BERMONDSEY, BOROUGH, BANKSIDE and SOUTHBANK

Tower Bridge's history is filled with incredible feats of engineering, fascinating details, and unexpected stories. It took eight years to construct, with over 11,000 tons of steel used, and the bascule design allows the bridge to lift, enabling ships to pass through the river. The bridge's Neo-Gothic towers were designed to blend with the nearby Tower of London, and it was officially opened in 1894

Josef Jakobs was the only spy to be executed at the Tower during the Second World War. He was also the last person to be sentenced to death inside the Tower's walls.

This area was historically known for its pottery kilns, particularly for English Delftware, and later became a bustling hub for the trade, giving rise to the name "Potters Fields.

Potter's Fields, in its original Biblical usage, referred to a field purchased for burying strangers and criminals, after the death of Judas Iscariot. The name later became a general term for any burial ground used for indigent, unclaimed, or unidentified people

Old City Hall is a building in Bermondsey, London, which previously served as the headquarters of the Greater London Authority (GLA) between July 2002 and December 2021. After consultation the all-London’s local authority  decided to uvacate then City Hall and moved to The Crystal, a GLA-owned property in Newham, at the end of 2021.
Designed by Norman Foster, is known for its striking glass shell and spiral staircase, often described as a "glass testicle" by former mayors. The building was intended to symbolize transparency in political decision-making, but has been criticized for its high costs and the fact that the intended helical walkway could not be used for security reasons. The building is now undergoing a revamp, with plans to remove the glass shell, create new balconies with gardens, and repurpose the space for commercial uses like shops, restaurants, and offices

The proposed development combined the refurbishment of some Victorian warehouses with the construction of a modern six-storey office block behind the warehouses.The site was assembled by the developer, Great Portland Estates. The new facility was designed by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, built by Laing O'Rourke at a cost of £42 million and completed in June 2008.^[9][10] The developer had specified that at least 10% of the building's power requirement should be capable of being met from renewable energy.

the building was forward sold to UBS Global Asset Management for £94 million, before works started,  The council acquired the freehold ownership of the building from UBS for £170 million in December 2012. It continues to be the administrative Council’s headquarters and meeting place and some 2,000 staff are based in the complex

London's historic core, the City of London, lay north of the bridge and for centuries the area of Southwark just south of the bridge was partially governed by the City, while other areas of the district were more loosely governed. The section known as Liberty of the Clink became a place of entertainment. By the 12th century Southwark had been incorporated as an ancient borough, and this historic status is reflected in the alternative name of the area, as Borough.

In 1862 the Proprietors of Hay's Wharf reorganised the wharf. It was rebuilt by John Humphery for a fleet of clippers and with a link to bankers Jardine Matheson. A painting in the Chairman’s office commemorated the Flying Spur which made the fastest passage in 1862 – the spur being the Jardine crest. Later New Zealand dairy produce was handled here arriving refrigerated from 1867, and frozen lamb from 1882. This area became the main centre for provision merchants and Hays Wharf owned all wharves except one between Tower Bridge and London Bridge. Tooley Street became as the main provision importing centre nationally. There were eight steamer berths se3rving twenty vessels a week. The warehouses could take about 104,000 tons with: 25,000 tons in cold stores; 9,000 tons in cool air stores; and 70,000 tons in general warehouses. They handled cheese and eggs, bacon, butter, meat, and fresh vegetables.

The Galleria is an adaption of what was Hayes Dock. This was built in 1856 and consisted of a horseshoe of buildings around a small dock. . It was used primarily for the storage of tea and was thought to be the best development of its kind. The buildings were among the first to be designed with a deliberately fireproof construction, using incombustible floors of brick arches on cast iron beams. In the basement remained acme rubble wall from the medieval Abbot of Battle's Inn 

The Navigators. A Heath Robinson-style ship by David Kemp. Huge fantastic moving sculpture is in the shape of a fish which is really a boat. It has water jets; fountains bronze fishes and found objects. It dates from 1987 and was commissioned by St.Martin's.

After Southwark Cathedral

The Roanoke Colony (/ˈroʊənoʊk/ ROH-ə-nohk) was an attempt by Sir Walter Raleigh to found the first permanent English settlement in North America. The colony was founded in 1585, but when it was visited by a ship in 1590, the colonists had inexplicably disappeared.

