London Walk 4: York Watergate
Stranded gateway to the Thames by the, err, Strand.
(Photos/words © urban75, 20th January, 2007)
Now marooned some 150 yards from the River Thames it once served, the York Watergate was built in 1626 for George Villiers, first Duke of Buckingham.
The gate served as the primary exit from the gardens belonging to the nearby York House, one of a number of mansions along the south side of The Strand (The Strand means 'shore of the river' and is a pre-Roman track).
With the construction of the Thames Embankment in 1864-70 by Sir Joseph Bazalgette, the gate ended up landlocked and after proposals to move it to the river front failed, the original steps were removed.
![York Watergate, Thames Embankment Gardens, The Strand, London, January 2007](images/york-watergate-01.jpg)
Ornate Italiante facade of the gate. The steps in the foreground would have gone down to the Thames.
![York Watergate, Thames Embankment Gardens, The Strand, London, January 2007](images/york-watergate-02.jpg)
View from Watergate Walk, down from The Strand.
![York Watergate, Thames Embankment Gardens, The Strand, London, January 2007](images/york-watergate-03.jpg)
The old gates leading to the Thames. You now have to walk across Victoria Embankment Gardens before you see any water!
![York Watergate, Thames Embankment Gardens, The Strand, London, January 2007](images/york-watergate-04.jpg)
Roof detail.
MORE VIEWS JULY 2007
![York Watergate, Thames Embankment Gardens, The Strand, London, January 2007](images/york-watergate-07.jpg)
![York Watergate, Thames Embankment Gardens, The Strand, London, January 2007](images/york-watergate-08.jpg)
![York Watergate, Thames Embankment Gardens, The Strand, London, January 2007](images/york-watergate-09.jpg)
HISTORICAL VIEWS
![York Water Gate and the Adelphi from the River by Moonlight, circa 1850.](images/york-watergate-05.jpg)
York Water Gate and the Adelphi from the River by Moonlight, circa 1850. [Original painting at the Museum of London].
![York Water Gate and the Adelphi from the River by Moonlight, circa 1850.](images/york-watergate-06.jpg)
Nelson's Funeral Procession on the Thames, 1806.
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