Pool of London

The Pool of London is a section of the River Thames in London. It begins at the London Bridge and go down river to Rotherhithe. Here was the original Port of London, to the 20th century, it was commercially vital for the city. The Upper Pool extends from London Bridge to Tower Bridge, the Lower Pool of the Tower Bridge until after Rotherthide.

The boat trip to London for centuries ends at London Bridge, which does not permit passage of large ships. In the 16th century, ships began to anchor and unload there on smaller boat through the increase in traffic in the middle of the river. Until the 18th century, the pool had become the most densely trafficked piece of river in the world. End of the 18th century, the tightness in the pool was so grown that ships anchored there, where they found just space - almost always other ships blocked the way. Calculations of 1798 assumed that at any given time on average were 689 ships with a displacement of 141 tons each. A third of these were ships from the West Indies, which represented two -thirds of the mass due to its larger displacement. The ever increasing ships had also problems to bypass the treacherous river locations around the Isle of Dogs to go to the pool.

The construction of new docks further east relieved the pool in the 19th century. The port has shifted to the east. On the Isle of Dogs, West India Docks emerged. However, the pool was a hub of activity. The importance of its maritime prevented the construction of the Thames crossing east of London Bridge. Only the Tower Bridge end of the 19th century tunnel, then as a bascule bridge.

Due to the advent of the container and the changes in shipping the pool and standing there docks declined in importance. The new large ships no longer came up the Thames far enough. Since the 1990s the London effort with the Pool of London Partnership as a reclassification of the area. Trying to even the notion Pool of London to establish himself in the vernacular and to tourists, but was unsuccessful.

Today, several docks of London River Services are at the pool, as well as the HMS Belfast is permanently fixed in the pool.