THE STORY OF LONDON’S

BANKSIDE

THE STORY OF LONDON’S

BANKSIDE

Throughout history, Bankside has been on the other side of London’s mainstream.16th century ‘Banksyde’ was outside the walls of the City, making it a natural landing place for outsiders and free thinkers. It became notorious as London’s rowdy pleasure quarter full of theatres, brothels and gambling dens.

Today, rich in art, entertainment and culture, Bankside has a bold and independent spirit shaped by its past – an ‘otherness’ that inspires creative thinking.

As a storyteller and influencer in Bankside, we need you to help us tell the Bankside story so those who work, explore, live, learn about, and visit Bankside are clear why it’s different and attractive.

Bankside has a multitude of facets which contribute to its otherness...

Southwark Cathedral

Tate Modern

Shakespeare’s Globe

In the 16th century, English playing companies began constructing purpose-built playhouses. This phenomenon brought Bankside’s greatest export: the work of William Shakespeare.

Bankside has changed how the world imagines.Bankside is one of London’s leading cultural quarters, evolving from a rich, diverse and authentic heritage. It is home to some of London’s most visited and renowned cultural institutions.

Bankside has been a place where people have come to experience culture for over 1000 years.

A CULTURAL SIDEThe Golden Hinde

A CHAOTIC SIDEBankside has a bold and independent spirit shaped by its rebellious past.Bankside has always been a place of refuge and sanctuary for outsiders and free thinkers.

Once London’s rowdy pleasure quarter, located outside the city walls and its jurisdictions, it was home to stews, gambling dens, taverns and theatres. It attracted outcasts, dissenters and misfits.

The medieval network of streets encourages exploration and discovery and it has an ‘otherness’ that inspires creative thinking to this day.

Crossbones Garden

Southwark Street

The prostitutes in Bankside were known as ‘Winchester Geese’, licensed by the Bishop of Winchester. Many were buried in unconsecrated graves within what is now Crossbones Garden on Redcross Way.

