The TP52 - 2026 Kell’s 52 for 26. Wk 41 and 42 ADDED

Week 42 - Hidden Details

Hidden in plain sight perhaps.

This is 68 1/2 Upper Thames Street - the address for the Vintners Company

I took the pic originally as I thought it's an unusual number for a street address. Normally sub-divided locations would tend to be 68a and 68b for instance.

As it turns out, this is both deliberate and reveals the HIDDEN DETAILS of the building's past.

Why the Number "68 ½" is Significant​

1. London’s Fractional Street Numbering System​

In the 18th and 19th centuries, London’s street-numbering system was progressively standardized. When a property was built, carved out, or given an entranceway between two already-numbered, sequential buildings, assigning a "½" allowed postal authorities to register the address without having to renumber the entire rest of the street.

2. Squeezed Between the Busy Thames Wharves​

The Vintners’ Company has occupied this riverfront site since the 14th century (formalized in a charter granted in 1363 and incorporated in 1446)—centuries before modern street numbers existed.

When Upper Thames Street was formally numbered:

  • No. 68 was assigned to the adjacent commercial river wharf (historically known as Kennet Wharf, which housed merchant warehouses and packing firms).
  • No. 69 was given to the next commercial plot along the road.
  • Because the grand Vintners' Hall sat back slightly from the street with a narrow courtyard and entranceway slotted directly between the two wharves, it was designated 68 ½.

3. A Surviving Historical Marker​

In the 20th century, Upper Thames Street was substantially widened and modernized into an arterial traffic corridor, demolishing many of the Victorian and Georgian wharf warehouses that had originally boxed in the hall.

Even though the original neighbouring buildings disappeared, the Vintners proudly retained the idiosyncratic 68 ½ cast-metal address on their lintel. While modern mapping and GPS services often simplify it to 68 Upper Thames Street, the fractional number remains the official ceremonial, legal, and historic postal address.

In historical London street and trade directories (such as Kelly’s Directory and the Post Office London Directory from the 19th and early 20th centuries), 68 ½ Upper Thames Street was specifically registered as the Vintners’ Porters Office.

1. Who Were the Vintners' Porters?​

In the City of London, manual freight transport was strictly regulated through an ancient guild system. Porters were divided into specific classes:

  • Ticket Porters (and Fellowship Porters), who handled lighter, loose goods like coal, corn, salt, and fish.
  • Tackle Porters (Tacklehouse Porters), who were appointed directly by the Twelve Great Livery Companies—including the Vintners' Company.
The Vintners’ Porters possessed the exclusive, legally enforced monopoly over the "tackle"—the heavy-duty ropes, winches, skids, cranes, and pulleys required to hoist and handle immense wooden wine casks (tuns, butts, and pipes, which could weigh over half a ton each) arriving off barges and ships on the Thames.

2. Navigating the Wharves and Alleys​

Upper Thames Street was one of the most congested industrial riverfronts in the world. It was a labyrinth of:

  • River Wharves: Immediately adjacent were Kennet Wharf (No. 68), Hambro Wharf, Bull Wharf, and Three Cranes Wharf.
  • Alleys and Slips: Narrow cuts leading down to the water, like Anchor Alley, where goods were offloaded.
  • Bonded Warehouses and Railway Receiving Depots: Heavily trafficked by drays, heavy wagons, carmen, and watermen.
Because No. 68 was a large, bustling commercial river wharf handling general freight (furriers, cold storage, timber, and packing cases), it was critical for draymen and visiting porters to differentiate the general wharf entrance from the Vintners’ Porters Office and Hall at 68 ½.

Having a clearly marked fractional number and dedicated street-facing office allowed:

  • Draymen and carmen bringing wine barrels or collection dockets to report directly to the Vintners' Tackle Porters rather than blocking the commercial goods entrance of Kennet Wharf.
  • Vintners' Porters to coordinate the hoisting, gauging, and cellarage of incoming wine shipments straight from the Thames quays into the deep vaulted cellars below Vintners' Hall.



Hidden Details by Kell, on Flickr
 
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