Lower Thames straddles the River Thames from London Bridge to the west until just before Tower Pier (roughly facing the HMS Belfast). The area is bounded in by Lower Thames Street, creating a narrow strip in between the river and the City offices. The area essentially consists of five large buildings facing the river – namely the Edwardian Adelaide House, the Brutalist Saint Magnus House, the glass- modernist Northern and Shell Building, Victorian-era Old Billingsgate Market and Regency-era Custom House. In addition, St. Magnus the Martyr Church fits tightly in between Adelaide and St Magnus House, and is the oldest structure in the area. The area is quite walkable, staying relatively flat as it runs alongside the river. The buildings are either for office, venue hiring, or institutional (Custom House) use. Separated from the City by the wide Lower Thames Street, the area is arguably more connected to the Tower of London to its east than its northerly neighbours, and owing to its relative isolation, has an ‘island’ feel to it.

Old Billingsgate Market was, as the name suggests, the original site of Billingsgate Market, which had existed in the area since the 14th century. The market’s name is today associated with fish, but this was only exclusively true in the 16th century – prior to that Billingsgate was a general market for an assortment of things (including fish), be they corn or coal, salt or pottery. Up to the mid-19th century, fish and seafood were still sold at stalls and sheds at the docks, but as the volumes of trade increased, a purpose-built structure became essential – hence the building today. The market relocated to the Docklands in 1982, where it has existed ever since. Right next to Billingsgate Market is Custom House, which has a similar illustrious history, having been for centuries the place where customs duties on imports and exports were collected. The building was originally designed by David Laing, but the building’s piling had been poorly constructed by the contractor, and part of the river façade and the floor of the main hall later collapsed.

Robert Smirke would be commissioned to design the façade which remains today. Smirke was the favoured architect of the Tory establishment, and had designed several other buildings including a townhouse in Whitehall for Sir Robert Peel, the General Post Office, King’s College on the Strand, as well as the core of the British Museum.

Upon completion in 1925, Adelaide House was the tallest office block in the City, at 43 metres high, making it the first skyscraper in London (with 11 storeys), as well as the first building in the City to use a steel frame. The building mimicked the styles found in America at the time, including central ventilation, as well as an internal mail system alongside telephone and electric connections on every floor. Today the building stands alone, although it was previously connected to another structure – as evidenced by the bare brick façade on the side facing away from London Bridge.

As previously mentioned, the area is slightly cut-off from the rest of the City by Lower Thames Street – making vehicular access easy, but public transport access somewhat troublesome. The large structures can make the façades facing the street to be aloof and empty. However, the location more than compensates, with riverside views (including a public terrace at St. Magnus House) and a pedestrianised riverbank, creating a pleasant, quiet, and scenic place to conduct business.

One as-of-yet unmentioned feature of this neighbourhood is Sugar Quay to the far east of the area, past Custom House. An almost-literal stone’s throw away from the Tower of London, the old Brutalist building was demolished in 2014, making way for a new contemporary housing development with ground floor retail on the waterfront. In the other direction a new entrance to Bank station has recently opened on nearby Cannon Street as part of stationwide renovation works. Above this new entrance will sit a contemporary office block. Taller than originally planned, planners recently gave permission for TFL to add an eighth floor to their plans, with work scheduled to start by the end of 2022.