Borough High Street, Borough, c. 1642

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This conjectured view (of unestablished date) claims to show the fort built during the Commonwealth to defend London from Royalist attack.

This was one of a network south of the river, the others being at Vauxhall; The Dog and the Duck inn (the modern Imperial War Museum); and the Lock Hospital on the Old Kent Road (the nearest landmark being the present Tesco supermarket).

The fort in this view, exaggerated in size and solidity, stood at Stones End where Borough High Street (that part then called Blackman Street) gave way to Newington Causeway. The windmill, seen in the background, was demolished in the 1770s.

The view shows the church of St.Saviour (later Southwark Cathedral) and the medieval St.George the Martyr. It accurately shows how rapidly Southwark gave way to countryside.