Rotherhithe

The name "Rotherhithe" is thought to derive from the Anglo-Saxon Hrȳðer-hȳð and it is suggested it means "landing-place for cattle".[3] The first recorded use of this name was in about 1105, as Rederheia.[3] Other explanations of the name have been 'Red Rose Haven' and 'rehra' (mariner's) hythe (haven or landing place).[4] In the past Rotherhithe was also known as Redriff or Redriffe,[5][6] however until the early 19th century, this name was applied to the whole river front from St Saviour's Dock to Bull Head Dock, this near the entrance to Surrey Water.[7] On the Ordnance Survey five feet to the mile, London 1893–1896 maps, Redriff appears in two places, by Beatson Street and by Nelson Dockyard to Durand's Wharf.[8]

Map of Rotherhithe

Howlands Dock in the parish of Rotherhithe (c.1850)

A map showing the Rotherhithe wards of Bermondsey Metropolitan Borough as they appeared in 1916.

The docks were closed and largely filled in during the 1980s, and have now been replaced by modern housing and commercial facilities, but Rotherhithe retains much of its character and its maritime heritage. The largest surviving dock on the south bank, Greenland Dock, is the focal point for the southern part of the district, while there are many preserved wharves along the riverside at the north end of Rotherhithe. St. Mary's Church is at the centre of the old Rotherhithe village, which contains various historic buildings including the Brunel Engine House at the south end of the Thames Tunnel.

Canada Dock was the dock basin furthest away from the River Thames in the Surrey Docks complex, and it was linked to Albion Dock and Greenland Dock at its northern and south-eastern extremities via the Albion Canal. The dock has been remodelled, and its northwest half retained as an ornamental lake, renamed Canada Water. The canal has remained as a walkway and water feature within the redeveloped area.[9]

Southwark Council and the Greater London Authority have announced a significant regeneration project focused on Canada Water and Rotherhithe. Known as the 'Canada Water Masterplan', the project has proposed the development of an additional 3,500 homes, as well as a new high street, town square, parks, leisure centre and footpath links. The landmark Tesco store will also be relocated.[10] The project would be developed in multiple phases over the coming 15 to 20 years. Some local community groups oppose the plan based on environmental and cost considerations.[11]

Rotherhithe is the home of the football team Fisher F.C. and Ballers Football Academy, who train & play fixtures at St Pauls Stadium. The Championship team Millwall Football Club is nearby in the London Borough of Lewisham.

The sustainable transport charity Sustrans has proposed the construction of a bicycle and pedestrian swing bridge from Rotherhithe to Canary Wharf, and cost-benefit and feasibility studies were undertaken. In January 2009 the London Mayor Boris Johnson said he would not fund the bridge, citing budget cuts due to the credit crunch,[12] with the result that the project was effectively put on ice. However the idea is still being supported by Sustrans.[13]

There are two Anglican churches in Rotherhithe St. Mary's Church,[14] and Trinity Church.[15][16] There are two Roman Catholic churches: St Peter and the Guardian Angels,[17] and Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception.[18]

1895 accepted design for Rotherhithe Town Hall, view from Neptune Street and Lower Road

The Mayflower TRA Hall now occupies the site of the old Rotherhithe Town Hall.[20] The building ceased to be a town hall in 1905 when the former Rotherhithe Council merged with the old Bermondsey Borough Council and the new council used premises in Spa Road. The old Rotherhithe Town Hall became a library and a museum. It was razed to the ground by repeated bomb hits and near misses during the Second World War (see below).[21]

Rotherhithe had its own general hospital, St Olave's Hospital, on Lower Road close to the old town hall. Built originally in the early 1870s on land adjoining Rotherhithe Workhouse, it became the infirmary of St Olave's Union in 1875, and was renamed St Olave's Hospital in 1930. Subsequently, becoming part of the Guy's Hospital Teaching Group in 1966, it closed in 1985 and the site has been redeveloped into the residential Ann Moss Way.

