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Clack Street

A quiet Victorian warehouse lane where Bermondsey’s industrial past still stands in brick and stone.

Named After
Unknown
Character
Victorian Warehouse
Borough
Southwark
Last Updated
Known For

A Lane From Bermondsey’s Working Days

Clack Street is a short warehouse lane in the heart of Bermondsey, SE16, running between Weston Street and Griffin Street near Tower Bridge. The street’s character is almost entirely Victorian — red-brick storage buildings, many of them dating to the 1870s and 1880s, that once served the leather workers, food manufacturers and riverside traders who made this neighbourhood the industrial centre of South London. Today the buildings stand quiet, many converted to flats and creative studios, but their industrial presence remains unmistakable. The street name itself is far less documented than the buildings it names.

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Name Origin

A Name Lost to Time

The exact origin of Clack Street is uncertain. The street appears on Ordnance Survey maps from c. 1865 onward, established within Bermondsey’s rapidly expanding industrial quarter, but no contemporary record documents who named it or why. The word itself may derive from the Old English verb ‘claccan’ (to make a sharp, clattering sound), which would fit the industrial character of the neighbourhood — a lane where goods clattered along cobbles, machines made their noise, and carts rattled past. Alternatively, it could be a surname of an early landowner or local figure whose name never made it into the historical record. British History Online’s comprehensive records of London contain limited detail on this particular street’s nomenclature, which suggests the name was simply accepted into local usage without formal documentation. By the time the street was established in the mid-19th century, Bermondsey was already centuries old, and street naming had often become a local matter rather than an administrative one.

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Today

Quiet Warehouses, New Lives

Walking Clack Street today is stepping into a neighbourhood in transition. The warehouse buildings that line it — four and five storeys of red brick with thick stone lintels and heavy loading doors — testify to its industrial past, but the uses have changed entirely. Where leather was stored and goods moved, residents now live and artists now work. The street itself remains narrow and quiet, overshadowed by its taller neighbour, and rarely crowded. In winter, the tall Victorian walls cast it into early shadow. In summer, the brick catches heat and holds it into the evening. The character is one of careful preservation, not gentrification — old buildings kept and changed, rather than demolished and rebuilt.

Nearby green space is closest at Scovell Road Park, a small public garden about 5 minutes’ walk away, or a slightly longer walk to the riverside open spaces along the Thames Path, which runs about 10 minutes north toward Tower Bridge and St Katharine Docks.

Did You Know?

Bermondsey was London’s leather centre for over 200 years. At its peak in the 1880s, there were over 100 tanneries in the neighbourhood. The tanning trade created such a powerful smell that Bermondsey was sometimes called “Tanners’ Bermondsey” in guidebooks of the era.

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On the Map

Clack Street Then & Now

National Library of Scotland — Ordnance Survey 6-inch, c. 1890. Hosted by MapTiler. Modern: © OpenStreetMap contributors.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why is it called Clack Street?
The exact origin is uncertain. The street appears on maps from c. 1865, but no contemporary record documents its naming. The name may derive from the Old English ‘claccan’ (to make a sharp, clattering sound), fitting a warehouse lane, or it may come from a surname of an early landowner. The lack of documentation suggests it became established through local usage rather than formal administrative action.
When did Clack Street first appear?
Clack Street is documented on Ordnance Survey maps from c. 1865 onward. It was established within Bermondsey’s rapidly expanding industrial quarter, during the height of the Victorian warehouse building boom in South London.
What is Clack Street known for?
Clack Street is known for its Victorian warehouse buildings and its role within historic Bermondsey, one of London’s most important industrial neighbourhoods. The street stands as a physical record of the leather trade, food manufacturing and riverside commerce that defined the area from the 19th century onward. Today it is characterised by converted warehouses, now serving as homes and studios, and remains one of the quieter lanes in a neighbourhood that has undergone substantial change.