London Borough of Southwark

Bankside | Bermondsey | Borough
Camberwell | Dulwich | East Dulwich
Nunhead | Peckham | Rotherhithe
Walworth

The London Borough of Southwark, with justification, claims to be London’s most historic borough. (Its closest rivals in this claim, Westminster and the City of London have the status of City, not borough.) Southwark claims this historic distinction because the ancient town of Southwark provided the southern bridge foot for the Roman crossing to London. The town of Southwark has been a significant settlement in its own right for the last one thousand years, but the borough’s historic distinction spreads far beyond its ancient centre. Bermondsey and Rotherhithe are long-established centres of settlement and industry. The former was the hub of London’s leather manufacturing and the latter a centre for seafaring, ship building and repair, and later, commercial docks. Dulwich, which still retains a semi-rural character, has a school that dates to the 17th century and the surrounding landed estate has been run by a single body since that time.

The London Borough of Southwark is a modern concoction, created in 1965, of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Southwark (which in turn was made from an amalgamation of the ancient parishes of Christ Church, St Saviour, St George the Martyr, and St Mary Newington), Bermondsey (which comprised the parishes of St Thomas, St John, Horselydown, St Mary Bermondsey and St Mary Rotherhithe) and Camberwell, which had the same boundaries of the parish of that name dedicated to St Giles. Camberwell parish was huge, also comprising the districts of Peckham, Nunhead and Dulwich.

For much of its early history Southwark, Bermondsey and Rotherhithe provided London with many of the elements and services all cities need but rarely like admitting to. These included disreputable entertainments - in the 17th century Bankside was the home of London’s public theatres and for centuries before, its red light district. Southwark was home to numerous prisons such as the Clink, the Kings Bench and the Marshalsea. Its reputation for crime is celebrated in the comic creation of Del Trotter (Only Fools and Horses, BBC TV), who has Peckham as his home. Bermondsey was home to industry, notably smelly leather production. The district has always been home to immigrants: Dutch and Flemings in the 16th and 17th centuries; Germans and Irish in the 19th century and Cypriot, Caribbean, south Asian and African in more recent years.

Because of its proximity to London, Southwark has always had an uneasy relationship with its large neighbour. At times the City has resented Southwark’s independence and has attempted to assert its control. It did this in 1550 when the City became freeholder of much of the land in north Southwark, and at the end of the 19th century when Southwark nearly became part of the City, rather than the London County Council.

The development of north Southwark started in the late 18th century and was linked to the City building new bridges over the Thames, and Turnpike Trusts building new roads to serve them. At the same time Camberwell’s clean air and water helped it develop as a middle-class suburb. Walworth, Peckham, Nunhead and East Dulwich developed in the 19th century, encouraged by London’s inexorable demand for housing and improvements in transport. Dulwich has stayed aloof from these trends. The Estate, which has effectively been administered by the same body since the early 17th century and which has the interests of Dulwich College and the other educational institutions it has spawned at its heart, has actively discouraged suburban development.

Today the borough is one of great contrasts: prosperity in its south; pockets of deprivation in Peckham and Walworth; ethnic diversity throughout; part of the cultural heart of London on its riverside, and, in Tate Modern, its Jubilee Line stations and Peckham Library, modern buildings of international importance.