For the first time, this blog features an ornament of the future.White Hart Drawdock is a medieval wharf a little upstream of Lambeth Palace, dating back to the 15th century at least. In the 1860s it was cut off from the Thames by the construction of the Albert Embankment, but access was maintained through a pair of tunnels beneath the new road. The enormous Doulton pottery works was next door, and the wharf was busy with barges taking the firm's ceramic drainpipes to London Docks for export round the world.
After Doulton's closed in 1956, White Hart Drawdock languished unused and increasingly unsightly until Berkeley Homes were forced to put their hands in their pockets as a condition of planning permission for nearby flats. Now the wharf is being restored and beautified with oak arches and 'street boats' by Handspring Design. It should look rather nice - the designs are here.
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