History and Context

Heritage

London owes its position to the natural features of Southwark's early landscape. As the first crossing place across the River Thames, Roman Southwark grew rapidly, covering up to 45 acres at its peak.

During Anglo Saxon times Southwark became the greatest traffic and trading centre in the country. Such was its importance by 1295 that it was the only town outside of the City permitted to send two representatives to Parliament.

By the 17th century, Southwark was the second largest urban area in England. The riverfront became increasingly important as overseas and domestic trade expanded. Landing places near the City were at a premium and new wharves and warehouses were built to accommodate the growing trade.

During the industrial revolution, Southwark developed further as a great manufacturing centre. The area witnessed enormous diversification to encompass engineering, glass, leather, paper, gas, brewing, vinegar and even steam powered corn mills.

Distinguished

But whilst Southwark was important enough to return two MPs as early as 1295, it struggled to achieve a sense of identity. It was not powerful enough in the medieval period to achieve full borough status, nor in later years to repel the administrative control of the City of London.

Yet Southwark provided the crucial elements that no successful city has been without. The poor in overwhelming numbers, immigrants, criminals, prisons and popular entertainment were all important players. Conversely, their presence brought advances in social welfare, pioneering new forms of transport, leading edge manufacturing inventions and the vitality arising from a rich social and ethnic mix, unique in London.

Southwark's long and colourful history is as distinguished as that of its neighbours, the Cities of London and Westminster. Its contribution to the social, industrial and cultural development of London and the rest of the country, though markedly different from theirs, is of equal importance.

Southwark is now looking forward with confidence to the next two thousand years of its history, confident that its rich and colourful past will be a source of celebration and appreciated by visitors and residents alike.

Visionary

Today, Southwark represents a thriving community which has shown itself more than capable of adapting to its changing fortunes. The decline of the docks and the food and manufacturing industries in the 1970's and 1980's brought yet another cycle of unemployment and poverty to many local people who suffered greatly as a result.

But new opportunities were generated too. A bold vision of urban regeneration and innovative approaches to land use and partnership brought about a re-birth.

Modern Southwark is an area of contrasts. Around London Bridge is a thriving business district, home to financial institutions, service companies and an emerging arts and media sector. Highly desirable residential districts along the river embody high quality design and lifestyle.

Further south in Peckham one of the biggest regeneration initiatives in the country, heralded as best practice by visitors from all over the world, has replaced high rise flats with houses and gardens, for local families.

There is still much to be done. But an endless capacity for innovative regeneration and a forward-looking philosophy will sustain and strengthen Southwark's re-birth as a key player in central London.

Culture

From its early days, Southwark was characterised as a repository for the undesirable but entirely natural elements that any urban area generates. Those wishing to escape the regulations of the City established themselves here.

Brothels which had been expelled from the City took up residence in Bankside and spawned the complementary activities of bear baiting and the Rose, Swan, Hope and Globe theatres, where Shakespeare and his contemporaries presented their plays.

Life in Southwark has been graphically documented over the centuries by such auspicious artists as Turner and Hogarth and more recently, modern day artists such as David Hepher and Tom Phillips who has photographed the same twenty scenes in Peckham on the same day each year since 1973.

Southwark can also claim a litany of literary associations. Chaucer and Shakespeare, though having links with the town, disclose little about Southwark itself in their works whilst Dickens paints a vivid picture of the townscape, people and atmosphere of Victorian Southwark.

This heritage of art, literature and theatre has left a rich legacy. But as we look to the Millennium, the opening of the Tate Modern at the old Bankside Power Station heralded a new chapter. Already home to the Globe, the Jerwood Space, Camberwell College of Arts and the studios of many hundreds of artists, Southwark can confidently boast a cultural centre worthy of any city.

Community

Southwark’s proximity to the river Thames led to strong links across the world. The Mayflower, which carried the pilgrim fathers to America in 1620 was captained by a local man. As Southwark’s importance as a trading centre grew, ships carrying imports of tea from China, dairy produce from New Zealand and foods from British colonies were regular visitors to the wharves along the Thames.

By the 15th century Southwark had one of London's largest immigrant populations. German, Dutch and Flemish craftspeople, excluded by the City of London on the basis that they were not members of a trade guild, settled in Southwark where their skills were put to good use in the leather industry.

From the 16th to the 18th centuries, the population grew from 10,000 to 30,000 as a result of immigration. During the 19th century a new influx of immigrants from Ireland fled the potato famine of the 1840s to work on the new London and Greenwich railway. The post war years saw the arrival of large communities from the Caribbean and West Africa and, to a lesser degree, China, Cyprus, Vietnam, Somalia and Croatia.

Today Southwark has one of the most diverse and culturally rich communities in the country. Nearly a third of our population is from an ethnic minority and over a hundred languages are spoken by Southwark children.

Government

In common with neighbouring Westminster, Southwark is an important seat of governance.

The borough is home to the new Major of London and central to the process of London government. The new Greater London Authority places London and Southwark at the forefront of sweeping changes to national and democratic structures.