ST KATHERINE Docks

[Board 2]
ST KATHARINE OF ALEXANDRIA
ST KATHARINE WAS AN ARISTOCRATIC 4TH CENTURY CHRISTIAN LADY WHO REFUSED A PROPOSAL OF MARRIAGE FROM EMPEROR MAXENTIUS AND PROTESTED TO HIM ABOUT THE PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS. AS A RESULT SHE WAS TORTURED BY BEING TIED TO A SPIKED WHEEL. HOWEVER THE WHEEL (AFTER WHICH THE CATHERINE WHEEL FIREWORK IS NAMED) WAS REPUTEDLY SHATTERED BY AN ANGEL.
BUT THERE WAS NO REPRIEVE FOR THE HAPLESS KATHARINE. SHE WAS BEHEADED INSTEAD.

[Board 3]
ST KATHERINE Docks

[Board 4]
KING EDGAR’S BEQUEST
THE HISTORY OF ST KATHARINE DOCKS CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THE 10TH CENTURY, WHEN KING EDGAR GAVE 13 ACRES OF LAND TO 13 KNIGHTS IN ORDER FOR THEM TO TRADE IN FOREIGN GOODS.

SINCE THEN, ST KATHARINE DOCKS HAS REMAINED A CENTRE OF TRADE AND COMMERCE, PLAYING AN IMPORTANT PART IN THE LIFE OF LONDON.

[Board 5]
[Portrait of King Henry VIII]

ST KATHARINE’S HOSPICE

IN 1125 THE DESCENDANTS OF THE ’KNIGHTEN GUILD’ DONATED THE LAND AT ST KATHARINE’S TO THE AUGUSTINIAN PRIORY OF THE HOLY TRINITY IN ALDGATE. IN 1150 QUEEN MATILDA GAVE HER BLESSING TO THE ROYAL FOUNDATION OF ST KATHARINE, WHICH INCLUDED A HOSPICE TO PROVIDE SHELTER TO TRAVELLERS AND PILGRIMS. OVER A CENTURY LATER, IN 1273, QUEEN ELEANOR REORGANISED ST KATHARINE’S AS A CHARITY AND ARRANGED THAT ITS PATRONAGE SHOULD ALWAYS BE HELD BY THE QUEEN CONSORT THEREBY ENSURING THE LONG-TERM SURVIVAL OF THE INSTITUTION, EVEN DURING KING HENRY VIII’S REFORMATION PERIOD.

[Portrait of Catherine of Aragon]

[Board 6]
THE BUILDING OF ST KATHARINE DOCKS
DESIGNED BY THE FAMOUS ENGINEER, THOMAS TELFORD, ST KATHARINE DOCKS TOOK JUST 2 YEARS TO BUILD, BETWEEN 1825 AND 1828. SOME 2,500 MEN WERE EMPLOYED TO REMOVE RUBBLE AND SOIL WHICH WAS THEN TAKEN UP-RIVER BY BARGE.

PRIOR TO CONSTRUCTION, OVER 11,000 PEOPLE WERE DISPLACED AND THE HOSPICE, CHURCH AND OTHER BUILDINGS WERE DESTROYED WHICH RESULTED IN HUGE PUBLIC PROTESTS.

IRONICALLY, THIS DEBRIS, WHICH CAME FROM AN INSTITUTION DEVOTED TO HELPING THE POOR AND NEEDY, WAS USED AS FOUNDATION MATERIAL FOR CONSTRUCTING THE LARGE HOUSES IN THE WEALTHY BELGRAVIA AREA OF LONDON.

[Portrait of Thomas Telford]

The series of signs decorates an underground passage under St Katharine Docks. The place was named after a hospital that existed there in the 12th century. In 1827, the hospital residents were evacuated, the place was demolished and a residential and entertainment district was built in its place.

The rest of the signs are shown in the following images:
[Plate 2]
Catherine of Alexandria
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[Plate 2]
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[Plate 3]
King Edgar "the Peaceful" grants the territory to his knights
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[Plate 4]
The Hospice
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[Plate 5]
Demolition of the Hospice and Construction of the District
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