The River Thames
From Source to Sea
Hungerford Bridge to Waterloo Bridge
Click to see a map of this area.
Can you find the locations of the photographs on the map?
Use the aerial photograph option on the map page.
Next to Hungerford bridge, on the south bank, is the Royal Festival Hall.
The Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall was built in 1951 as part of the Festival of Britain. It is one of the world's most successful and best loved concert halls.
Towards Waterloo Bridge, on the opposite side of the Thames, is the obelisk known as Cleopatra's Needle.
 Cleopatra's Needle Cleopatra's Needle is a nickname for the ancient Egyptian granite obelisk on the banks of the River Thames near Westminster Bridge. It was a gift to the British people, in 1819 in recognition of Nelson's victory over the French fleet, at the Battle of the Nile in 1798. It is known as Cleopatra's Needle as it was brought to London from Alexandria, the royal city of Cleopatra. The obelisk was made in Egypt for the Pharaoh Thotmes III in 1460 BC, making it almost 3,500 years old. An identical obelisk can be found in New York's Central Park. A time capsule with newspapers and pictures of 12 contemporary beauty queens was placed in the base in the 19th century. |
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| Cleopatra's Needle with the Shell Mex building behind. | One of two magnificent bronze Sphinxes lie on either side of the Needle. |
Shell Mex building started life as the Cecil Hotel in 1886, the largest hotel in Europe (800 rooms).
Waterloo Bridge
Cleopatra's Needle on left to Waterloo Bridge
(From the left: Shell Max building, Savoy Hotel, Institution of Electrical Engineers)
The name of the bridge is in memory of the British victory at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The bridge was built during the Second World War by (mostly) female labour.
Waterloo Bridge
The dome of St Paul's Cathedral can be seen on the left in the above photograph.
Waterloo Bridge
TS Queen Mary Ship beside the Waterloo Bridge
Looking upstream back towards the bridge (Somerset House on right)
Somerset House
The present building stands on the site of s 16th century palace, and was built from 1776 -1801 by William Chambers for government offices.
| X | |||
| Millennium Dome | |||
| Summary - from source to sea |
| Start of Voyage down the Thames | Contents Page | Introduction |
| Facts about the Thames | Flooding | Thames Basin |
| Pollution | Erosion | Tributaries |
| Industries | ||
 © Copyright - please readAll the materials on these pages are free for homework and classroom use only. You may not redistribute, sell or place the content of this page on any other website or blog without written permission from the author Mandy Barrow. |
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