From the Thames to Eternity

From the Thames to Eternity is a never-ending project about the use and re-use of large granite stones from the historic river wall at Victoria Embankment in London. The benches in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral are the most recent chapter in this story, repurposing 21 granite blocks to provide a place to sit and enjoy the view of the most iconic stone building in London.

The idea behind the project is to stimulate discussion about reuse, material lifespan and cultural heritage, at a time when stone can make a significant contribution to a more sustainable built environment. The aim is to retain London’s resources within London, in order to reduce imported materials and to enrich our inhabitation of the city.

Please see below the full story of the project.

The story of the stones

The story of these granite stones starts with the Great Stink in the summer of 1858. Untreated sewage and industrial effluent flowing straight into the Thames was causing disease and a truly unbearable smell.

In response, Sir Joseph Bazalgette designed a grand plan for a London sewer system, and as part of the works three stretches of embankment were built on the Thames to accommodate the Low Level Sewer.

The river wall had to be built with a very strong and durable stone, but London is a city built on clay and gravel - so several thousand large blocks of granite were sourced from quarries across the UK, mainly in Scotland and Cornwall.

Opened by the Prince of Wales in 1870, the Embankment River Wall has been an iconic part of London’s infrastructure for over 150 years, and is now Grade ll listed.

150 years later, with London’s population reaching over eight million people, the sewers were unable to cope. So to help increase capacity, the 4 billion pound Thames Tideway Super Sewer was constructed beneath the Thames. To help the connection between the old and the new sewer, a few sections of river wall were removed.

Several hundred stones from Victoria Embankment were salvaged by Tideway, many of which were then gifted by Westminster City Council to the City of London Corporation for reuse.

In 2023, while the City of London Corporation looked for projects where the stones could be re-used, 58 of the blocks were installed on a temporary basis to create public seating at seven sites in the City. This ‘meanwhile’ project was so well used that in 2025 the City Corporation commissioned CSK Architects to design a set of permanent granite benches in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral.

From the Thames to Eternity at St. Paul’s Cathedral

The design of the benches is a direct response to three key issues: accessibility, material provenance, and circularity:

More ‘From the Thames to Eternity’ 

The benches at St. Paul’s Cathedral are one of many projects in London that have re-used the granite blocks reclaimed during Tideway’s work at Victoria Embankment.

In several projects in the City of London such as New Change Garden and Bow Churchyard, and in Greyfriars Square. In other parts of London including “Squaring the Corners” at the Becontree Estate in Dagenham, Peabody regeneration at Thamesmead, around St. Paul’s Fountain at Priory Park, N8, Riverside Gardens, Erith (with surplus blocks from Chelsea Embankment) and St John Street public space.

There are also a number of reclaimed granite blocks still in storage at CED Stone, either for more re-use projects or as a granite repository for future building repairs.