EVERY WEEK
SEPTEMBER 2, 2026
The Norman Issue
What did they ever do for us?
In the footsteps of the first travel writer The Seed Detective and how to escape quicksand
Property news
Edited by Julie Harding
cools Lutyens listing is Red hot Market despite heatwave T W HAT the Victorian Society describes as an ‘early and seminal house’ by Sir Edwin Lutyens has come to the market with Knight Frank. The Grade II*-listed Red House in Godalming, Surrey, regarded as one of his most inventive domestic works, was built in 1897–99 for the Revd Henry James Evans, a retired housemaster and honorary chaplain of nearby Charterhouse School. Constructed in red brick with dramatic chimney stacks, it stands on a steeply sloping hillside with a garden of just under an acre, the design of which was influenced by Gertrude Jekyll, ofttime collaborator with Lutyens. Having been in the hands of the current owners since 1975, The Red House has been carefully preserved and maintained, says Tim Harriss of Knight Frank’s Guildford office. It has 12 bedrooms, four bathrooms and four reception rooms and is on the market for £1.35 million (01483 617910).
Kay & Co is marketing a four-bedroom mews house in one of Bayswater’s most attractive addresses. Leinster Mews, London W2, is a quiet, cobbled cul-de-sac, tucked away beneath an archway and, as were other mews, it was built as stables and coach-house accommodation serving the surrounding terraces. The current owners have renovated the property and fully extended it with a basement and an extra storey, resulting in almost 2,300sq ft of internal space. It has an asking price of £3m (020–7262 2030)
HE long hot summer of 1976 saw average UK house prices rise by 8.1% in nominal terms. So far this year, they’ve risen by only 1.8%, according to the Nationwide Index. This was one of the findings by the team at Savills Research, which has been comparing economic and housing market metrics between the last prolonged heatwave 50 years ago and this year’s. Overall, its studies have unearthed some fascinating parallels—and differences. For example, in 1976, the bank base rate started the year at 11% and ended at 14.25%. This year it began at 3.75%. In 1976, there were 1.34 million housing transactions across the UK. Data from HMRC released in mid August revealed that there had been just under 1.2 million in the year to June. ‘Although borrowing costs are nowhere near the double-digit levels seen then, recent increases in fixedrate mortgage pricing have prompted some buyers to reassess affordability and many are keen to lock in lower-rate offers before they expire,’ says Lucian Cook, head of research at Savills. ‘House-price growth is also far more subdued than it was in 1976. However, once inflation is taken into account, in both cases prices were falling in real terms, even if that underlying rate of inflation was very different.’
My first house in the country Sir Nicholas Coleridge
A quick description It had three bedrooms, a garden large enough for a badminton net and a defunct night-storage heater in the kitchen. We were there from 1985–88 What made you rent it? I was dating a first-year Oxford student and, being eight years older, my strategy was to lure her out of university for weekends and pack the cottage with
friends older than myself, so I appeared more age appropriate. It worked. Georgia and I have been married since 1989 How did you find it? I rented it from a friend’s parents. The Aclands were perfect landlords who owned the whole village and charged a peppercorn rent. In those pre-mobile, days, a red telephone box on the village green was used to organise social outings Any grumbling about the landlords? Periodically, Liz Acland would
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ride past our front garden on her giant hunter and observe that Japanese knotweed was dimly visible between the flowers. I can’t recall doing much about it. Years later, they generously sold us their beautiful mahogany circular dining-room table for a small charity donation, and we have used it ever since at our house in Worcestershire Favourite aspect? The walks—across the fields to Turkdean in the hope of spotting rock legend Steve Winwood, who lived there, or to The Plough Inn in Cold Aston
How did you make it your own? We arrived to find it furnished— every plate, pillowcase and log basket in place. When the owners finally collected it all, we explored the antique shops and markets of Cirencester and Tetbury. Most of the mirrors and Turkish rugs we bought are still with us now Why did you move? The cottage had fulfilled its covert purpose and we became engaged. We left with the happiest of memories. Occasionally we pass through Notgrove and think: ‘That was cold, but fun’ Sir Nicholas Coleridge is Provost of Eton and chair of Historic Royal Palaces and The King’s Foundation
Compiled by Arabella Youens
Where was it? I rented a stone Cotswold cottage in the village of Notgrove, on a Gloucestershire estate between Bourton-onthe-Water and Northleach
What’s hot…
Northern commuter belts Homes on the outskirts of Glasgow and Manchester have seen the biggest rise in asking prices, according to Rightmove. Planning powers Mayors in England are set to gain powers to call in and determine major planning applications under reforms designed to give regional leaders a greater role in housing developments.
