Leonard Bentley
Old Swan Pier
This is a Magic Lantern Slide showing Old Swan Pier and London Bridge, the view is looking east and downstream from the Allhallows Pier. The first Old Swan Pier was erected by the owners of the Commercial Wharf in 1837 but the Pier in the photograph was erected in 1863 by the Thames Conservancy after objections by the Fishmongers Guild and owners of nearby wharves. The Pier on which the photographer stands is the Allhallows Pier which was adjacent to Cannon Street Railway Bridge. This Pier was also built in 1863 and was objected to by the Clothworkers Guild, the High Court found in favour of the Thames Conservancy in both cases. Each Pier was 300 feet long and built on similar lines, the paddle steamer arriving at Old Swan Pier belongs to the Thames Steamboat Company which was in business from 1898 until 1908. The date of the photograph is probably about 1900, London Bridge which was opened in 1831 appears to still have the pedestrian shelters which were removed in 1902-1904 during the widening of the roadway. During its working life Old Swan Pier catered for the Penny Steamers which acted as water buses of their day and it was the London Pier for New Palace Steamers and The General Steam Navigation Company boats which plied the below the bridge trade which meant that they provided a passenger service to the Thames estuary towns and north Kent and Norfolk coastal towns. The most famous Palace steamers were the Royal Sovereign and the Koh-i-Noor, both of which could operate upstream of London Bridge because they had articulated funnels. The General Steam Navigation Company ran the Eagle boats, The Royal, Golden and Crested Eagle which had a mixture of articulated and telescoped funnels could also operate upstream from London Bridge at the Old Swan Pier. The Crested Eagle was the most modern of the paddle steamers mentioned and only used the Pier for a couple of years when it was decided to move Old Swan Pier to a new location which became Tower Pier adjacent to the Tower of London in the Pool of London. In 1928 parts of Old Swan Pier were used in the construction of the new Pier and the below the bridge services transferred to Tower Pier in 1929. The fate of Allhallows Pier is unknown to me, it appears to have been closed and dismantled just before the outbreak of the first world war but there is little information on the subject, so if anyone can throw more light on the fate of the Pier please feel free.
Old Swan Pier
This is a Magic Lantern Slide showing Old Swan Pier and London Bridge, the view is looking east and downstream from the Allhallows Pier. The first Old Swan Pier was erected by the owners of the Commercial Wharf in 1837 but the Pier in the photograph was erected in 1863 by the Thames Conservancy after objections by the Fishmongers Guild and owners of nearby wharves. The Pier on which the photographer stands is the Allhallows Pier which was adjacent to Cannon Street Railway Bridge. This Pier was also built in 1863 and was objected to by the Clothworkers Guild, the High Court found in favour of the Thames Conservancy in both cases. Each Pier was 300 feet long and built on similar lines, the paddle steamer arriving at Old Swan Pier belongs to the Thames Steamboat Company which was in business from 1898 until 1908. The date of the photograph is probably about 1900, London Bridge which was opened in 1831 appears to still have the pedestrian shelters which were removed in 1902-1904 during the widening of the roadway. During its working life Old Swan Pier catered for the Penny Steamers which acted as water buses of their day and it was the London Pier for New Palace Steamers and The General Steam Navigation Company boats which plied the below the bridge trade which meant that they provided a passenger service to the Thames estuary towns and north Kent and Norfolk coastal towns. The most famous Palace steamers were the Royal Sovereign and the Koh-i-Noor, both of which could operate upstream of London Bridge because they had articulated funnels. The General Steam Navigation Company ran the Eagle boats, The Royal, Golden and Crested Eagle which had a mixture of articulated and telescoped funnels could also operate upstream from London Bridge at the Old Swan Pier. The Crested Eagle was the most modern of the paddle steamers mentioned and only used the Pier for a couple of years when it was decided to move Old Swan Pier to a new location which became Tower Pier adjacent to the Tower of London in the Pool of London. In 1928 parts of Old Swan Pier were used in the construction of the new Pier and the below the bridge services transferred to Tower Pier in 1929. The fate of Allhallows Pier is unknown to me, it appears to have been closed and dismantled just before the outbreak of the first world war but there is little information on the subject, so if anyone can throw more light on the fate of the Pier please feel free.