Queenhithe Wharf

Queenhithe Wharf

On the Thames, in Queenhithe Ward, at the southern end of the street called Queenhithe (P.O. Directory).

The earliest mention occurs in a Charter of Alfred of 899, granting land near "Aetheredes hyd" to Archbishop Plegmund and to Werfrid, Bishop of Worcester (Birch, II pp. 220–1, and Kemble, MLXXIV.).

The Earl Harold made a grant to Peterborough monastery of land in London near "monasterium Sancti Pauli juxta portumque vocatur Etheredishythe" (Dugdale, I. 386).

In the 12th century it was in possession of Queen Adelicia of Louvain, wife of Henry I., and she made mention of it in a charter granted by her to the church of Reading as "heda mea Londoniae" (Dugdale, IV. 42).

In a Charter of Henry II. it is referred to as "Ripa Reginae que appellatur Atheres hethe" (Dugdale, VI. 635).

William de Ypres made a grant of "Edredeshyda" to the Canons of Holy Trinity, which grant was confirmed by King Stephen (Anc. Deeds, A. 6684).

King John gave "Ripam Reginae" to Queen Alienore (Rot. Hund. I. 404), and Queen Isabel gave it to her son Richard of Cornwall (ib. 403 and 414).

In 30 Hen. III. it was leased by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, to the Mayor and citizens of London at a fee farm rent of £50 by the name of Queenhithe, which gift was confirmed by the King (Cal. L. Bk. C. p. 15).

Forms of name: "Quenehithe," 8 H. III. (Cal. P.R. 1216–25, p. 445). "Quenehid," 3 Hen. III. (Cal. L. and M. Feet of Fines, I. 14). "Hithe Regine," 1231 (Cal. Close R. H. III. 1227–31, p. 497).

The customs to be adhered to in "Soka Reginae" are set out in Liber Albus, I. 238–41. Corn was to be landed at Queenhithe only and fish for foreign parts. These orders were re-enacted 3 Ed. IV. as they had fallen into disuse to the hurt of the City (Cal. L. Bk. L. p. 45).

In early times the port of Queenhithe was equal in importance to Billingsgate as a dock and market, and its gradual decline was due solely to its position above the Bridge, which made it less easy of access for larger vessels.

From the records set out above, it appears that the original name of the wharf was "Etheredishyth," evidently the name of the owner or builder, and it may even have originally belonged to one of the kings bearing this name, which in the form of "Ethelred" or "Ethered" was one of the names of most common occurrence in Saxon times.

The name "Ripa Reginae" seems to have come into use not later than the 12th century, and the subsequent form "Queenhithe" is merely the English rendering of this Latin name.

The Charter of Alfred quoted above is very interesting, suggesting as it does the existence of a sea-wall at this point. If further light could be thrown upon this it might furnish proof of the existence of the southern wall of the City, of which there is at present no reliable record.

Queenhithe. So called as being a Haven more particularly belonging to the ancient Queens of England. It is now a noble Market for Malt and Meal brought from the Western Counties, (as Bear Key is for Corn). Market Days are every Day, but chiefly Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. It was formerly called Edred's Hithe.

Queen-Hithe Dock and Stairs, Upper Thames-Street,—at 60, about the middle of the S. side a few doors E. from Bread-street hill.

Queenhithe, Upper Thames-street, is a small hithe or haven nearly opposite Bread-street-hill, and is much used for the landing of corn, flour and other dry goods, from the west of England. It belonged anciently to Edred, a Saxon chieftain, and was called after him, Edred's hithe. It afterwards fell into the hands of King Stephen, and in the reign of Henry III. it was called Ripa Reginæ, or the Queen's hithe, the revenues being settled on her.

Queenhithe, in Upper Thames Street, a short distance west of Southwark Bridge, a common quay for the landing of corn, flour, and other dry goods from the west of England,—originally called "Edred's hithe" or bank, from "Edred, owner thereof,"—but known, from a very early period as Ripa Reginæ, the Queen's bank or Queenhithe, because it pertained unto the Queen. King John is said to have given it to his mother, Eleanor, Queen of Henry II. It was long the rival of Billingsgate, and would have retained the monopoly of the wharfage of London had it been below instead of above bridge. In the 13th century it was the usual landing-place for wine, wool, hides, corn, firewood, fish, and indeed all kinds of commodities then brought by sea to London, and the City Records afford minute details as to "the Customs of Queen-Hythe," and the tolls ordered to be taken there by Edward I. But while the Queen's bailiff was authorised to take Scavage (or custom's toll) upon all goods landed there "in the same manner in which the Sheriffs of London take Scavage for his lordship the King in London elsewhere," it was declared that "all assizes of the City at the Hustings provided and enacted for the amendment of the City are to be enacted and observed" here.¹ As an illustration of the nature of the regulations we may cite the directions laid down for the measurement of corn:—

