Cox and Hammond's Quay facts for kids
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Cox & Hammond's Quay was a busy dock area, also known as a wharf, located in the City of London. It sat on the north bank of the River Thames, not far from London Bridge. Originally, it was made up of two separate quays: Cox's Quay (sometimes called Cox's Key or Cock's Key) and Hammond's Quay. A smaller area called Gaunt's Quay used to be between them. From the land, you could get to the wharf from Lower Thames Street.
How Did It Start?
This wharf included three of the twenty "Legal Quays" in the City of London. These were special places chosen by the government in 1559 where traders were officially allowed to load and unload goods. Cox's Quay was specifically for goods brought by foreign traders, while Gaunt's Quay was for things like barrelled fish.
These three quays were already in use before 1559, but no one knows exactly when they were first built. They were quite small compared to other legal quays. Together, they had a riverfront length of about 36 meters (119 feet). Cox's Quay was about 16.5 meters (54 feet) long, Gaunt's Quay was about 9.4 meters (31 feet), and Hammond's Quay was about 7 meters (23 feet).
The quays were likely named after their owners. For example, Cox's Quay might have been named after Richard Coke or Anne Cooke, who owned it around the time of Elizabeth I of England. Over time, Gaunt's Quay became part of Hammond's Quay, and eventually, Cox's and Hammond's Quays were joined together.
For many centuries, Hammond's Quay was owned by the Vintners' Company, a group of wine merchants. It was given to them in 1439 by a man named Thomas Crofton. In return, the Company agreed to hold a special service each year on May 3rd at St Botolph Billingsgate church to remember him.
Changes Over Time: The 1800s and 1900s
In 1805, the British government bought both quays for almost £43,000. This would be worth millions of pounds today!
Later, in 1836, a man named John Knill, who managed the nearby Fresh Wharf, started renting Cox's and Hammond's Quay. He built a new warehouse over Cox's Quay in 1842. By 1857, Knill was using five warehouses at Cox & Hammond's Quay for fruit and other safe goods. Other people rented the remaining eight warehouses. All the buildings were made of brick and were in good condition for their age.
In 1869, there were plans to rebuild the wharf and connect it with the nearby Botolph Wharf. John Knill & Company (which later became the Fresh Wharf Company) bought the wharf completely in 1876.
In the 1930s, the Fresh Wharf Company rented the entire riverfront area from Cox and Hammond's Quay all the way to London Bridge Wharf. During the Second World War, the warehouses at Fresh Wharf and Cox and Hammond's Quay were damaged by a V-1 flying bomb. This bomb also destroyed the nearby Nicholson's Wharf.
After the war, a new ten-story warehouse was built in 1953 as part of the expanded New Fresh Wharf. It had a huge amount of storage space. However, this new warehouse only lasted twenty years. In the 1970s, ships started using large metal containers to transport goods, which meant fewer ships came to the old London docks. Because of this, the wharf was no longer needed and was torn down in 1973.
Today, an office building called St Magnus House stands where the wharf used to be. It was built in 1978. The area where the old quayside was is now part of the Thames Path, a walking trail along the river.
