[9] Rees asserted that newspaper reports of one of Thomas Boddington's West Indiaman vessels being wrecked on the rock were incorrect, and that the relatively recent installation of piling and booms prevented ships from coming near the reef.

[11] Edington described the rock's composition as "a strong cemented iron stone, formed by an elective attraction of the lapidious or earthly basis, to the very numerous metallic particles always suspended in the river".

[14] He then recommended the use of ordnance; his proposal employed an iron caisson to create a dry working area, with explosives being driven into a 24-inch (61 cm) hole.

William Jessop was engaged by Trinity House to undertake the rock's removal;[15] he subcontracted Ralph Walker as a consultant[16] and James Spedding as engineer.

This method successfully reduced the height of the rock by 15 feet (4.6 m), after which a cylindrical coffer dam (also described as being like a diving bell) was employed to allow workers' access to remove rubble.

[12] John William Norie's Sailing Directions for the River Thames, published in 1847, makes no mention of a navigational hazard in the area of the former rock.