Queenhithe Wharf, Dock

   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.