… and what’s not
Leasehold flats Nine in 10 of those listed for sale are still on the market, buyers put off by asking prices and high service charges, research from Zoopla reveals. Second homeowners The City of Edinburgh Council is expected to reintroduce a 300% surcharge on council tax for owners with more than one home from January. His Majesty’s tax collectors HMRC has disputed media claims that it will be sending myriad valuers to assess properties for the mansion tax, saying that assessments will be conducted from existing information.
Illustration by Matthew Rice from Language of Buildings and Church Primer; www.matthewricewatercolours.co.uk
Family-run property-investment company The Malins Group, founded in 1972, has established a new private-client division and completed its first project: Wonersh House in the Surrey Hills. The property, set within 36 acres with both lake and river frontage, was purchased in 2023 in a state of disrepair. The owner turned to the Malins team for help. A 10,000sq ft house now stands at its heart, alongside a coach house, pool complex and a four-car garage (www.malinsgroup.co.uk)
The Fell Hotel, on the edge of the Duke of Devonshire’s Bolton Abbey estate in Burnsall, North Yorkshire, is for sale at £1.95m. With 16 bedrooms, it has a strong reputation and Julian Troup, head of UK hotels at Colliers, is seeking an owner who will keep it operating (0161–831 3324).
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Properties of the week
Julie Harding
Bathroom envy It’s time to take the plunge and buy a home where bog-standard bathrooms don’t exist and where bathtime is as grand as the house that surrounds the rolltop
West Sussex, £2.5 million Pulborough’s oldest recorded house, New Place Manor, which can trace its origins to the 13th century—with 16thand 18th-century additions—was once graced by a visit from Elizabeth I, who came in 1591, and for whom the Grade II*-listed stone archway, which still survives, was built in the grounds. Any visitors from those times would surely adore the many tasteful and sympathetic modernisations this property has undergone recently. At the same time, however, New Place Manor has maintained many medieval features, such as a 17ft inglenook fireplace. Other highlights include a triple-height, galleried, light-filled and inviting kitchen, a double-height drawing room and seven bedrooms that make this house a paradise for visitors. There are also elegant Lefroy Brooks bathrooms in which to linger. The grounds, which run to about 1½ acres, include a grass tennis court and swimming pool. There is also a detached home office. Knight Frank (01428 770563)
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West Yorkshire, £750,000 Anyone who loves to pass the time bathing in a cast-iron bath next to an artwork won’t want to pass up the opportunity of purchasing No 2 Gads Hill, which enjoys a private, wooded position above the historic market town of Halifax. The floral wallpaper is as colourful as the history of this house, which was built in 1882 by local entrepreneur Wilkinson Pickles, a fan of Charles Dickens. Pickles was so enamoured that he even named his own house after the famous author’s home in Kent. No 2’s Yorkshire-stone exterior provides shelter to an interior that still retains a Victorian look and feel, in part thanks to its decorative plasterwork, stained-glass windows and six fireplaces. There is even a former servant’s kitchen and historic bell system for an authentic trip back through time. The two reception rooms have impressively lofty 10ft ceilings, with the dining room currently containing a table that seats 20. Who would ever forget formal suppers here? Complementing the arty bathroom, the main one boasts deep-green glazed tiles, patterned wallpaper and a walk-in rainfall shower. Privacy is guaranteed thanks to a ring of mature trees that envelop No 2, Gads Hill’s half an acre of established gardens. Finest (0330 111 2266)
Essex, £2.75 million Grade II listed and thought to date back to the 18th century, The Mill House possesses, according to the agent, ‘timeless character and refined interiors’, confirmed by the exposed beams throughout the almost 6,200sq ft of accommodation. There are four reception rooms, six bedrooms and four elegant bathrooms. Bespoke cabinetry graces the kitchen/ breakfast room and this space offers access to a secluded rear terrace—the perfect place for a spot of alfresco entertaining. The Mill House, set in just over two acres, stands in the picturesque hamlet of Howe Street about six miles north of Chelmsford city centre. For those who put recreation high on their wish list, the leisure complex next to the main house has a swimming pool. Strutt & Parker (07894 613981)
