Joolz explains how the streets got their peculiar names around Embankment and how the narrowing of the river caused York House Watergate to be isolated.
York House Watergate was a part of a grand estate belonging to the Duke of Buckingham. In the 18th century the river came all the way up to the York House Watergate and you could step straight out of the Duke of Buckingham’s house onto a boat.
However, the river was a source of such bad hygiene that eventually Joseph Bazalgette was commissioned to stop it from smelling so much.
Meanwhile it turns out that the Duke of Buckingham was the lover of the King and ended up getting stabbed in a pub!
Find out more about Joseph Bazalgette and York House Watergate by watching Joolz Guides.
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