greenwich Pleasure Craft, where she was mainly used for sightseeing and private charter functions on trips between Greenwich and Westminster.

In 1984 she was bought by Catamaran Cruisers and ran on a route similar to that used by City Cruises today, from Embankment or Westminster Pier to Greenwich Pier. It was with her, a few years later in 2006, that Thames Waterman and Lighterman Ben began his career on the River Thames.

Ben has written about M.V. CHEVENING on his Liquid Highway page, and as he began his employment as an apprentice when he was sixteen to seventeen, he knows her well. He tells me “I worked as a deckhand and mate for Catamaran Cruisers” but though young and just setting out, “I was very lucky to be able to work with so many old school characters, many old lightermen who had a wealth of knowledge to pass on and they were more than happy to teach you how to handle a single screw boat.”

Ben explained that her specifications in 2007 were: “Length: 88ft; Draft: 5.18ft; GRT: 129; Passengers: 254, inc 4 crew; Engine: Volvo TMD 102A (Fitted 1997).” He adds that “CHEVENING was a lovely boat to steer, though single screw propulsion could be a little tricky in wind but she was easy to handle.”

Clearly the River Thames has been very much a part of Ben’s life from an early age. He says that he would often go to work with his Dad at Catamaran Cruisers as a young boy, and he has fond memories of the boats looking smart in the mid-nineties. In fact he thinks that the livery in the photo above was “one of the smartest”.

In September 2007 Catamaran Cruisers ceased trading. CHEVENING was sold to Thames Cruises in 2008 and by then was in “need of a refit in certain areas like her wheelhouse” and also in need of modernisation, so she was moved upriver to the boatyard on Eel Pie Island owned by Ken Dwan and Bill Ludgrove, also owners of Thames Cruises, with whom she would eventually sail. She was due an extensive rebuild and though some work was initially carried out, she languished, unfinished “moved on and off the slipway to make way for other vessels.”

Ben explains that “By 2009 she had had her wheelhouse cut off and her stair casing removed and she stayed like this until 2013 when her rebuild started to take shape.” He adds, “After seven long years, just as we were all starting to wonder if the work would ever be completed… she returned to the water once more, this time working for Thames Cruises under the new name of RIVER PRINCESS.”

The following photographs of RIVER PRINCESS and SAPPHIRE OF LONDON were taken from 2019 onwards.

In 2023 when RIVER PRINCESS was sold to London Party Boats, she went to dry dock at Bay Wharf in Greenwich where, after repair and maintenance, she was repainted. “The final touches were done on the moorings next to Millbank Pier.”

Now here, with her new name and in her new livery, is the RIVER PRINCESS metamorphosed into the SAPPHIRE OF LONDON, owned by London Party Boats Ltd. She is one of their fleet of six elegant boats available to hire for all kinds of event and party cruises through the heart of London and its famous Thames-side buildings and bridges.

Wishing her, and all who sail with her, happy times in the future.

Sources and Further Information
The Liquid Highway, September 16, 2014.
London Party Boats
The Chevening on Simplon Postcards

With many thanks to:
Thames Waterman and Lighterman Ben. His Liquid Highway, site is the world’s largest Thames vessel photo gallery and major resource for anyone wishing to research boats both past and present that have operated along the Thames.