SOUTHWARK (/ˈsʌðərk/ SUDH-ərk ) is a district of Central
London and part of the
London Borough of Southwark . Situated 1.5
miles (2.4 km) east of
Charing Cross , it forms one of the oldest
London and fronts the
River Thames to the north. It
historically formed an ancient borough in the county of
Surrey , made
up of a number of parishes, which increasingly came under the
influence and jurisdiction of the
City of London
City of London . As an inner
district of London,
Southwark experienced rapid depopulation during
the late-19th and early-20th centuries. It is now at an advanced stage
of regeneration and is the county town of
Greater London which is the
location of the City Hall offices of the
Greater London Authority .
Southwark had a population of 30,119 in 2011.
* 1 History
* 1.1 Toponymy
* 1.2 Early history
* 1.3 Urbanisation
* 1.4 Local governance
* 1.5 Relationship with the
City of London
City of London
* 2 Governance
* 3 Geography
* 4 References
* 5 Further reading
* 6 External links
The name Suthriganaweorc or Suthringa geweorche is recorded for the
area in the 10th-century Anglo-Saxon document known as the Burghal
Hidage and means "fort of the men of
Surrey " or "the defensive
work of the men of Surrey".
Southwark is recorded in the 1086
Domesday Book as Sudweca. The name means "southern defensive work" and
is formed from the
Old English sūth and weorc. The southern location
is in reference to the
City of London
City of London to the north,
Southwark being at
the southern end of
London Bridge . Until 1889, the county of Surrey
included the present-day
London borough of Southwark, yet the name has
been used for various areas of civil administration, including the
ancient BOROUGH OF SOUTHWARK, the Metropolitan Borough of Southwark
and the current
London Borough of Southwark . The ancient borough of
Southwark was also known simply as THE BOROUGH—or BOROUGH—and this
name, in distinction from 'The City', has persisted as an alternative
name for the area.
Southwark was also simultaneously referred to as
the Ward of BRIDGE WITHOUT when administered by the City (from 1550 to
1900) and as an
Aldermanry until 1978.
Museum of London, inscription on stela that mentions for the
first time 'Londoners'
Southwark is on a previously marshy area south of the
River Thames .
Recent excavation has revealed prehistoric activity including evidence
of early ploughing, burial mounds and ritual activity. The area was
originally a series of islands in the
River Thames . This formed the
best place to bridge the Thames and the area became an important part
Londinium owing its importance to its position as the endpoint of
London Bridge . Two Roman roads , Stane Street and Watling
Street , met at
Southwark in what is now
Borough High Street .
Archaeological work at Tabard Street in 2004 discovered a plaque with
the earliest reference to 'Londoners' from the Roman period on it.
Londinium was abandoned at the end of the Roman occupation in the
early fifth century and both the city and its bridge collapsed in
decay. Archaeologically, evidence of settlement is replaced by a
largely featureless soil called the
Dark Earth which probably
(although this is contested) represents an urban area abandoned.
Southwark appears to recover only during the time of King Alfred and
his successors. Sometime about 886 AD, the 'burh' of
created and the Roman City area reoccupied. It was probably fortified
to defend the bridge and hence the re-emerging
City of London
City of London to the
north. This defensive role is highlighted by the use of the bridge in
1016 as a defence against King
Sweyn and his son King Cnut by Ethelred
the Unready and again, in 1066, against King
William the Conqueror
William the Conqueror .
He failed to force the bridge during the Norman conquest of
Southwark was devastated.
Southwark appears in the
Domesday Book of 1086 as held by several
Surrey manors . Its assets were: Bishop
Odo of Bayeux
Odo of Bayeux held the
monastery (the site of the Cathedral), the 'tide-way' - which still
exists as St Mary Overie dock; the King owned the 'church' (probably
St Olave\'s ) and its 'tidal stream' (St Olave's Dock); the dues of
the 'waterway' or mooring place were shared between the 'King' and
Earl Godwin ; the King also had the 'toll' of the strand; and the 'men
of Southwark' had the right to a 'haw and its toll'. Southwark's value
to the King was £16. Much of
Southwark was originally owned by the
church—the greatest reminder of monastic
London is Southwark
Cathedral , originally the priory of St Mary Overie.
