Editing Rotherhithe (section)

==Geography==
[[File:Rotherhithe London June 2016 002.jpg|thumb|left|Several waterfront developments, such as Blenheim Court, can be seen from the Thames.]]

Rotherhithe is joined to the north bank of the Thames by three tunnels. The [[Thames tunnel]] to [[Wapping, London, England|Wapping]] was the first underwater tunnel in the world.<ref>{{cite news |first=Greg |last=McKenzie |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8565534.stm |title=World's oldest underwater tunnel opened to public |work=bbc.co.uk |date=12 March 2010 |access-date=26 September 2013}}</ref> Built by the [[Brunel]]s, and originally intended to carry cross-river freight, it became a pedestrian tunnel due to the money running out to build the necessary ramps for vehicle traffic. It was used as a railway tunnel from 1869, and is now part of the London Overground network, which on 27 April 2010 started running trains on the route of the former [[East London Line]]. The later [[Rotherhithe Tunnel]] (opened 1908) carries a two-lane road to [[Limehouse, London, England|Limehouse]]. The [[Jubilee line]] extension (opened 1999) has a railway tunnel to Canary Wharf in the [[Isle of Dogs]].

Parts of Rotherhithe Street were at one time or another called Jamaica Street, Lavender Street, Low Queen Street, Queen Street, Redriff Wall, Redriff, Rotherhithe Wall, Shipwright Street and Trinity Street.<ref name="book1">Shipbuilding in Rotherhithe – An historical introduction by Stuart Rankin</ref>

In 1702 Edward Swallow built a shipyard near what is now Lavender Street. John Whetstone took over in 1709, Robert Inwood in 1756 and Job Cockshott in the early 1800s, when it was divided into Lavender Dock and Lavender Wharf. In 1862 William Walker re-amalgamated the dock and wharf, but in 1870 they were separated. From 1865 John and William Walker built [[Lothair (clipper)|clippers]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Lavender Dock |url=https://www.layersoflondon.org/map/records/lavender-dock |access-date=2024-08-20 |website=www.layersoflondon.org}}</ref> and W. Walker & Co, who had a {{Convert|256|ft|abbr=on}} dry dock on the Thames bank from 1869,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Limehouse Hole: The riverside area |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vols43-4/pp388-397 |access-date=2024-08-20 |website=www.british-history.ac.uk}}</ref> built 17 ships there between 1866 and 1882.<ref>{{Cite web |title=W. Walker & Co |url=http://shippingandshipbuilding.uk/list.php?a1Page=1&a1PageSize=20&vessel=&year_built=&builder=10084 |access-date=2024-08-20 |website=Shipping and shipbuilding}}</ref> James Turner built ships there from 1873 to 1886, followed by John Medhurst until at least 1890.<ref name=":0" />

Rotherhithe is part of the SE16 postcode district. Electorally, the western half is Rotherhithe ward of [[Southwark London Borough Council]] and the eastern half in Surrey Docks ward.

As much of Rotherhithe was occupied by the now-defunct [[Surrey Commercial Docks]], the district is sometimes referred to as "Surrey Docks" or (since the late 1980s) "[[Surrey Quays]]", though the latter name tends to be used more for the southern half of the peninsula. An eastern part, which became an island when the docks were in use and the [[lock (water transport)|locks]] open, is called "Downtown". This name was never related to the idea of a "[[downtown]]" in the American sense, although there was a club of that name there for many years which has now closed. This part of Rotherhithe has since the 1980s been quiet and suburban in nature. Durand's Wharf is a park in Rotherhithe Street and holds an Outdoor Gym.<ref>{{cite web|title=Outdoor Gyms|url=http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200435/free_outdoor_activities/2611/outdoor_gyms|website=Leisure and Culture|publisher=London Borough of Southwark|access-date=3 September 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304112102/http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/200435/free_outdoor_activities/2611/outdoor_gyms|url-status=dead}}</ref>