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| Dartford is the principal town in the borough of Dartford, in the northwest corner of Kent, England, 26km ESE of central London. The town centre is situated in a valley through which the River Darent flows, and where the old road from London to Dover crossed: hence the name, from Darent + ford. Dartford became a market town in medieval times and, although today it is principally a commuter town for Greater London, it has a long history of religious, industrial and cultural importance. It is an important rail hub. When the Romans engineered the Dover to London road it was necessary to cross the River Darent by ford, giving the settlement its name. The Saxons may have established the first settlement where Dartford now stands. The sixteenth century saw significant changes to the hitherto agricultural basis of the market in Dartford, as new industries began to take shape. The earliest industries were those connected with agriculture, such as the brewing of traditional beers and ales. Lime-burning and chalk-mining also had their place. Fulling was another: the cleansing of wool needed a great deal of water, which the river could provide. This led to other water-based industries, using hydropower to operate machinery. Sir John Spilman set up the first paper mill in England at Dartford in 1588. Iron-making on the Weald was in full operation at this time, and iron ingots were sent to Dartford, to England's first iron-slitting mill. In 1785, a blacksmith from Lowfield Street began to make engines, boilers and machinery. Some of that machinery was for the local gunpowder factory run by Miles Peter Andrews and the Pigou family. In 1785, the firm of J & E Hall was set up, specialising in heavy engineering, and later refrigerating equipment, and, by 1906, vehicle production. Dartford lies within the area known as the London Basin. The low-lying marsh to the north of the town consists of London Clay, and the alluvium brought down by the two rivers whose confluence is in this area. The higher land on which the town stands, and through which the narrow Darent valley runs, consists of chalk surmounted by the Blackheath Beds of sand and gravel. The Parish Church, Holy Trinity, is situated on the western bank of the River Darent, from where a hermit would conduct travellers across the ford. The church was originally a 9th century Saxon structure, but gained later Norman additions. In the 13th century a Royal Wedding was celebrated there.[Wikipedia] Rochester is a town in Kent, England, located within the Medway area and is at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway, about 48km from London. The town is known for its cathedral and castle, and for an epic siege in 1215. The Roman name for Rochester was Durobrivae, commonly translated as 'stronghold by the bridge (or ferry)'. By 1600 the name had gradually mutated to the present day Rochester. It is believed that Rochester has been continiously inhabitated since Roman times (in fact earlier). It wasn't until 1088 after the Norman invasion that Rochester had its first stone castle built on the remains of the old Roman Fort. The then King, Rufus asked his Bishop Gundulf, an architect, to build him a stone castle and later a magnificent Cathedral, which is the second oldest in the country. Bishop Gundolf also built a leper hospital namely St. Bartholomew’s which was the oldest hospital in the country, albeit the original hospital has since disappeared. "The city is straggling and extends overconsiderable space along the river. The streets, for the most part, are irregularly aligned; but they are well-paved, and have been much improved. The general view is very striking; disclosing a mixture of old and new, of quietude and activity; and includes, as chief objects, the castle and cathedral in the city. The city walls were suffered to fall into decay after the time of Edward IV.; but remains of them still exist. The town hall was built in 1687; is a brick structnre, with Doric columns. The clock-house, on the site of the old guild-hall, was built in 1706; and projects into High-street. The county court-office, in High-street, was built in 1862; and is a commodious brick edifice, in the Tudor style. Other public buildings are the assembly-rooms, the theatre, the custom-house, the Fort-Clarence military prison; and others."