During the early
Middle Ages ,
Southwark developed and was one of the
Surrey towns which returned Members of Parliament for the first
commons assembly in 1295. An important market occupied the High Street
from some time in the 13th century, which was controlled by the City's
officers—it was later removed in order to improve traffic to the
Bridge, under a separate Trust by Act of Parliament of 1756 as the
Borough Market on the present site. The area was renowned for its
The Tabard , from which
Chaucer 's pilgrims set off
on their journey in
The Canterbury Tales .
Just west of the Bridge was the 'Clink Liberty ' manor, which was
never controlled by the City, technically held under the Bishopric of
Winchester 's nominal authority. This area therefore became the
entertainment district for London, and it was also the red-light area
. In 1587,
Southwark was given its first playhouse theatre, The Rose.
The Rose was set up by
Philip Henslowe , and soon became a popular
place of entertainment for all classes of Londoners. Both Christopher
William Shakespeare , two of the finest writers of the
Elizabethan age, worked at the Rose.
In 1599 the
Globe Theatre , in which Shakespeare was a shareholder,
was erected on the
Bankside in the
Liberty of the Clink . It burned
down in 1613, and was rebuilt in 1614, only to be closed by the
Puritans in 1642 and subsequently pulled down not long thereafter. A
modern replica called Shakespeare\'s Globe , has been built near the
Southwark was also a favourite area for entertainment
such as bull and bear-baiting . The impresario in the later
Elizabethan period for these entertainments was Shakespeare's
Edward Alleyn , who left many local charitable endowments,
Dulwich College .
On 26 May 1676, ten years after the
Great Fire of London
Great Fire of London , a great
fire broke out, which continued for 17 hours before houses were blown
up to create fire breaks. King Charles II and his brother, James ,
Duke of York
Duke of York , were involved in the effort.
There was also a famous fair in
Southwark which took place near the
St George the Martyr.
William Hogarth depicted this fair in
his engraving of
Southwark Fair (1733).
Southwark was also the location of several prisons , including those
of the Crown or 'Prerogative Courts', the Marshalsea and King\'s Bench
prisons, that of the local manors courts e.g.
Borough Compter , The
Clink , and the
Surrey county gaol originally housed at the 'White
Lion Inn' (also called informally the 'Borough Gaol') and eventually
Horsemonger Lane Gaol .
One other local family is of note, the Harvards. John Harvard went to
the local parish free school of St Saviour's and on to Cambridge
University . He migrated to the
Massachusetts Colony and left his
library and the residue of his will to the new college there, named
after him as its first benefactor.
Harvard University maintains a
link, having paid for a memorial chapel within
(his family's parish church), and where its UK-based alumni hold
services. John Harvard's mother's house is in Stratford upon Avon.
In 1836 the first railway for the
London area was created, the London
Greenwich Railway originally terminating at
Spa Road Station and
later extended west to
London Bridge Station .
In 1861, another Great Fire of
Southwark destroyed a large number of
Tooley Street and the Thames, including those around
Hays Wharf (later replaced by
Hays Galleria ) and blocks to the west
almost as far as St Olave\'s Church .
The first deep-level
London 'tube' underground line was the City and
London Railway , now the Bank branch of the
Northern line ,
opened in 1890, running from King William Street south through Borough
to Stockwell . Southwark, since 1999, is also now served by Southwark
London Bridge stations on the
Jubilee line .
A map showing the wards of
Southwark Metropolitan Borough as
they appeared in 1916.
The ancient borough of
Southwark initially consisted of the Surrey
St George the Martyr , St Olave , St Margaret and St Mary
. St Margaret and St Mary were abolished in 1541 and their former
area combined to create
Southwark St Saviour . Around 1555 Southwark
St Thomas was split off from St Olave, and in 1733
Southwark St John
Horsleydown was also split off.
In 1855 the parishes came into the area of responsibility of the
Metropolitan Board of Works
Metropolitan Board of Works . The
St George the Martyr parish was
large enough to be governed by a vestry. St John Horsleydown, St Olave
and St Thomas were grouped to form the St Olave District . St Savour
was combined with
Southwark Christchurch (the former liberty of Paris
Garden) to form the St Saviour\'s District . In 1889 the area became
part of the
County of London . St Olave and St Thomas were combined
as a single parish in 1896.
The local government arrangements were reorganised in 1900 with a
Metropolitan Borough of Southwark created comprising the parishes of
Southwark St Saviours,
St George the
Martyr and Newington . The eastern parishes that had formed the St
Olave District instead became part of the Metropolitan Borough of
Bermondsey . In 1965 the two boroughs were combined with the
Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell to form the current
RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CITY OF LONDON
Southwark was outside of the control of the
City of London
City of London and was a
haven for criminals and free traders, who would sell goods and conduct
trades outside the regulation of the City Livery Companies . In 1327
the City obtained control from Edward III, of the manor next to the
London Bridge ' the town of Southwark' (called latterly
Guildable Manor '—i.e., the place of taxes and tolls). The Livery
Companies also ensured that they had jurisdiction over the area.