Commit No Nuisance Sign

Winchester Palace

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St George’s Road

London Road

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Long Lane

Long Lane

Long Lane

Berm

ondsey Street

Berm

ondsey Street

Southwark Street

Southwark Street

Berm

ondsey Street

Upper Ground

Upper Ground

Doon Street

Ren

nie

Str

eet

Stamford Street

Paris Gardens

Colombo Street

Hatfields

Hatfields

Broadw

all

Meymott Street

Scoresby Street

Gam

bia Street

Chancel S

treet

Bear Lane

Price’s Street

Farnham Place

Nicholson Street

Burrell Street

Hop

ton

Str

eet

Holland Street

Union StreetUnion Street

Nelson Square

Nelson Square

Surrey Row

Pocock Street

Roupell Street

Wooten Street

Cons Street

Boundary RowMitre

Road

Webber Street

Silex Street

Glasshill Street

Loman Street

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Wel

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Toul

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Sudr

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Trundle Street

Mint Street

Lant Street

Little Dorrit Court

Tabard Street Pilg

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Stap

le S

treet

Swan S

treet

Cole Street

Porlock Street

Snowfields

Guy Street

Weston S

treet

Ayer

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Redc

ross

Way

Quilp Street

Copperfield Street

Ris

boro

ugh

Str

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King’s Bench Street

Rushworth Street

Boyfield Street

Lancaster Street

Webber Street

Coral Street

Baro

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lace

Webbe

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Mor

ley

Stre

et

Frazier Street

Pear

man

Stre

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Windm

ill Walk

Hatfields

Greet Street

Theed Street

Stamford Street

Whittlesey Street

Aquinas Street

Duchy Street

Cornw

all Road

Gre

at S

uffo

lk S

treet

Lavington Street

Ewer S

treet

Sumner Street

Park

Stre

et

Redc

ross

Way

Park StreetClink Street

Duke Street Hill

Tooley Street

Bedale Street

St Thomas Street

Kings Head Yard

Talbot Yard

White Hart Yard

Collingwood Street

London Bridge Street

Ban

k En

d

Sto

ney

Str

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Great Suffolk Street

Great Suffolk Street

Gre

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aze

Pond

Westminster Bridge Road

Westminster Bridge Road Borough Road

Waterloo Road

Waterloo Road

Bayl

iss

Road

Cab R

oad

Lower Marsh

Waterloo Road

Upper Ground

Trinity Street

Guildable Manor Street

Newin

gton

Cau

sew

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Valentine Place

Tooley Street

Rose

Alle

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Crucifix Lane

Bitt

ern

Stre

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Bur

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Joan Street

The Cut

Ufford Street

Battl

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Lane

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Bla

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Brid

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Union Street

Tyer’s Gate

Whites Grounds

Mor

occo

Stre

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St Thomas Street

Kipling S

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King James S

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Davidge St

Ufford Stre

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Chaplin

Close

Marshelsea Road

BANKSIDEGALLERY

MENIERCHOCOLATE

FACTORY

ST GEORGE THE MARTYR

THE ROSE PLAYHOUSE

THE FERRYMEN’S

SEAT

JERWOOD SPACE

CERVANTESTHEATRE

KIRKALDY TESTING MUSEUM

UNIONTHEATRE

GOLDEN HINDE

WINCHESTER PALACE

REMAINS

CLINK PRISON

LOWLINE

London BridgeStation

BoroughStation

SouthwarkStation

BlackfriarsStation

Bankside Pier

Walking times between stations

London Bridge to Blackfriars: 20 mins London Bridge to Borough: 12 mins London Bridge to Southwark: 16 mins Southwark to Blackfriars: 10 mins Southwark to Borough: 12 mins Borough to Blackfriars: 17 mins

Millennium Bridge

Old Union Yard Arches

The Low Line

The first new sections of the Low Line opened at Old Union Yard Arches and Flat Iron Square and complement established hubs located at Borough Market, Maltby Street Market, and Spa Terminus.

Look out for the blue Low Line markers and follow the route.

A CONNECTED SIDEBankside is an area of exchange, connecting places and people in a central neighbourhood.Five of London’s bridges lead to Bankside including London’s earliest and most recent. Railway viaducts connect major transport hubs – London Bridge, Blackfriars, Southwark and Borough. Bankside’s arteries make it a place of exchange of ideas, skills and talent.

An integral part of the urban landscape are the Victorian railway arches which form the Low Line, meandering through Bankside into neighbouring areas.

The Low Line will connect diverse neighbourhoods and communities, creating new hubs of industry, jobs, creativity and entertainment along its course. It celebrates the character and infrastructure of the railway viaduct, promoting diverse and sustainable models of usage in these spaces.

Flat Iron Square

Bankside is a long-standing home of essential industry.Forming the Thames waterfront, Bankside housed the industries that oiled the wheels of global maritime trade routes launched from Bankside’s wharves and jetties.

Ghost signs are a visible insight into Bankside’s commercial heritage and the architecture of the neighbourhood reveals layers of industrial history, from Victorian warehousing to The Hop Exchange, Bankside Power Station and mighty railway arches.

Today, talent in Bankside powers the new economy – from digital tech makers, architects and designers, to Borough Market’s artisan producers.

The Hop Exchange

AN INDUSTRIOUS SIDE

On Bear Gardens, just off the riverside, you’ll see a slab of flint called The Ferryman’s Seat. It harks back to when the River Thames was heaving with boat traffic and ferrymen were in high demand taking City-dwellers back and forth.

Tate Modern

Embassy Tea Ghost Sign

Borough Market

‘Drag Queens’ derived from Bankside. In Elizabethan England women were forbidden from performing on stage and female roles were played by men. Those men that became adept at moving round the stage in women’s hooped dresses became known as ‘queens of the drag’.

Bankside’s brewing heritage is all around us. Barclay and Perkins Anchor Brewery, which uniquely took its water direct from the Thames, became the largest in the world by the early 19th century, later merging with its rival brewer Courage in 1955. The Courage brewery ghost sign can still be seen on Park Street. Not far away on Southwark Street, the 1867 Hop Exchange was built to provide a single market place for hop traders.

Tate Modern is the only building in London to be opened twice by Queen Elizabeth II – first in 1963 as Bankside Power Station and then again as Tate Modern in 2000 within the same landmark building.

The bombed church of All Hallows in Copperfield Street was home to the tiny Blackwing recording studio. Depeche Mode recorded its seminal album Speak & Spell there in the 1980s, and Yazoo also recorded here.

The George Inn on Borough High Street is a National Trust site, the last remaining galleried inn in London.

Bankside has London’s first bridge (London Bridge) and its most recent (the Millennium Bridge).

The Clink Prison in Bankside was burnt down twice. The first time was during the 1381 Peasants’ Revolt, the second time was centuries later during the 1780 Gordon riots.

FEED YOUR CURIOUS SIDE

Medieval literature talks of a great market town in 1014 in Southwark, so it is believed that Borough Market has existed to some extent for around 1000 years.

Social

Tag us in your posts using #Bankside #LondonsOtherSide via the following handles:

@BetterBankside / @bankside_london

@bankside_london

To access images of Bankside, please contact: info@betterbankside.co.uk.

Find out more

For more information about the role of Better Bankside, visit:

betterbankside.co.uk.