The Roanoke Colony, particularly its mysterious disappearance, is thought to have influenced Shakespeare's works, especially his final play, The Tempest. While there's no direct evidence of Shakespeare writing about Roanoke, many believe that his exposure to stories about the colony and the experiences of other early English settlements in North America, like Jamestown, may have inspired his characters and themes

Francis Drake was involved in the slave trade, particularly in its early stages in England. He participated in voyages to West Africa with his cousin, John Hawkins, where they captured and enslaved Africans. Drake also raided Portuguese slave ships, stealing their human cargo

Southwark in the county of Surrey was formerly the largest manor in the Diocese of Winchester and the Bishop of Winchester was a major landowner in the area.
In medieval times the Bishop of Winchester (e.g. William of Wykeham) had a Palace on this section of the south bank of the Thames. It included what is now Southwark Cathedral and the building -the palace’s HALL- which is now a romantic ruin in Clink Street.

He was a great power in the land, and traditionally served as the king's royal treasurer, performing the function of the modern Chancellor of the Exchequer. He thus frequently needed to attend the king both at his court in Westminster, at the Tower of London and also was required to attend Parliament with other bishops and major abbots. The city of Winchester had been the capital of the Saxon kings of England.

At the time many of the disreputable pleasures that men engaged in, such as theatre, bear-baiting and prostitutes were banned from the City of London which meant they flourished across the river, here in the area under the Bishop's jurisdiction, his manor. His response to the presence of the brothels was to treat them as any other business so he licensed and taxed them, hence "Winchester Geese".

“The Clink Prison dates back to 1144 making it one of England’s oldest and most notorious prisons. Positioned in the heart of modern-day Southwark and built on the original site, The Clink Prison Museum presents the scandalous truth of Old Bankside through a hands-on educational experience. There are opportunities to view archaeological artefacts, experience the sights, sounds and smells of the prison, handle torture devices, and to view and hear all about the tales of torment and many misfortunes of the inmates of the infamous Clink Prison.”

General Haynau "the Austrian butcher" was recognised and attacked by Barclay & Perkins draymen. In the 19th century this brewery was on the elite tourist trail so in 1850 when Haynau arrived in London here he came. But his reputation for brutality preceded him and some draymen attacked him. We have found various descriptions of his ordeal: attacked with brooms and stones; pelted with horse dung; chased along Borough High Street by men shouting "Down with the Austrian butcher!" He took refuge in The George pub in Borough High Street, from where the police rescued him and took him to safety by boat across the river.

When Garibaldi was in London in 1864 he visited the brewery and thanked the dreymen.

The brewery initially produced only porter – a dark style of beer made from brown malt – until 1834, when it introduced pale ale. It was also well known for its Russian Imperial Stout.

The Rose was erected in 1587 by entrepreneur Philip Henslowe as the first purpose-built playhouse on Bankside, in London’s borough of Southwark. Its circular shape was elongated in 1592, and the open-air stage covered with a roof. Playwrights like Marlowe, Shakespeare, Jonson and Dekker wrote for The Rose until it closed in 1605 and was demolished soon afterwards.

Henslowe recorded his expenses as an impresario in what is now known as his Diary, which survives to give us a wealth of information on theatrical production at the time. An archive of his papers is held at Dulwich College, which was founded by Henslowe’s son-in-law Edward Alleyn, one of the greatest actors of the 16^th century and the leader of the Admiral’s Men company of players, who were resident at The Rose.

Edison was one of several 1870s inventors working furiously to crack the code of sustainable incandescent lighting. American-British inventor Hiram Maxim tried to patent a light bulb at nearly the same time as Edison, but Maxim's patent was not granted by the U.S. Patent Office until July 1880.

The first factory for the Maxim-Weston Electric Light Company was here.

The Rennie Garden takes its name from engineer John Rennie (1761 - 1821), who built the original Waterloo Bridge and designed both the original Southwark Bridge and the former London Bridge, now in Arizona, all of which were begun between 1811 and 1825. He did not design the BLACKFRIARS BRIDGE, though!.
In 1786 a corn mill was built on this site by Rennie, from which the world-famous panorama 'London from the Roof of Albion Mills', the first of its kind, was painted. John Rennie died at his home in Stamford Street in 1821 and in 1862 the Corporation of London secured the preservation of this garden, through an Act of Parliament, for the use of the public for ever.