East Sussex, £1.8 million–£2 million ‘Even after my 30-plus year career selling country property in Sussex and Kent, the bathroom at Denes House is truly at the top of amazing,’ says Matthew Braxton, company director at agent Batcheller Monkhouse. Adding to the room’s charms, when you’re soaking in this deep teal tub, the views across the Dudwell valley, which is synonymous with author and poet Rudyard Kipling and his nearby home of Bateman’s, are glorious. The other spaces within this six-bedroom, front-rendered and colour-washed Grade II-listed house in Burwash match the standard set by this bathing retreat. This is mainly thanks to a tasteful refurbishment in 2018, when the Willow Tree kitchen/breakfast room was also remodelled and refitted. The drawing room (which boasts an ornate carved fireplace) offers access to the terrace and those views across the Dudwell valley that are also visible from the bathroom. The garden is partwalled. Etchingham main-line railway station, with fast trains to London, is just over two miles away. Batcheller Monkhouse (01424 77557)
If only I’d bought… Surrey, £4.85 million Wood End in Esher, Surrey, has more bathrooms than bedrooms—seven versus six (including one in the annexe)— dispensing with queues if idle teenagers are in the house. Besides this obvious bonus, the agent, Karl Matier says: ‘This has to be one of the prettiest homes I’ve ever brought to the market. If you’re a fan of Georgian architecture, but want a house that offers the conveniences of modern-day living, you will be hard pressed to find a finer property.’ On the ground floor is a drawing room and a 23¼ft by 13½ft kitchen (furnished by Higham Furniture), ideal for formal entertaining or family living. The kitchen, like the orangery, forms part of a relatively new extension and the latter has three sets of double doors to the garden. The younger generations will appreciate the playroom and the cinema room, which means no need to go out to view the latest releases. Mature planting frames the garden’s lawns. Savills (01372 461900)
October 7, 1949
Could you guess the value? Try our house-price quiz every day at www.countrylife.co.uk/quiz
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London Life
Your indispensable guide to the capital
Will London’s smartest restaurants ever go so far as to serve a yard of ale or will that be one element kept purely for the pub?
When is a pub no longer a pub?
Getty
M
Y enviable job as Lifestyle Editor means that I receive an unenviable volume of press releases every day. Most of them barely get a look-in. A few hit the mark and earn replies. Some stand out for more quizzical reasons, as did one announcing the launch of a pub in Battersea Power Station, SW11. ‘Really?’ I thought. A pub in a shopping mall? Those don’t really go together, unless it’s the Wetherspoons at Heathrow Terminal 5, in which case they absolutely do. The pub in question is called The Hero’s Return—not to be confused with The Hero, a pub in Maida Vale, W9. The two hostelries share similar DNA: both belong to a new school of pub where the focus has shifted from the bar to the dining room. Overseeing the food at The Hero’s Return is Jonathan
Woolway, an alumnus of London’s best restaurant: St John, EC1. One cannot help but wonder if these pubs are really pubs. Our licensing laws do not prevent restaurants from calling themselves pubs, so long as they have a bar and can serve drinks on their own without a meal. Should this really be enough to qualify them, however? Above anything else, the pub is a watering hole: a space for friends and neighbours to gather, drink, play cards and perhaps join a trivia night. I find it odd when people go to the pub to read—or have a meeting. (They do.) Why, given the opportunity, would a restaurant choose to call itself a pub? Decades ago, the idea would have been unfathomable. Pubs wanted to call themselves restaurants,
boasting of their brand-new dining rooms as the nation’s culinary nous and expectations rose for the first time. They attempted to shed their image as outmoded dives, good only for darts and men called Keith. These days, the opposite is true. With good food to be found on every street corner, the playing field has changed. A restaurant can distinguish itself if it offers a convincing semblance of the pubs of yore—no matter how contrived. The search for conviviality (what young people call ‘vibes’) has replaced the pursuit of the edible in a city that frequently tops global dining rankings. Perhaps the pub is the most unlikely victor of our glossy and artificial times. Why not have one in the same Battersea building that houses Apple’s UK headquarters? WH September 2, 2026 | Country Life | 89
London Life Need to know Shop of the month
Fable & Mirth, No 5, Kensington Church Walk, W8
Opens Wednesday to Saturday, 11.30am–5.30pm, Sunday, 12 noon–4pm (www.fableandmirth.com)
