New Concordia Wharf - Jacob's Island

On an adventure to the east of Tower Bridge on the south bank, I came across Jacob's Island. A plaque attached this building reads:

Folly Ditch, a loop of the River Neckinger, encircled this area, which was originally called Jacob's Island. Described by Charles Dickens as "Surrounded by a muddy ditch, six to eight feet deep"; the "Island" contained many mills, warehouses and wharves. Most of the early buildings were demolished by 1860 and replaced by Victorian buildings, many of which have now also gone; New Concordia Wharf is one survivor.

In the early nineteenth century this area was a notorious rookery or slum. Dickens used it in his novel "Oliver Twist". He set Fagin's den in one of the warehouses and the evil Bill Sykes met his grisly end in the ooze bed of Folly Ditch.