St Katharine Dock and marina is one of East London’s truly hidden pearls. Mostly undisturbed by tourists, this fossilised industrial neighbourhood has undergone transformations steadily over the past century, resulting in a quaint environment where converted marine warehouses harmonise nicely with early regeneration developments built in the 70s. The area has been a prime choice for city workers since becoming a primarily residential space, with Tower Hill tube station on the District line taking only 4 minutes to get to the city. The choice of accommodation is also diverse – from neat 90s yellow-brick apartments to the brutalist South Quay estate, much of which is rented out to young professionals and holiday makers. The Dickens Inn sits directly on the dock. Originally a tea warehouse, and later re-opened by Charles Dickens’ grandson, the popular local pub is constructed from an original timber shell which dates back to the 19th century. The Hermitage Riverside Memorial Garden is a quiet escape which equally never suffers from floods of tourists, despite boasting stunning riverside views. Hermitage Primary is the local school, and was rated ‘good’ by Ofsted.

St Katharine Dock became historically important around the turn of the 19th century, when growing trade meant extra capacity was the existing London docks. An innovation was trialed at St Katharine’s in order to reduce the rate of theft between unloading cargo from vessels and depositing the goods at warehouses. This gave rise to the canal-like entrances from the river so that the boats could come as close to the warehouses as possible. During its heyday, the docks saw tonnes of sugar, tobacco, spices, and even weapons pass through its waterways every month. As ships got larger, however, St Katherine’s Dock became obsolete within a matter of decades. Its proximity to London Bridge as well as its strategic trading location also did not bode well for the area during WWII when the docks suffered terrible destruction during the Blitz. Out of the rubble, however, grew a set of residential estates and office spaces which has been described as a prime and pioneering example of successful urban redevelopment.

David Suchet, best known for his performance of Agatha Christie’s Poirot, was born close to St Katharine Dock, in the first half of the previous century. Despite his iconic portrayal of the detective, Suchet did not suffer from being typecast in the long-running ITV series. A frequent face in theatre as well as on TV, after training at the London Academy of Dramatic Arts, the actor began his career in a number of theatres, including the Royal Shakespeare Company which he joined in 1973. He starred in the Mamet’s pertinent Oleanna, directed by Harold Pinter in the 90s, whilst in 2015 he toured with Vaudeville Theatre in Oscar Wilde’s Importance of Being Earnest, playing the ‘imperious’ Lady Bracknell.

Most primary school children can recite the date of the Great Fire of London. However, it is the so-called ‘Second Great Fire of London’ that defined much of this neighbourhood’s urban environment. When on May 10th, 1941, German bombers dropped 86,000 incendiary bombs on the capital, the flames engulfed the capital with a magnitude as great as the 17th century blaze. St Katharine’s Dock was completely incapacitated by what some have called the “largest fire ever”, fuelled by the highly combustible rum and sugar warehouses.

For some, the locale might not stimulate the greatest excitement by way of culture and arts when compared to other parts of east London. In this sense St Katharine Dock can be seen as a victim of its previous successes, as successful redevelopment in the previous century means today’s residences are generally purchased by young professionals. For some this has taken its toll on certain local amenities.

The rotunda which used to house a model crown presented to the Queen on her Silver Jubilee, for example, is currently used as a Starbucks. But such transformations do not take away from the area’s general flavour. Frida, a local resident, admires the ‘villagey’ vibe and the fact that “there’s pretty much no noise”, which is all the more astonishing given the proximity to the city.

St George’s luxury apartment complex to the north of the docks is finally reaching the final stages of it’s development. With a secondary school included, and over half of the construction constituting public open space, this is not only architectural eye candy, and should be an asset to the community. However, in total only 486 of the new 1,800 homes are classed as affordable.