VER found yourself pining for a hedgehog-shaped stapler? How about a leopard candleholder? Perhaps a parrot cookie jar? If the answer to any of these is yes, allow me to recommend Fable & Mirth. ‘There aren’t many shops like this in London,’ says co-owner Neely Reyes. The boutique only stocks one-of-a-kind pieces and the owners’ love of animals has been inspired by their mascot and ‘head of customer happiness’: Miss Reyes’s 13-year-old German Spitz, Lady. A portrait of said Lady proudly hangs in the establishment. Together with her and Miss Reyes, the shop is run by the latter’s younger sister, Surita, and their childhood friend Iain Warren. ‘He was Mr Mirth and I was Miss Fable,’ the eldest Reyes sister says. ‘Iain reckons he’s a comedy genius’—hence, ‘Mirth’. The shop opened last May and has returned the zing of youth to a handsome, but quiet part of the Royal Borough—albeit, one whose penchant for objets is already well established, thanks to the design stores that line Kensington Church Street. It made sense for Fable & Mirth to open here. Already, the shop, painted pink and green, had found a cult following. Inside you can peruse ornate mirrors from Mexico, stylish Italian notepads and plush Indian rugs. Surita Reyes explains that ‘the relationships you make with people’ is what makes a job like hers so enjoyable. ‘We’ll have people simply come in to ask how we are, which I think is so sweet.’ LB
Seasonal suggestions Go now Rory Kinnear stars in The Standard of Living, a new play about John Maynard Keynes moving between Whitehall and the Bloomsbury Group, reshaping post-war Britain as he goes. At Theatre Royal Haymarket, SW1, from September 21–December 12; tickets from £25 (www.trh.co.uk) Pippy Houldsworth Gallery presents ‘Liorah Tchiprout: The Family Katz’, a collection of portraits depicting a fictional Jewish family and friends that draws upon their representations in painting and literature from the 19th and 20th centuries, from September 4–October 3 (www.houldsworth.co.uk) Queen’s Park Book Festival returns for its final edition from September 5–6, featuring Philip
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A king, a queen, a favourite and a lover: the life of Edward II, which inspired Marlowe’s tragedy, is turned inside out in Sir George Benjamin and Martin Crimp’s opera Lessons in Love and Violence, at Queen Elizabeth Hall, SE1, on November 25. Tickets from £21 (www. southbankcentre.co.uk)
Pullman, Jacqueline Wilson and Yotam Ottolenghi (www. queensparkbookfestival.co.uk) Gloucestershire chef Romy Gill is now leading The Pem Restaurant, SW1—ushering in a new era of fine Indian dining at one of London’s hidden gems (www. thepemrestaurant.com)
Book ahead ‘Salman Toor: Someone Like You’ at The Courtauld Gallery, WC2, is the artist’s first solo exhibition in Europe, comprising 19 paintings that explore the experiences of young South Asian men in New York, including The Bar on East 13th, 2019 (above). From October 2. Tickets from £16 (www.courtauld.ac.uk)
Chris Pine makes his London stage debut in a new adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s Ivanov at the Bridge Theatre, SE1, from July 27–October 16, 2027 (www.bridgetheatre.co.uk) Mosimann’s Club, SW1, will host its annual ‘Evening with Welsh National Opera’ on October 15, featuring a threecourse dinner with wine. Members-only tickets are £195, including a donation to the WNO (www.mosimann.com) AEW
Illustration by Polly Crossman; Private Collection Salman Toor, Courtesy of the artist, Luhring Augustine New York and Thomas Dane Gallery, Photo Genevieve Hanson; Getty; Alamy; Amy Heycock
E
London Life Need to know In the hot seat Jonathan Yeo Favourite cocktail? An Espresso Martini at The Groucho Club, W1— where it was invented Dream bus route? The number 22, which runs from my home in Putney to my old studio in Chelsea Favourite building in London? I love Thomas Heatherwick’s Coal Drops Yard, King’s Cross, N1 Best place that no one goes to? The Real Cheese Shop on Barnes High Street, SW13, which is only open
on certain days and is run by two brilliant ladies Where do you go in the rain? To my studio—to paint North or South of the river? I live in south London and my studio is in north London, so I don’t have a favourite Jonathan Yeo is a contemporary artist whose portraits of The King, The Queen, Malala Yousafzai and Sir David Attenborough have brought him international acclaim. He holds an Honorary Doctorate of Art from the University of Kent and is a trustee at the National Portrait Gallery
Here’s looking at
