Drake's Steps


The stairs and causeway at Deptford Wharf known as Drake's Steps. Here in 1581 Queen Elizabeth I visited Francis Drake (aboard The Golden Hinde) to bestow his Knighthood.

"In 1811 a 90m section of the Royal Victualling Yard’s river wall collapsed; the wall was rebuilt to a design by John Rennie in 2 phases, a 240m stretch to the north of the river stairs in 1816–17, a 105m southern stretch in 1818–20. The new wall was built out 5m in front of the old one, using coffer dams and pumping steam engines. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1416598 We think the causeway shows damage from the Blitz - a V1? landed in the river nearby." COLAS

A white 1 meter ruler can be seen at the base and corner of the right hand foreshore wall (when looking toward the stairs).

1725 photos taken in June 2020 with a Sony a6000 and processed in Agisoft Metashape. The foreshore was very muddy at the time as there had been fewer boats on the river for several months due to the coronavirus lockdown.