The formation of the various docks where ships could be moored and laden or unladen in safety made a vast difference to the appearance of the Pool. St. Katherine's, East and West India and London Docks, on the northern bank, and the Commercial, Grand Surrey, and Timber Docks, on the southern bank, nearly all date from the first years of the nineteenth century.
Although the river had now been bridged in so many places in its course through London, it was resolved to burrow beneath it, and make a tunnel which should connect Rotherhithe with Wapping.
After many failures, from the river breaking in and drowning the works, it was thrown open to the public in 1843, a period of seventeen years having elapsed since Brunel first started it in 1826. The construction of another tunnel since has changed its original destination and it now serves as a railway.
Another colossal work below bridge was the construction of the Tower Bridge, London's Watergate, which is such a prominent feature in the view of the river, and, with its lofty towers, adds much to its picturesqueness, although, by its close propinquity, it has rather dwarfed both the Tower of London and London Bridge.
Next page: The Thames frozen over