The District 
Butlers Wharf London SE1
Nearest Tube: London Bridge SE1- Tower Hill EC3

Butlers Wharf
On the south bank of the Thames immediately east of Tower Bridge (and therefore opposite St Katharine's Dock) lies Butlers Wharf. Once it was a complex of wharves and warehouses that was part of the Port of London docks complex. Then, along with the rest of the docks, it fell into decline. The mean, dilapidated lanes within the complex enjoyed brief fame as a Dr Who film set during the early eighties, but after the departure of the Daleks the developers moved in and began the transformation of the wharf into an imaginative mix of apartments, offices, restaurants and leisure facilities. At the time of writing most of the refurbishment is complete. 
Acentral piazza is the main focal point of the complex. A riverside walk has also been opened up, part of the Thames Path from the Greenwich flood barrier up to the source in Cricklade, Gloucestershire. The main road though the wharf, the strangely-named Shad Thames, still features the overhead goods gantries that once linked the warehouses together. 

Recently opened within the complex are the London Design museum and the adjacent Tea and Coffee museum. The Wharf complex is bounded to the east by the sinister tidal inlet of St Saviour's Dock, beside which stands New Concordia Wharf. This building has now been converted into offices and apartments but, a century ago, Charles Dickens set Bill Sykes's den here in "Oliver Twist". I wonder what Dickens would have made of the area's transformation.


Butlers Wharf is where the Pool of London really established itself. The old tea, coffee and spice warehouses of yesteryear have now been tastefully converted into prestigious apartments, top quality restaurants, art galleries, designer shops and other places of interest such as the Design Museum. Butlers Wharf has a good selection of outlets for the specialist shopper. For food and drink connoisseurs there is Conran's Le Pont Foodstore, offering fine quality produce, charcuterie, cheeses and freshly baked bread, and also Le Pont Wine Merchant resembling a huge wine vault full of quality wines - two great places to stop by to pick up a few items to make an evening meal extra special. Along Shad Thames you will find a number of useful shops such as Tower Bridge Flowers, the newsagent Divine News and also the Coffeekiosk and Starbucks - excellent to drop into for a quick drink-in or takeaway beverage.
For gifts and accessories there is Hide All, Design Museum Shop, Tower Bridge Gift Shop and of course all the art galleries that you can discover in the maze of streets in and around Butlers Wharf.
If you are shopping around for a larger purchase there are four estate agents specialising in accommodation in the Butlers Wharf area. 

It is a great place to wander around and soak up London's old port history. Stroll along the cobbled streets between what used to be the old warehouses which retain the aerial walkways that join them to the riverside.

The riverbank at Butlers Wharf is a picturesque setting for Conran's Gastrodrome, four Terence Conran restaurants all lined up to tantalise your tastebuds. 

Situated between 2 historic conservation areas, Tower Bridge and St Saviour's Dock, Butler's Wharf accommodates 17 listed warehouses and some outstanding modern buildings. Together, under the chairmanship of Sir Terence Conran, have been renovated in to a mixed development of residential, specialty shops, and a wide selection of top restaurants (Clinton ate here). This was an early success of the renovation of the dock area. The renovations are continuing along the entire south side of the river