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The Watermans Arms was situated at 60 Bankside. This pub has now been demolished.

Source: Ian Chapman

Shelfer v City of London Electrical Lighting Co., [1895] 1 Ch 287 This pub was the plaintiff in an important private law case cited above; this case is taught in law schools throughout England and Wales, and the principle that emerged is known as "Shelfer Damages". In this case, the plaintiff leased a pub called the Waterman's Arms at this location. The defendant built an electrical plant next door (which became the Bankside Power Station, and later the Tate Modern art museum), which caused a 'nuisance' to the owner of the pub, including physical damage to the premises. The usual remedy for nuisance is an injunction. In 1858, the Parliament had passed Lord Cairns' Act (21 & 22 Vict. c27), also known as Chancery Amendment Act 1858, under which the Court has jurisdiction to award damages instead of an injunction. This is an important statute because it represents a further step in the unification of the courts of common law and the courts of equity. In the Shelfer case, A.L. Smith LJ found that damages may be given in substitution for an injunction in cases where there are found in combination the four following requirements, viz., where the injury to the plaintiff's legal rights is (1.) small, (2.) capable of being estimated in money, (3.) can be adequately compensated by a small money payment, and (4.) where the case is one in which it would be oppressive to the defendant to grant an injunction. In this case, it was found that the injury was not small; that the profit on the lease of the pub was not capable of being estimated in money, let alone a small amount of money; and that given the defendant's attempts at abating the nuisance, an injunction would not be oppressive. The injunction was therefore granted. This pub appears to have been located at the landing to the Millenium Bridge.

Ross Martin (June 2021)

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