Thames River Police Museum

The Thames River Police Museum is hidden inside the headquarters of the modern Marine Policing Unit on Wapping High Street. You are standing near the site of the world's oldest continuously serving police force, which first began patrolling these waters in 1798. At that time, the river was a lawless place where merchants lost massive amounts of cargo to local thieves, prompting a group of magistrates to organize this specialized force to protect the shipping lanes. The museum itself is housed in what was once a carpenter's workshop within the station, and it holds a dense collection of uniforms, documents, and even the everyday hardware of river law enforcement, including handcuffs and cutlasses. Because this building remains an active, operational police station, the museum is not open to the general public for daily visits and instead requires pre-arranged access.