Brown Hart Gardens, W1 • Think ‘electricity substation’ and you might imagine an industrial site of poles and buzzing wires on a brownfield. Not so the one in Brown Hart Gardens (right). Occupying the centre of this residential square, sandwiched in what Pevsner called the ‘queer hiatus’ between the grandeur of Grosvenor Square and the chaos of Oxford Street, this green enclave bears little resemblance to its industrial peers • Originally conceived by Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster, as a communal recreational area for the residents of the surrounding social housing, the gardens opened in 1889. Perhaps because they incorporated a drinking fountain and urinal, they attracted ‘disorderly boys’, ‘verminous women’ and ‘tramps’—to the locals’ disgust. Only 14 years later, the present electricity substation replaced the gardens, which, at the insistence of the Duke, were redesigned and relocated to its rooftop • The work of Charles Stanley Peach, the pre-eminent architect of power infrastructure buildings, this curious, Italianate edifice features Diocletian windows at ground level, tall Baroque gazebos at either end and Corinthian columns. The whole terrace is surrounded by a Classical balustrade. According to urban myth, the vast access doors to the substation below were designed to accommodate Queen Victoria’s pet elephant • On September 14, after a total redesign by the late landscape architect Nigel Dunnett 94 | Country Life | September 2, 2026
and Studio Ageli, the fourth incarnation of the gardens will be unveiled to the public, under the auspices of the adjacent Beaumont Hotel. The gardens will also feature a new, all-day Mediterranean restaurant, Pearl Mayfair, whose menu has been created by chef Lisa Goodwin-Allen of the Michelinstarred Northcote in Lancashire • Throughout the project, the hotel and design team worked alongside the residents of Brown Hart Gardens to ensure the Duke of Westminster’s original concept was respected, says Stuart Procter, CEO of The Beaumont. ‘This is about revitalising a unique piece of Mayfair’s history,’ he says. The electricity substation still functions silently within its elegant, Grade II-listed mantle. Teresa Levonian Cole
My plate of view Duchy, No 18, Phipp Street, EC2 The Duchy of Savoy no longer exists. Created by the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg in the 15th century, it once spanned a sizeable patchwork of south-western France, northern Italy and Switzerland, before being made part of France in 1860 under the Treaty of Turin. What would the dukes who ruled over it have made of the London restaurant with its name? History doesn’t record their views on griddled cabbage with cod’s roe or lowintervention wines, but as a pious lot— they fought under a Crusader flag—I think they’d have approved of this corner of Shoreditch, where the streets are named after Apostles. I worked nearby a long time ago and was a regular at Duchy’s predecessor, Leroy, one of the drivers of the small-plates boom. The same team now runs Duchy and I was pleased to see the turntables behind the bar still showcase a great vinyl collection. The menu is inflected by both the French (saucisson sec and cornichons) and the Italian (peaches and gorgonzola; cannoli). It naturally leans more towards the latter on the night we visit—the gratin dauphinoise with Taleggio and diots with wild-garlic aligot are inviting, but not in a heatwave. Fritto misto (courgettes, plump prawns and pearlescent white fish) proves just the ticket, so good you find yourself wondering whether to order another as soon as you take the first bite. A Vesuvio tomato panzanella is the finest we’ve ever had in this country or otherwise. Modern-day Savoie’s crisp, herbaceous white wines and light reds have so much going for them, but they’re still a niche concern in the UK, so it was a delight to see a full 21 bottles in the ‘Savoie’ section of the list (Jura, Franche-Comté and Piedmont are also well represented). This is not a themed restaurant—there are no cowbells or crossed skis on the walls— but it certainly gives you a flavour of the region. EH
London Life Seven of the best
Pops of colour
Will Hosie finds seven homes that refuse to play by the rules and forbid any ‘greige’
THE SHOWSTOPPER £19.5 million
THE PIED-À-TERRE 1.675 million
In Notting Hill, W2, this two-bedroom flat in The Dairy—a new development in an 1860 building—is near the buzz of a rapidly gentrifying Queensway. Once a working dairy and later an office, the site was restored by Black Treacle and Frost Architects, with Echlin handling interiors. Savills (020–7727 5750)
THE ONE BY THE RIVER £3.1 million Even the name is a giveaway. Clarence House, in Richmond, TW10, takes after the eponymous royal residence, being huge (12,012sq ft), regal (detached and Grade II listed) and built for entertaining. It also bears a blue plaque in homage to Bernardo O’Higgins, Liberator of Chile. The standout feature has to be the 50ft swimming pool, inside the house yet seamlessly connected to the garden via sliding doors. Knight Frank (020–8939 2800) This five- to six-bedroom townhouse on the banks of the Thames in Putney, SW15 —in the same family for 50 years—brims with character and is bathed in natural light. What makes it special is its proximity to Nature, with decking giving way to a long garden that leads to the water. The Modern House (020–3795 5920)
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THE COUNTRY GETAWAY £1.895 million
THE OASIS £3.5 million
