Magic lantern slide circa 1900.Victorian/Edwardian.Social History.Originally, the Pool was the stretch of the River Thames along Billingsgate on the south side of the City of London where all imported cargoes had to be delivered for inspection and assessment by Customs Officers, giving the area the name of 'Legal Quays'.Smuggling, theft and pilferage of cargoes were rife on both the busy open wharves and in the crowded warehouses. The term was later used more generally to refer to the stretch of the river from Rotherhithe upriver to London Bridge, with the venerable bridge being the farthest reach that could be navigated by a tall-masted vessel.The Pool was of vital importance to London for centuries - as early as the 7th century Bede wrote that the Pool was the reason for London's existence -