Shad Thames

Shad Thames is a historic riverside street next to Tower Bridge in Bermondsey, London, England, and is also an informal name for the surrounding area.

[1] The name may be a corruption of 'St John-at-Thames', a reference to the St John's Church which once stood south-west of the street, where the present-day London City Mission is located[2] Alternatively it may be from shad fish, which could be found in the Thames.

Completed in 1873, the warehouses housed huge quantities of tea, coffee, spices and other commodities, which were unloaded and loaded onto river boats.

Indeed, from Morgan's Lane—a turning about the middle of Tooley Street, on the north side, to St. Saviour's (once called Savory) Dock, the whole line of street—called in one part Pickle Herring Street, and in another Shad Thames—exhibits an uninterrupted series of wharves, warehouses, mills, and factories, on both sides of the narrow and crowded roadway.

[2]During the 20th century, the area went into decline as congestion and containerization forced shipping to unload goods further east, and the last warehouses closed in 1972.

Shad Thames was regenerated in the 1980s and 1990s, when the disused but picturesque warehouses throughout the area were converted into expensive flats, many with restaurants, bars, shops, etc.

As part of the regeneration of the area, designer and restaurateur Terence Conran opened a number of now well-known riverside restaurants, including Le Pont de la Tour, the Blueprint Cafe and the Butler's Wharf Chop House.

The converted warehouses retain their original characteristic features of brickwork, winches, large sign-writing and so on, and most are named after the commodities which were originally stored in them – Vanilla & Sesame Court, Cayenne Court, Wheat Wharf, Tea Trade Wharf, with further buildings named after cinnamon, cardamom, fennel, caraway, ginger, cumin, tamarind, clove, anise and coriander.

Owing to its buildings, cobbled streets, riverside views and proximity to landmarks such as Tower Bridge, Shad Thames has been used as a location for many films and TV programmes, including: An instrumental track called "Shad Thames" appears on the 1997 Saint Etienne album Continental and 2001 compilation Smash the System.