This five-bedroom home with a lowerground floor apartment is on the market in Stoke Newington, N16. The streets here are named after Britain’s greatest writers —Milton Grove, Shakspeare Walk, Spenser Grove—and lead to Hertfordshire and beyond. A gateway to the East of England. Hamptons (020–3918 1969)
This two-bedroom flat in the Canal Building, N1, an icon of Art Deco London, is an urban oasis, giving as it does onto a body of water, namely the Regent’s Canal. Underground parking, an enviable roof terrace and 24-hour concierge service complement the offering. The Modern House (020–3795 5920)
THE BARGAIN
£1.65 million
THE ONE BY THE PARK £9.75 million
A new-build with an old soul, this is an eclectically furnished penthouse apartment a stone’s throw from Regent’s Park and Primrose Hill, NW1. The interiors span 4,250sq ft, with three bedrooms, offstreet parking, a roof terrace and a porter. Simon Deen (020–3005 3206); Savills (020–3043 3600)
Camberwell, SE5, may not be the most well-connected area, but, for an end-ofterrace 18th-century house as grand as this at this price, it may be the world’s easiest trade-off. Original patinated floorboards remain across all 2,500sq ft; there are four bedrooms—or three plus an annexe. Inigo (020–3687 3071)
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London Life
A tale of two riverbanks
I
As autumn beckons in the Docklands, Gio Fio reflects on what two neighbouring, yet contrasting areas on the Thames’s northern flank say about London’s knack for reinvention
ARRANGED to join a walk last November with my local University of the Third Age group, an idea that seemed straightforward enough until faced with the real enemy of any day out: the weather. Or rather, its peculiar ability to behave in a way that suggests it resents being forecast. The Met Office had declared rain at 60% four days earlier, then 70% the day before, then 40% by the morning, only for the sky to appear as blue and smug as on a Mediterranean travel brochure. I concluded long ago that the Met Office deserves our sympathy: after Michael Fish reassured the nation in 1987 that no hurricane would arrive, only to have one appear with theatrical force hours later, its confidence has never recovered. Our walk began at St Katharine Docks, E1, which has nothing to do with St Catherine of Alexandria, St Catherine of Siena, or even the Royal Foundation of St Katharine. The docks borrowed their name instead from a medieval hospital that once stood here. In the early 19th century, the precinct was swept aside to make way for a new commercial site. Thomas Telford designed the basins, Philip Hardwick the warehouses and the result opened in 1828 to mild fanfare and modest success. The narrow entrance prevented the largest ships from entering, a design flaw that feels like the architectural equivalent of buying a wardrobe only to find it won’t fit through the door. Commercial decline would beset St Katharine as other docks prospered. Bombing in the Second World War accelerated the decay; by 1968, commercial operations ceased. By the 1970s, the area began its second life as a leisure marina, pleasure craft now sitting politely in water once churned by labour. Stepping into the marina today feels like entering a club where membership is implied by proximity
to boats with polished teak. Restaurants, offices and apartment buildings line the water with an air of curated ease. Yet, beneath the refinement lies a scrambled history of demolition, slum clearance and utilitarian warehouses that spoke a more honest architectural language. If authenticity is measured by the scars of survival, St Katharine offers only faint lines. The effect is pleasant enough, although the sense of having entered a well-behaved waterside showroom is hard to ignore. It is an odd moment when one leaves the marina and enters the narrower streets beyond. The shift is immediate. The light changes. The air thickens slightly with the scent of the river rather than the fragrance of artisan coffee. Footsteps echo differently. For all the talk about respecting heritage, London has a habit of tidying its past until it resembles a postcard. Telford’s warehouses once hummed with labour. Goods were hauled directly from barges through loading doors that now belong to flats with entry systems tucked away from view. One begins to wonder which parts are original and which are the architectural equivalent of cosmetic dentistry; although whether this should be held against modern developers is a matter better left to those who enjoy writing letters to newspapers. Walking eastward towards Wapping, the landscape contracts. To the naked eye, the river seems to narrow—although not in truth—and the streets begin to show their age. Wapping is a survivor rather than a stage set; a sliver between the Thames and the Highway and a neighbourhood the history of which has not yet been polished into polite silence.
