Chambers Wharf redeveloped

Some old pictures of Chambers Wharf (possibly from 2006-7):

The image above is taken from the stub of Llewellyn Street looking towards Cloyne Row (today Chambers Street).  The little building on the right may have been part of a terrace the rest of which was demolished.  Llewellyn Street was reasonably big and had trees planted down it - originally called Llewellyn Grove.

It is interesting that the streets in this part of Bermondsey are all long and parallel to one another.  A series of parallel roads stretch from Jamaica Road to Bermondsey Wall.  On a map of 1795 these were recorded as: Nutkine Corner, Salisbury Lane and East Lane, and to the right were some 'rope walks'.  These perhaps hold the clue as to the orientation of the later roads on top of them.  Rope walks are lanes or paths where material was stretched out prior to being twisted into rope.  To the west of the rope walks was Jacob's Island - this is covered in a separate blog such is its extensive history!

Chambers Wharf itself was a series of cold stores that stretched between Cloyne Row and Llewellyn Street to the south, Loftie Street to the east, Bermondsey Wall and the Thames to the north and Channel Row and East Lane to the west.  When I first walked around this area I was interested in creating location drawings - sadly I didn't do any of Chambers Wharf before it was demolished, but I took lots of photos instead.  I was fascinated by the atmosphere that these huge buildings gave this riverside area - something that will never be seen again in this area.  I realised that these were some of the last industrial buildings here.  The buildings above are the cold stores, and the wharf itself was between the river and Bermondsey Wall.  A bit of the wharf may be pictured below - I couldn't quite work out which bit it was from the map, which shows a series of buildings!

The recently demolished cold stores were built in the 1930s, and this is obvious from their appearance which has an Art-Deco feel to it.  The facade almost reminds me of a cinema or bingo hall albeit more industrial looking!  Before the cold stores, in the late 19th century this area had lots of huge granaries, which seem to be roughly the same alignment and shape as the cold stores on the maps.

For many years Bermondsey and much of the Thames riverfront in this area was characterised by tall factories, wharfs, warehouses and cold stores like these.  Bermondsey had so many factories it was known as 'London's Larder' and elderly residents from the area remember the rich smells that infused the air here - particularly biscuits!  (Peek Freans, Jacobs and Spillers (dogs' biscuits) were all here.)  Vinegar, jam and custard were also made in the area, and added to this was the aroma of the important tanning industries of the area (less of a good smell!)  Old maps of the area show lots of rope walks and tanning yards to confirm this.  Below is Loftie Street and a warehouse that backs onto it - on the wall you can see the remains of another warehouse with arched windows that was attached to this (?)