The Terriss Theatre (named after the actor, William Terriss) opened in 1899 and was later renamed the Rotherhithe Hippodrome of Varieties. It stood on Lower Road by Culling Road. It was bombed in the 1940s and stood empty until demolition in 1955.

When the roundabout facing the Rotherhithe Tunnel was redeveloped in the early 1980s, several 19th century buildings were demolished including a school and a nunnery. A public house, the "Europa", described in an early 20th-century history of the area as one its oldest, was also demolished.

The Daily Mail and Evening Standard newspapers were printed at Harmsworth Quays in Rotherhithe from 1989 to 2012. The site is now the Printworks events venue.

The Angel, a 19th-century pub in Rotherhithe now Grade II listed

The ancient parish, dedicated to St Mary, was in the Diocese of Winchester until 1877, then the Diocese of Rochester until 1905, and then finally in the Diocese of Southwark. From 1840, as the population of Rotherhithe increased, a number of new parishes were formed:[22]

• Christ Church, Rotherhithe in 1840
• All Saints, Rotherhithe in 1842
• Holy Trinity, Rotherhithe in 1842
• St Barnabas, Rotherhithe in 1873

In addition, as the population of neighbouring Deptford increased, parts of Rotherhithe parish were included in the new parish of:

• St Katherine, Rotherhithe in 1886 with parts of St James, Hatcham

Nordic connection

See also: Nordic churches in London

The Finnish Church, Albion Street

St Olav's, Rotherhithe's Norwegian church

Because much of the former Surrey Docks had strong trade links to Scandinavia and the Baltic region, the area is still home to a thriving Scandinavian community.[23] During World War II, in fact, it housed the Norwegian Government-in-Exile. Originally established as seafarers' missions, Rotherhithe is home to a Norwegian,[24] a Finnish[25] and a Swedish[26] church. The Finnish Church and the Norwegian Church are both in Albion Street; they were built in 1958 and 1927 respectively (Rotherhithe Library is between them). There are also a number of "community centres" for the Nordic community in London, including hostels, shops and cafés and even a sauna, mostly linked closely to the churches.

Some of the redeveloped areas were built by Nordic architects, such as the Greenland Passage development[27] by Danish Company Kjær & Richter. This gives some areas a distinctly "Nordic" feel in terms of house and street design.

The relationship with Scandinavia and the Baltic is also reflected in the names of some of the buildings (such as the King Frederik IX Tower),[27] the street names (e.g. Finland Street, Sweden Gate, Baltic Quay, Norway Gate, Helsinki Square) or other place names (e.g. Greenland Dock). Another major influence factor was trade with Russia and Canada (mainly timber), reflected in names such as Canada Water[28] and the Russia Dock Woodland.

China Hall

The 19th-century Surrey Lock in Rotherhithe, now a Grade II listed structure

On Lower Road, about halfway between Surrey Quays and Canada Water stations, there was a public house called the China Hall; at one time it was the entrance to a riparian playhouse visited by Samuel Pepys and mentioned in his diary. It is not known how long the theatre remained on the site, but it was reinvigorated in 1777 and George Frederick Cooke acted there the following year. In the winter of 1779, it was destroyed in fire. The site of the theatre became a well-known tea-gardens, with the "usual arbours and 'boxes'" during the Victorian period, but by the 1920s, most of the gardens had been absorbed into the Surrey Commercial Docks as part of a timber yard.[34][35]

Several waterfront developments, such as Blenheim Court, can be seen from the Thames.

Rotherhithe is joined to the north bank of the Thames by three tunnels. The Thames tunnel to Wapping was the first underwater tunnel in the world.[40] Built by the Brunels, and originally intended to carry cross-river freight, it became a pedestrian tunnel due to the money running out to build the necessary ramps for vehicle traffic. It was used as a railway tunnel from 1869, and is now part of the London Overground network, which on 27 April 2010 started running trains on the route of the former East London Line. The later Rotherhithe Tunnel (opened 1908) carries a two-lane road to Limehouse. The Jubilee line extension (opened 1999) has a railway tunnel to Canary Wharf in the Isle of Dogs.