From the Norman period manorial organisation obtained through major
lay and ecclesiastic magnates.
Southwark still has vestiges of this
because of the connection with the City of London. In 1327 the City
acquired from Edward III the original 'vill of Southwark' and this was
also described as "the borough". In 1536 Henry VIII acquired the
Bermondsey Priory properties and in 1538 that of the Archbishop. In
1550 these were sold to the City.
After many decades of petitioning, in 1550
Southwark was incorporated
City of London
City of London as 'The Ward of
Bridge Without '. However, the
Alderman was appointed by the
Court of Aldermen and no Common
Councilmen were ever elected. This 'Ward' was constituted of the
Guildable Manor ' and the properties previously held by the
church, under a charter of Edward VI, latterly called the 'King's
Manor' and 'Great Liberty' manor. These manors are still constituted
by the City under a Bailiff and Steward with their Courts Leet and
View of Frankpledge Juries and Officers which still meet—their
annual assembly being held in November under the present High Steward
Recorder of London ). The Ward and
Aldermanry were effectively
abolished in 1978, by merging it with the Ward of Bridge (Within).
These manorial courts were preserved under the Administration of
Justice Act 1977. Therefore, between 1750 and 1978
Southwark had two
persons (the Alderman and the Recorder) who were members of the City's
Court of Aldermen and Common Council who were elected neither by the
City freemen or by the
Southwark electorate but appointed by the Court
The Borough and
Bankside Community Council corresponds to the
Southwark electoral wards of Cathedrals and
Chaucer . They are part
Bermondsey and Old
Southwark Parliament constituency and the
Member of Parliament is
Neil Coyle . It is within the
London Assembly constituency and the
Southwark is the location of City Hall , the
administrative headquarters of the
Greater London Authority and the
meeting place of the
London Assembly and
Mayor of London . Since 2009,
Southwark London Borough Council has its main offices at 160 Tooley
Street, having moved administrative staff from the town hall in
Camberwell. There are five Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) in
Southwark; Better Bankside, The Blue Bermondsey,
South Bank BID, Team
London Bridge, and We Are Waterloo.
Tower Bridge towards
Southwark district: City Hall and
the rest of
More London development in the foreground, Shard London
Bridge skyscraper (under construction at time of photo) in the
In common with much of the south bank of the Thames, The Borough has
seen extensive regeneration in the last decade. Declining wharfage
trade, light industry and factories have given way to residential
development, shops, restaurants, galleries, bars and most notably
major office developments housing international headquarters of
accountancy, legal and other professional services consultances, most
London Bridge City and
More London between Tooley Street
and the riverside. The area is in easy walking distance of the City
and the West End . As such it has become a major business centre with
many national and international corporations, professional practices
and publishers locating to the area. London's tallest skyscraper , the
Shard , is located next to
London Bridge Station .
To the north is the
River Thames ,
London Bridge station and
Southwark Cathedral .
Borough Market is a well-developed visitor
attraction and has grown in size. The adjacent units have been
converted and form a gastronomic focus for London. Borough High Street
runs roughly north to south from
London Bridge towards Elephant and
Castle . The Borough runs further to the south than realised; both St
George\'s Cathedral and the
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum are within the ancient
boundaries, which border nearby
The Borough is generally an area of mixed development, with council
estates, major office developments, social housing and high value
residential gated communities side by side with each other.
* ^ "Southwark", in The Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World
(1952), New York: Columbia University Press.
* ^ A B C Mills, D. (2000). Oxford Dictionary of
* ^ A B C David J. Johnson.
Southwark and the City. Oxford
University Press, 1969. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-19-711630-2
* ^ A B C D Youngs, Frederic (1979). Guide to the Local
Administrative Units of England. I: Southern England. London: Royal
Historical Society . ISBN 0-901050-67-9 .
* ^ "Where\'s your community council".
Council. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
John Timbs (1867), "Southwark", Curiosities of
London (2nd ed.),
London: J.C. Hotten,
* Findlay Muirhead, ed. (1922), "Southwark",
London and its Environs
(2nd ed.), London: Macmillan & Co.,