Andro Morris Key, also known as Andro Morris Quay or Andrew Morris Key, was one of the so-called Legal Quays that sat east of London Bridge and west of Petty Wales/Galley Row and the Tower of London. It was within Tower Street Ward and appears on the Agas map as Andrew morice kay.

Arundel Stairs provided access to Arundel House from the Thames.

Billingsgate (Bylynges gate or Belins Gate), a water-gate and harbour located on the north side of the Thames between London Bridge and the Tower of London, was London’s principal dock in Shakespeare’s day. Its age and the origin of its name are uncertain. It was probably built ca. 1000 in response to the rebuilding of London Bridge in the tenth or eleventh century.

St. Botolph’s Wharf was located in Billingsgate Ward on the north bank of the Thames. Named after Botolph, the abbot of Iken, St. Botolph’s Wharf was a bustling site of commerce and trade.

Sharing a name with the nearby Falcon Inn, the Falcon Stairs provided river access for the area of Southwark known to early modern Londoners as the bank side (and later, Bankside). Being outside of London’s city limits, Southwark offered the early modern citizen a collection of entertainments of questionable virtue that were more difficult to come by in London proper. In Southwark, Londoners could attend plays at the Rose and Globe theatres, watch bear- and bull-baiting, and even visit one of the many brothels (called stews) that made Bankside infamous in the early modern period.

In early modern London, Fish Wharf was an incredibly active area of commercial industry on the north bank of the River Thames in Bridge Ward Within. John Stow indicates that the wharf was On that south side of Thames stréete in the parish of S. Magnus (Stow 1598, sig. M5r). Additionally according to Henry Harben’s , the location of wharf was specifically selected to be adjacent, on the west, to the present London Bridge Wharf, and between that wharf and Fresh Wharf east (Harben).

Galley Key was a port on the north bank of the Thames, east of London Bridge, and south of Lower Thames Street in Tower Ward.

Horse Ferry, according to early accounts, was established specifically to carry clergymen from their residence at Lambeth Palace to Westminster Palace across the river.

Lyon Quay was located between Broken Wharf to the west and Brook’s Wharf to the east (Harben). Although not on the original list of Legal Quays drawn up in the sixteenth century, Lyon Quay did make the list after the port was reassessed following the Great Fire of 1666 (Forrow 9, 11). In 1668, the Quay’s dimensions were measured at thirty-six feet wide along the Thames and running north forty feet to Thames Street (Child).

The Molestrand Dock was a pier in Southwark located close to the Falcon Inn and was used primarily for passenger ferries. A row of tenement buildings stood near the dock.

Located on the southern bank of the Thames, Paris Garden Stairs provided river access to the Paris Garden Manor House. According to Sugden, a ferry carried passengers between the stairs and Blackfriars (Farringdon Within), which was located across the river (Sugden 391).

According to Schofield, Paul’s Wharf is one of the oldest wharfs on the Thames (Schofield 181). Located in both Castle Baynard Ward and Queenhithe Ward, Paul’s Wharf was situated near St. Paul’s Cathedral and St. Benet. Since Paul’s Wharf was only blocks away from St. Paul’s Cathedral, the clergy used the wharf as a point of travel.

One of the public stairs on the Surrey side of the Thames above London Bridge.

The Privy Stairs were the rivermen’s stairs on the Thames attached to the king and queen’s apartments at Whitehall for use by the monarchs when they still resided at the palace; river access was necessary as the palace faced the Thames rather than the street (Ivimey 163). The stairs was used primarily by visiting foreign dignitaries and courtiers in order to gain access to the palace without needing to negotiate the streets of London, while a second dock, the Whitehall Stairs, was located downstream and was accessible to the public (Pepys).

Puddle Wharf was a water gate along the north bank of the Thames (Stow). Also known as Puddle Dock, it was located in Castle Baynard Ward, down from St. Andrew’s Hill. Puddle Wharf was built in 1294 to serve as the main quay for Blackfriars Monastery. (Weinreb and Hibbert 68, 229). In the early modern period, Puddle Wharf would have been the main landing place for playgoers on their way to the Blackfriars theatre via the river.

Queenhithe is one of the oldest havens or harbours for ships along the Thames. Hyd is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning landing place. Queenhithe was known in the ninth century as Aetheredes hyd or the landing place of Aethelred. Aethelred was the son-in-law of Alfred the Great (the first king to unify England and have any real authority over London), an ealdorman (I.e., alderman) of the former kingdom of Mercia, and ruler of London (Sheppard 70).

Salt Wharf (Queenhithe) overlooked Queenhithe along the Thames.

One of the Legal Quays, Smart’s Key was primarily involved in the trade of fish. Named after its original owner, a Master Smart, the key eventually came into the possession of London’s fraternity of cordwainers. It is perhaps most notorious for being the location of an alehouse that in 1585 was converted by a man named Wotton into a training ground for aspiring cut-purses and pickpockets. The key was an important landing place for merchant vessels throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

St. Mary Overie Stairs and its adjoining dock functioned as a large wharfe and landing place on the southern bank of Thames, which provided river access to Winchester House and the Priory of St. Mary Overies (Stow 1598, sig. Y7v). While the stairs were commonly known as either Winchester Stairs or St. Mary Overie Stairs, they were sometimes referred to as St. Saviour Stairs after the Dissolution of the Monasteries (Rendle 203; Cave 225). This location is visible on the Agas map, though it is not labelled.

Stangate Stairs provided river access to the Thames from its east bank, directly opposite Westminster Hall.

Three Cranes Stairs provided access to the Thames from Three Cranes Lane.

Westminster Stairs was an important site in early modern London that provided access to the Thames from Westminster Abbey. Used during royal processions and by rivermen throughout daily life, Westminster Stairs was known as being a place of bustling activity.

Whitehall Stairs was an important location in early modern London. Providing a point of access to the Thames from Whitehall, the stairs were used by both the public and members of the royal family. Although the stairs are rarely alluded to in early modern literature, they appear in a number of texts about daily life in London during the time period.