Nearby

In SHAKESPEARE’s times a further attraction in this area was the notorious Paris Garden, it's name possibly a corruption of Parish Garden. Formerly a manor house and enclosed by a moat, its trees, bushes and fish ponds belied its trade as an exclusive brothel, where good food, drink and whores hand-picked by its lease holder, Dame Britannica Holland, were available at very high prices. Paris Garden had a further attraction as an animal bating arena.

The would-be hotel was originally designed by acclaimed American Modernist architect Warren Platner in 1974.

Intended to be a hotel… the building opened as office space due to the economic challenges of the time and the building's proximity to the City of London. It wasn't until 2014 that the south wing of the building was renovated and brought back to its original intended use as a luxury hotel. With interiors transformed by Tom Dixon's Design Research Studio and access opened up to the Thames Path walkway through the hotel's new Thames-facing bars and restaurants, the building could engage in the energetic cultural activity of its South Bank location at long last. 

In 1927 the Liebig Extract of Meat Company, which made Oxo, formed a subsidiary company, Thames Side Properties Ltd, to deal with the purchase and use of a site for a new wharf and a reinforced concrete structure was built on the site of the GPO power station. This all became part of the Vestey Group and at one time the wharf was the largest site for the import of meat in Britain,An art-deco landmark. This was a clever advertisement designed after the L.C.C. objected to signs on the tower. Showy and modernistic by A. W. Moore, which advertises OXO to the whole area. When the building was erected it was the second tallest building in London. Nine floor reinforced concrete building, 1928/9 with Exterior cranes and jiggers removed. There were planning regulations to overcome so that the Oxo sign was not classified as an advertisement which would not have been allowed at that height. It was decided to illuminate the windows shaped in the form of the letters OXO. Instructions to pull down the tower could not be enforced. In 1983 there was a campaign it when it was threatened with demolition as part of a new building development scheme and it has since been converted into a restaurant.

Oxo Tower Wharf is an award-winning, landmark design destination situated on London’s South Bank. It is home to some of the UK’s most innovative and internationally renowned contemporary designers, restaurants, cafes, bars, and exhibition venue, gallery@oxo 

During the Second World War, the South Bank had suffered extensive bomb damage. Further demolition followed in preparation for the Festival of Britain, held in 1951.

The Royal Festival Hall was the only permanent legacy of the festival. It was later joined by the National Theatre, the National Film Theatre, ITV London, and many other media and arts organisations

The 1960s saw a huge increase in the number of office buildings in the area. Staff were mainly commuters with no connection to the local area. By the early 1970s, the residential population of the area had fallen from 50,000 to just 4,500. Many schools, shops and local businesses closed. Continue reading…

Coin Street and around.

Named after Bernadette Spain, one of the original Coin Street Action Group campaigners. The gardens were completed in 1988. They occupy the site of the former Eldorado Ice Cream factory (64-76 Stamford Street)

Dutch hatmakers, in this area? . Probably not here…By the 1840s the the hat-making trade was mostly concentrated between Borough High Street and Blackfriars Road (though some hatters remained in Bermondsey). Note the name Hatfields, this street west of Blackfriars Road where many hat manufacturing companies were based in the 19th century. It forms the boundary between Southwark and Lambeth.

The streets of this tiny enclave most certainly have an atmosphere that is unique in this part of London - perhaps in any part of London.

There are corner shops and pubs, that are more reminiscent of a Northern industrial town than they are of the busy South Bank district of London, and stepping into this historic knot of streets is as close as we can hope to get to venturing back in time to glimpse the streets of London as they were in the 19th century.

John Roupell's great grandfather Conrad Roupell landed in Britain in 1688. He was a captain in the guard of William, Prince of Orange,

In 1868 a new school, designed by Edmund Woodthorpe (1812-1887), opened on Roupell Street. The school catered not only for the educational needs of the district's children, but also for those of the adults as well.

Along Upper Ground and the Thames riverside

Transforming a 1980s office building into a flexible and generous modern workspace…

Originally designed by Sir Denys Lasdun, completing in 1983 as an office and client marketing centre for IBM, 76 Southbank was considered Lasdun’s last major work, and sits adjacent to the National Theatre. AHMM’s plans sensitively refurbish and extend the building delivering an additional 11,000m² of flexible and highly sustainable office space for an estimated 1,200 additional jobs.