Butler's Wharf is an English historic building at

Shad Thames Shad Thames is a historic riverside street next to Tower Bridge in Bermondsey, London, England, and is also an informal name for the surrounding area. In the 19th century, the street included the largest warehouse complex in London. Location S ...

on the south bank of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

, just east of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Listed building#Grade I, Grade I listed combined Bascule bridge, bascule, Suspension bridge, suspension, and, until 1960, Cantilever bridge, cantilever bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones ...

, now housing luxury flats and restaurants. Lying between Shad Thames and the Thames Path, it overlooks both the bridge and

St Katharine Docks St Katharine Docks is a former dock in the St Katherine and Wapping ward of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies in the East End of London, East End on the north bank of the River Thames, immediately downstream of the Tower of London an ...

on the north side of the river. Butler's Wharf is also used as a term for the surrounding area. It is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

Butler's Wharf, which was designed by James Tolley and Daniel Dale as a shipping

wharf A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

and warehouse complex, accommodating goods unloaded from ships using the port of London, was completed in 1873. From 1975 to 1978, the artists' space at 2B Butler's Wharf was a key venue for early UK

video art Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting. V ...

and

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

, including Kevin Atherton,

Stephen Partridge Stephen Partridge (born 1953) is an English video art, video artist

, and later, among others by Derek Jarman and the artists and dancers of X6 Dance Collective who published a magazine called New Dance for a number of years. Some of these people subsequently founded Chisenhale Studios and Chisenhale Dance Space, including Philip Jeck. In 1978, the band

X-Ray Spex X-Ray Spex were an English punk rock band formed in 1976 in London. During their first incarnation (1976–1979), X-Ray Spex released five singles and one album. Their 1977 single " Oh Bondage Up Yours!" and 1978 debut album '' Germfree Adol ...

filmed their video for the song "Identity" in and on the roof of the building. After the building fell into a state of disuse and then dereliction, Butler's Wharf was transformed into luxury flats, with restaurants and shops on the ground floor. The conversion of the main building, now known as 34 Shad Thames, which was carried out to a design by Conran Roche, was completed in 1989. The conversion of the Clove Building, which was carried out by Sir Robert McAlpine to a design by

Allies and Morrison Allies and Morrison LLP is an architecture and urban planning practice based in London and Cambridge. Founded in 1984, the practice is now one of Britain's largest architectural firms. The practice's work ranges from architecture and interio ...

, was completed in 1990 and the conversion of Tea Trade Wharf, which was carried out by Carillion to a design by OSEL Architecture, was completed in 2003.

In popular culture

Butler's Wharf was used twice as a filming location for ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', for the episode "World's End" in the serial ''

The Dalek Invasion of Earth ''The Dalek Invasion of Earth'' is the second serial of the second season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Written by Terry Nation and directed by Richard Martin, the serial was broadcast on BBC1 in six week ...

'' (1964) and for the serial ''

Resurrection of the Daleks ''Resurrection of the Daleks'' is the fourth serial of the 21st season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on BBC1 between 8 February and 15 February 1984. The serial w ...

'' (1984), which prominently featured Butler's Wharf and the portion of

running behind it.

References

External links

2B Butler's Wharf
{{Coord, 51.5038, -0.0741, display=title, region:GB_scale:2000 Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Southwark Port of London Wharves in the United Kingdom