Hay's Galleria facts for kids
Hay's Galleria is a mixed use building in the London Borough of Southwark situated on the south bank of the River Thames featuring offices, restaurants, shops, and flats. Originally a warehouse and associated wharf (Hay's Wharf) for the port of London, it was redeveloped in the 1980s. It is a Grade II listed structure.
Contents
History
Hay's Wharf
Hay's Galleria is named after its original owner, the merchant Alexander Hay, who acquired the property – then a brewhouse – in 1651. In around 1840 John Humphrey Jnr acquired a lease on the property. He asked William Cubitt (who was father-in-law to two of Humphrey's sons) to convert it into a 'wharf', in fact an enclosed dock, in 1856 and it was renamed Hay's Wharf.
During the nineteenth century, the wharf was one of the chief delivery points for ships bringing tea to the Pool of London. At its height, 80% of the dry produce imported to London passed through the wharf, and on this account the wharf was nicknamed 'the Larder of London'. The wharf was largely rebuilt following the Great Fire of Southwark in June 1861 and then continued in use for nearly a century until it was badly bombed in September 1940 during the Second World War.
In 1920, the owners of the wharf purchased the shares of Pickfords as part of their Hay's Wharf Cartage Company subsidiary. This subsidiary was sold to the Big Four railways in 1933.
The progressive adoption of containerisation during the 1960s led to the shipping industry moving to deep water ports further down the Thames and the subsequent closure of Hay's Wharf in 1970.
Activities
Office tenants have included the UK social work regulator, the General Social Care Council, and the Social Care Institute for Excellence. The pub at the riverside entrance, 'The Horniman at Hay's', is named to commemorate one of the main tea-producing companies associated with the trade here.
Due to its location on the southern Thames Path, its panoramic views over the City of London from the riverside, and the location between London City Hall and Southwark Cathedral, Hay's Galleria is visited by many tourists and local workers. For 20 years it housed a year-round market - the Hays Galleria Market, which operated seven days a week. It had a resident artist, and for more than 2 decades, it was home to several permanent independent traders, long-term tenants of St Martins Property Corporation selling souvenirs, touristic apparel, and jewellery from traditional barrows positioned in fixed locations in the Galleria. On 8 October 2010, on the orders of CBRE, the managing agents, the barrows were removed. The barrows were reinstated under the new managing agents post 2014, and as at 22 August 2017 there are 8 barrows operating in the Galleria.
Transport
- River services: London Bridge City Pier (Commuter service)
- Tube/National Rail: London Bridge station
Images for kids
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The Navigators, 1987, a sculpture by David Kemp
