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River Neckinger




The name of the river is believe to derive from the term "devil's neckcloth" (i.e. hangman's noose).


HISTORY

The area where the Neckinger meets the Thames at St Saviour's Dock was historically known as Jacob's Island (now the wealthy area known as Shad Thames ). The area was once notoriously squalid and described as ''"The very capital of cholera"'' and ''"The Venice of drains"'' by the Morning Chronicle of 1849.

The environs are vividly described in Charles Dickens 's novel, Oliver Twist and it is in this desperate place that one of Dickens' best-known characters, Bill Sikes , meets a violent death in the mud of St Saviour's Dock.


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