St Katharine Docks (1828-1969)

The St the docks were at the heart of the city of London for handling the trade in luxury items
and for the vast magnificent warehouses that lined the quays.

The St Katharine Docks also dominated the shell trades. tortoishell, ivory, ostrich

Six times a year, dealers would visit the docks and purchase items such as tortoiseshell, mother
of pearl, ostrich feathers. It has been estimated that up to 5,000 tons of shell were sold a year.

The East and West India Dock Company Below on the first floor is the store of ivory and
tortoiseshell, a very high price up to as much for working up into mosaic and inlaid ware; a
large proportion of the lower shell, or “yellow-belly,” finding its market in the same quarter. In
another part of the same floor is a large store of “loggerhead,” an altogether inferior shell, of a
maximum value of about 10d, a pound, imported solely the most important of these are the
warehouses of the East and West India, and London, St. Katharine, and Victoria Dock
Companies.

EAST AND WEST INDIA DOCK COMPANY’S WAREHOUSES others the trades in these goods are
reflected in the names of some of the St Katherine’s Dock was originally built in 1828