The Ferryman's Seat
a seat for london's lost watermen
A worn stone seat set into a Bankside wall where Thames watermen once waited for fares, centuries old and easily missed.
Free to visit · Bankside · London Bridge · SE1 9DD
Opening: Viewable any time
Set into a wall on Bankside, beside a busy riverside walk, is a small worn stone seat that thousands pass without a second glance. This is the Ferryman's Seat, where the watermen who once ferried Londoners back and forth across the Thames would rest between fares, in the days before the bridges when boats were the way to cross the river.
Bankside was the city's pleasure quarter of theatres, taverns and worse, and the ferrymen did a roaring trade carrying revellers over from the City. Polished smooth by centuries of use, the seat is free to find, a humble and direct link to the army of boatmen who were once London's taxi drivers.
Getting there: Set into a wall on Bankside near the Globe, a short walk from London Bridge.
Best time to go: Daytime, on a riverside walk along Bankside.
Insider tip: It is small and set low into the wall near the Globe, so look carefully or you will walk right past it. Sit on it if you like, you are resting exactly where Tudor watermen waited for their next fare.
Free things to do in London · London Free Guide