Every chief master-meter of all the serving people at Queen Hythe, shall find a quarter, bushel, half-bushel, strike [or strickle for smoothing the surface when the measure is full], and one horse. And there shall be eight chief masters, and each of such eight masters shall have three associates standing there; and each of such three so standing there shall find one horse and seven sacks, etc. ... And of right there ought to be at Queen Hyde eight chief [or standard] measures for the measurement of corn. ... None of the said horses [of the master-meters and their servants] shall be taken by the Sheriffs, or by any other persons in their names from the performance of their duties. ... Also that no one of the said meters shall mete for any stranger without leave of the Bailiff of Queen Hythe. ... Also that no meter, or any servant of theirs shall interfere between buyers and sellers, etc.²

For their meterage and carrying they are strictly forbidden to take "more than according to ancient custom ought to be taken," which is stated to be "for the measurement, porterage, and carriage of one quarter of wheat," as far as Westcheap, the church of Anthony in Budge Row and the like, "one halfpenny farthing," as far as Fleet Bridge, Newgate, Estchepe, and Billyngesgate, one penny, and for all streets and lanes beyond "as far as the Bar of the suburbs," one penny farthing. For measuring and carrying salt "no one of the meters shall take beyond one farthing more than for corn, and that according to the limits prescribed for corn." "And the Bailiff of Queen Hythe shall not take more than five shillings of a chief meter of corn and salt, or of his servant more than two shillings as his fee." For other merchandise the regulations are equally precise and stringent. No vessel was allowed to lie at anchor or be moored elsewhere than at Billingsgate or Queenhithe between sunset and sunrise, nor be placed near the Bankside of Southwark, on pain of the owners and masters losing the vessels and being sent to prison. The sixth charter of Henry III. confirms a grant by the Earl of Cornwall of the customs of Queenhithe to the City of London in consideration of a farm rent of £50 per annum.³ When shipping began to stay below bridge—probably in part owing to the use of larger vessels and the difficulty of carrying them safely through the bridge—the decline of Queenhithe was rapid. Fabyan says that in the reign of Henry VII. the tolls barely amounted to £15 per annum.

Peele's chronicle-play of King Edward I. (4to, 1593) contains, among other things, "Lastly the sinking of Queen Elinor, who sunck at Charing Crosse and rose again at Pottershith, now named Queenhith." When accused by King Edward of her crimes, she replies in the words of the old ballad:—

If that upon so vile a thing
   Her heart did ever think,
She wish'd the ground might open wide,
   And therein she might sink!
With that at Charing Cross she sunk
   Into the ground alive;
And after rose with life again,
   In London at Queenhith.

It is here written "Queenhith," but our old dramatists almost always wrote it "Queenhive." Stow says nothing about "Pottershith." Milton refers scornfully to "That old wives tale of a certaine Queene of England that sunk at Charing Crosse and rose up at Queene-hithe."⁴

A sleeping watchman here we stole the shoes from,
There made a noise, at which he wakes, and follows;
The streets are dirty, takes a Queenhithe cold,
Hard cheese, and that, chokes him o' Monday next.
Beaumont and Fletcher. Monsieur Thomas (Works, by Dyce, vol. vii. p. 375).

From a right hand I assure you
The eel boats here that lie before Queenhythe
Came out of Holland.—Ben Jonson, Staple of News.

Mistress Birdlime. But I'll down to Queenhive and the watermen which were wont to carry you to Lambeth Marsh shall carry me thither.—Westward Ho, vol. iv. p. I (1607, 4to).

In the first quarter of the 17th century Queenhithe seems to have been the headquarters of the London watermen, whose place of assembly was an alehouse called the Red Knight.

In this time of Lent I being in the watermen's garrison of Queen-hive (whereof I am a souldier) and having no imploiment, I went with an intent to incounter with that most valiant and hardy champion of Queen-hive commonly called by the name of Red Knight.—West-ward for Smelts (Percy Soc. vol. lxxviii. p. 6).

When the Earl of Essex found that the attempt to "raise" the City was hopeless, and that he would scarce succeed in returning to Essex House by Ludgate, he made his way to Queenhithe and escaped thence in a boat. Tom Hill (Paul Pry) carried on his business as a drysalter in Queenhithe.⁵

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¹ Liber Albus, B. iii. pt. i., and Riley's Memorials.
² Liber Albus, p. 212.
³ Norton, p. 320.
⁴ Milton, Premonstrant’s Defence (Works, 1641, vol. i. p. 223.
⁵ Letter, dated Queenhithe, May 17, 1803.