Pleasure craft now sit politely in water once churned by labour
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The grit and grime of the River Thames in its industrial heyday are revealed in James McNeill Whistler’s Wapping of 1860–64
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London Life
Warehouses still stand, converted into flats, but recognisably themselves. The cobbles, uneven in places, tell their stories without fuss. This was once a world of shipwrights, chandlers and lightermen who did not have the luxury of thinking about heritage. It was also the site of Execution Dock, where pirates were hanged at low tide so the incoming water could wash away their sins. Capt Kidd met his end here in 1701, a detail that the local pub, named after him, displays with cheerful confidence. The sign shows him in a white wig, flanked by illustrations of maritime violence. The river police, the world’s oldest organised force of its kind, began here in 1798 to deal with the endless theft that accompanied the port trade. Smuggling was common, wages were low and temptation immediate. The Thames does not encourage purity of behaviour. As the dock economy collapsed in the 1960s, Wapping suffered deeply. Jobs vanished, buildings emptied and the district hollowed out. The 1980s brought warehouse conversions and an influx of residents seeking the charm of dockland living. Then came the Murdoch print dispute of 1986, which brought the area to national attention as industrial conflict once more took hold of it. The grit of its heyday remains, lingering among the quiet and contemplative streets. 100 | Country Life | September 2, 2026
As in St Katharine Docks, the line between original buildings and their more polished, reconstructed cousins is not always obvious. Yet such is the fate of many cities that outlive their industries: history congeals into atmosphere rather than presence. A walk through these districts reveals a truth about the city. St Katharine Docks presents its best behaviour to visitors. Wapping shows history without apology. One is curated, the other lived. Both are honest in different ways.
Many of Wapping’s structures were not designed to please, but to work At one point during our walk, I thought of J. M. W. Turner—perhaps prompted by the greyness of the Thames or a slant of the autumn light that seemed to struggle with itself. The artist’s ability to paint luminosity from murk is rightly celebrated; poorly acknowledged, however, is his fascination with the body as much as the horizon. He understood that the line between beauty and decay is thin and that both are shaped by tide
and time. Wapping, with its mixture of surviving brick, converted warehouses and illicit memory, would likely have amused him. One suspects he would have found the marina at St Katharine Docks less compelling: too tidy, cautious and determined to behave. Turner enjoyed scenes where the river’s honesty exposed the absurdities of civilisation. He likely would have recognised the beauty in buildings that do not care whether we admire them. Many of Wapping’s structures are blessed with such indifference: they were not designed to please, but to work. Where Italy, my country of origin, builds outward and presents its beauty to the world, London builds inward, hiding it in function. As we returned to the starting point, I found myself thinking about the river’s effect on time. The tide hides the past twice a day and reveals it again without ceremony. The docks rise, fall, dry and irrigate themselves without care for interpretation. What survives are not the buildings, but the rhythm. Londoners adapt, plan, redevelop and argue. The Thames is a silent witness. Between the marina and the river lies a conversation about memory. One side edits it; the other lets it linger. Somewhere in the middle walks the observer, trying to decide whether the past is best preserved by polish or stubborn endurance.
Bridgeman Images; Getty; Alamy
Top left: The warehouses of Tobacco Dock remain a Wapping landmark. Bottom left: Whistler’s Thames Police (Wapping Wharf), 1859. Top right: St Katharine Dock’s modern marina. Bottom right: A flawed 19th-century redesign contributed to St Katharine’s downfall
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