Find York Water Gate

We all know the Thames is less wide than it once was, but nowhere is the extent of its former breadth more apparent than at York Water Gate, in Embankment Gardens. The Gate, thought to have been built in the 1620s, once stood right on the shore of the Thames and allowed access directly from the river to the grounds of York House, the large mansion which was home to George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham.


Whilst York House was sold to developers for £30,000 in 1672, it wasn't until the late 19th Century that the Embankment was built, under a project by Sir Joseph Bazalgette, narrowing the Thames by about 150 yards at this point.

It seems rather sad that the gate remains today, with no grand house behind it, and no river in front of it. Adrift in a sea of buildings and gardens, but it is pretty nonetheless.

For more on York Water Gate, and York House see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York_House,_Strand