Parts of Rotherhithe Street were at one time or another called Jamaica Street, Lavender Street, Low Queen Street, Queen Street, Redriff Wall, Redriff, Rotherhithe Wall, Shipwright Street and Trinity Street.[7]

Rotherhithe is part of the SE16 postcode district. Electorally, the western half is Rotherhithe ward of Southwark London Borough Council and the eastern half in Surrey Docks ward.

As much of Rotherhithe was occupied by the now-defunct Surrey Commercial Docks, the district is sometimes referred to as "Surrey Docks" or (since the late 1980s) "Surrey Quays", though the latter name tends to be used more for the southern half of the peninsula. An eastern part, which became an island when the docks were in use and the locks open, is called "Downtown". This name was never related to the idea of a "downtown" in the American sense, although there was a club of that name there for many years which has now closed. This part of Rotherhithe has since the 1980s been quiet and suburban in nature. Durand's Wharf is a park in Rotherhithe Street and holds an Outdoor Gym.[41]

Bust of the Scottish civil engineer James Walker at Greenland Dock

• Marc Isambard Brunel (1769–1849) and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859) built the Thames Tunnel between Rotherhithe and Wapping.
• John Short Hewett (1781–1835) cleric and academic, was Rector of Rotherhithe between 1817 and 1835
• Max Bygraves (1922–2012), entertainer, was born in Rotherhithe.
• Michael Caine (born 1933), actor, was born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite in Rotherhithe.
• Thomas Coram (1668–1751) a philanthropic sea captain, retired to Rotherhithe where he campaigned for establishment of the Foundling Hospital.[42]
• Eliza Fay (1755 or 1756–1816), author of Original Letters from India (1817),[43] was born in Rotherhithe.
• Malcolm Hardee (1950–2005), comedian, lived on a houseboat in Greenland Dock, Rotherhithe. He owned and ran the Wibbley Wobbley pub-boat on the same dock, and was drowned there.
• Sir James Kemnal (1864-1927) industrialist[44]
• Myleene Klass (born 1978), singer, lived in Rotherhithe in the early 2000s.
• George Lambourn (1900-1977), artist, was born in Rotherhithe.
• Aaron Manby (1776–1850) assembled and launched the world's first seagoing iron-hulled ship at Rotherhithe in 1822.
• Billy Mehmet (born 1985), professional footballer, attended Bacon's College in Rotherhithe in the 1990s.
• King Mutesa II of Buganda (1925–1969) died in exile in his flat in Rotherhithe in 1969 following an interview with journalist John Simpson.
• James Townsend Saward (1798–c1875) Victorian English barrister and forger was born in Rotherhithe.
• James Walker (1781–1862) worked on the design and construction of Greenland Dock, where a memorial bust of him stands.
• Sean Lock (1963 - 2021), comedian, lived in Rotherhithe in the 1990s.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rotherhithe.

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  Mayflower public house
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  Albion Channel
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  Riverside developments
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  St Olave's Hospital

• BBC London Coast – Rotherhithe Walk
• Canada Water Campaign
• Canada Water Plaza
• Friends of Russia Dock Woodland
• LDDC Completion Booklets Surrey Docks
• London Voices Rotherhithe, Surrey Docks, Surrey Quays, London SE16
• Londonist Discovers Rotherhithe Picture Research Library
• Maritime Rotherhithe Walk A: Transport, Industry and the Docks by Stuart Rankin, Southwark, 2004, ISBN 0-905849-40-X
• Maritime Rotherhithe Walk B: Shipyards, Granaries and Wharves by Stuart Rankin, Southwark, 2004, ISBN 0-905849-37-X
• Save King's Stairs Gardens Campaign
• SE16 online community Archived 22 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine
• The Finnish Church in London
• The National Archives database record for St Olave's Hospital