St Katharine Docks in London, on the site of the Medieval Hospital of Saint Katharine, opened in 1828. Telford squeezed in two docks and an entrance basin, by placing the warehouses on colonnades at the very edges of the quays. His entrance lock and quay walls are still there, with unusual sliding mooring rings in the entrance basin.

Across the passage to the eastern dock was an unusual footbridge of 1829 (currently known as the Telford Footbridge) mounted on rails to retract into the quays when the ships passed through. Designed by Telford’s resident engineer, Thomas Rhodes, but modified by the contractor, John Lloyd, it has cantilevers made of wrought-iron bars and cast-iron counterweight boxes. When replaced in 1994, it was mounted for display above quay level and one of its two halves can be seen in this drawing, behind the elegant new bridge designed by Brian Morton.

The former warehouse on the left is somewhat later. After damage in World War Two, closure in 1968 and subsequent redevelopment, little else remains from Telford‘s time except the bow-fronted Dockmaster’s House and the giant cast-iron columns re-used from some of the architect Philip Hardwick's demolished warehouses.

Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford was born on August 9th 1757 in Westerkirk, Scotland. He was the son of a shepherd. His father died soon after he was born and he was raised in poverty by his mother. His jubilant personality awarded him the nick name of “Laughing Tam”

Thomas Telford was a stone mason, architect and civil engineer and remains a celebrated road, bridge and canal builder. Beginning his career at  the age of fourteen, Telford  was apprenticed to a stone mason. He worked in Edinburgh for a short time and in 1782 moved to London where he was involved in building additions to Somerset House. Later, he moved south where he found work at Portsmouth  Dockyard.

Influenced by prominent architects of the time such Robert Adam and Sir William Chambers and later by a wealthy patron called William Pulteney, Telford decided to establish himself as an architect, becoming Surveyor of public works in Shropshire. As the Shropshire county surveyor, Telford was also responsible for bridges of which he built over fourty in Shropshire. He also renovated Shrewsbury Castle and the town’s prison.

In 1790 Telford designed a bridge carrying the London to Holyhead road over the river Severn at Montford and in 1795 designed a replacement for the bridge at Bewdley which was swept away in floods. Later projects included St Katharine Docks (London), the Menai Straits Bridge (Anglesea), Conwy Suspension Bridge (Anglesea), Craigellachie Bridge (Scotland) and a number of canal systems including the Caledonian Canal ,where he built a series of lock systems at Forts Augustus and William, and the Ellesmere Canal which included the fantastic Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. In 1806, Telford was consulted by the King of Sweden regarding the construction of a canal system between Gothenbug and Stockholm. This is known today as the Gotha Canal.

In 1820 Thomas Telford was appointed the first President of the recently formed Institution of Civil Engineer. He held this post until his death in September 1834.

Thomas Telford was buried in Westminster Abbey.

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