(1872) There were three parishes within the city of Rochester, St Margaret's, St Nicholas' and the Cathedral, together with the chapelry of St. Peter, forming part of St. Margaret's parish. The original cathedral grew out of the church founded in 604, and was in a completely ruined condition at the time of the Norman conquest. The present cathedral was commenced by Bishop Gundulphsoon after 1077; did not attain sufficient commodiousness or character to be dedicated till 1130; underwent enlargements and alterations, at varions periods, till 1479; and was renovated in 1827 and 1834. The pile comprises a nave of eight bays, with aisles; a St. Mary's chapel, of three bays, on the SE side of the nave; a west choir and transept, each of one bay; a main transept, with a four-chapeled aisle in one part, and a tower called Gundulph's tower in another; a choir, with aisles separated from it by solidwalls; a central tower; an east ambulatory; and a Ladychapel, of four bays. Part of the architecture is Norman, most is early English. The nave is the oldest in England. The centraltower was built in 1352; and a spire was erected on it in 1479. Serving the southern side of the city, St Margaret’s was in reality a largely rural parish, its population scattered over a wide area, much of which is now in the parishes of St Matthew (Borstal) and St Justus, indeed it was sometimes referred to as ‘St Margaret Without’. Despite St Margaret’s having been enlarged in the early 19th century Rochester’s continued growth necessitated the creation of a new parish - St Peter’s - to serve the eastern side of the city. Its church was consecrated in 1859. Further housing development led to the creation of the parishes of St Matthew (1901) and St Justus (1956). Redevelopment in the 1950s and 1960s – and changes in economic and social conditions – brought about a sharp decline in Rochester’s city centre population and in 1953 the parishes of St Peter and St Margaret were re-united. The origins of St Margaret’s are fairly obscure. The list of vicars begins in 1272 with William Telefus, but a church is known to have existed here before then, the earliest record of it being in a charter of Bishop Gundulph in about 1108. The present nave and chancel date from the 19th century, but the tower is a leftover from the medieval church, generally accepted as dating from about 1465, although it is possible that it was built earlier and simply restored then. In 1824 the nave was rebuilt; however the tower, chancel and side chapels remained from the medieval church. Within a few years the remainder of the Medieval building, apart from the tower, was demolished, the rebuild being completed in 1840.[Historic UK, Wikipedia, Imperial Gazetteer 1872, Parish of St Peter with St Margaret] |
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| St Ann Blackfriars was a London church of the seventeenth century, situated in the ward of Farringdon Within. It was near the Blackfriars Theatre, a fact which displeased its congregation. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666. Today, tiny parts of the churchyard are visible at Ireland Yard. It was a comparatively new church, consecrated in 1597, and had been rebuilt from ruins left by the dissolution of the monasteries, by public subscription. It became a Puritan stronghold. Fifty-one churches were chosen to be reconstructed after the Fire, but Blackfriars was in the minority never to be rebuilt, and its parish was merged with St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe. Parish registers which date from after 1666 appear to have referred to residents from what was the original St Ann's parish.[Wikipedia] Blackfriars is an area of central London, which lies in the south-west corner of the City of London. The name Blackfriars was first used in 1317 (as Black Freres from the French 'frère' meaning 'brother') and derives from the black cappa worn by the Dominican Friars who moved their priory from Holborn to the area between the River Thames and Ludgate Hill in 1276. Edward I gave permission to rebuild London's city wall, which lay between the river and Ludgate Hill, around their area. The site was used for great occasions of state, including meetings of Parliament and the Privy Council, as well as the location for a divorce hearing in 1529 of Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII. The priory was eventually closed in 1538 during Henry's Dissolution of the monasteries. Some of the buildings were subsequently leased to a group of entrepreneurs who created the Blackfriars Theatre on the site, not far from Shakespeare's Globe Theatre which sat almost directly across on the other side of the river. In 1632, the Society of Apothecaries (a livery company), acquired the monastery's guesthouse and established their base there. The building was destroyed in the Great Fire of London but the Society rebuilt and Apothecaries Hall is still to be found in Blackfriars today.[Wikipedia] St. Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe is a Church of England church located on Queen Victoria Street, London in the City of London, near Blackfriars. First mentioned c.1170, St Andrew's was almost certainly founded considerably earlier. During the 13th century the church was a part of Baynard's Castle, an ancient royal residence. In 1361, Edward III moved his Royal Wardrobe (a storehouse for Royal accoutrements, housing arms and clothing among other personal items of the Crown) from the Tower of London to just north of the church. It was from this association that the church acquired its unique name. The Wardrobe and the church were both lost in the Great Fire of London. Of the 51 churches designed by Sir Christopher Wren after the Great Fire, St. Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe is among the simplest of his designs & was rebuilt in 1695. The church was again destroyed during the London blitz by German bombing; only the tower and walls survived. It was rebuilt and rededicated in 1961. St. Andrew's is situated on a terrace overlooking the street, its plain red-brick exterior contrasting with the stone buildings on either side. The interior is aisled, with arcaded bays supported by piers rather than the usual columns. The original interior fittings were mostly destroyed during the war. William Shakespeare was a member of this parish for about fifteen years while he was working at the Blackfriars Theatre nearby, and later he bought a house within the parish, in Ireland Yard.[St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe, Wikipedia] |
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| St Andrew Holborn was an ancient parish that until 1767 was partly within the City of London and partly in Co Middlesex. In 1723 part of the Middlesex section of the parish became St George the Martyr. This was recombined with the remaining Middlesex portion of St Andrew Holborn in 1767 to create St Andrew Holborn Above the Bars with St George the Martyr. The remaining parish in the City of London was also known as St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars. It was abolished as a civil parish in 1907. The ancient parish included most of the Holborn area to the west, bordering onto St Giles in the Fields. As such it included both Lincoln's Inn and Gray's Inn which rented pews in the church of St Andrew, Holborn. Thavie's original property, which was left for his endowment of the church, Thavie's Inn became a lawyers inn and may have been the original home of Lincoln's Inn before it relocated to its present site. Lincoln's sold Thavies Inn for redevelopment in 1785. St Andrew, Holborn is a Church of England church on the northwestern edge of the City of London. Roman pottery was found on the site, however, the first written record of the church itself was in 951, when referred to as the "old wooden church" on top of the hill above the river Fleet. In the Early Middle Ages the church was referred to as St Andrew Holburnestrate and later simply as St Andrew de Holeburn. In 1348, John Thavie, a local armourer, “left a considerable Estate towards the support of the fabric forever”, which still provides for the church's upkeep. In the 15th century, the wooden church was replaced by a stone structure. St Andrew’s survived the 1666 Great Fire of London, but was already in a bad state of repair and so was rebuilt by Christopher Wren, retaining the medieval stone tower. During the London Blitz, 1941, the church was bombed and gutted by German bombs, leaving only the exterior walls and tower. The church was restored “stone for stone and brick for brick” to Wren's original design.[Wikipedia, Wikipedia, St Andrew Holborn] The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Holborn), also known as St Sepulchre-without-Newgate, is an Anglican church in the City of London. It is located on Holborn Viaduct, opposite the infamous Newgate prison & near the Old Bailey. St. Sepulchre's bell used to mark the time of impending executions at the prison. In medieval times it stood just outside ("without") the now-demolished old city wall, near the Newgate. The original Saxon church on the site was dedicated to St Edmund the King and Martyr. During the Crusades in the 12th century the church was renamed St Edmund and the Holy Sepulchre, in reference to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. It's position just outside the north-west gate of the city not only made it a useful starting point for crusaders, it also mirrored that of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The name eventually became contracted to St Sepulchre. The church is today the largest parish church in the City. It was completely rebuilt in the 15th century but was gutted by the Great Fire of London in 1666, which left only the outer walls, the tower and the porch standing. The burnt out shell was rebuilt by Wren’s masons in 1670-71. Modified in the 18th century, the church underwent extensive restoration in 1878. It narrowly avoided destruction in the Second World War.[Wikipedia, St Sepulchre, Traveller's Guide to London] |
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| St Botolph's-without-Aldersgate is a Church of England church on Aldersgate Street in the City of London, dedicated to St Botolph. The church is renowned for its beautiful interior and historic organ. The first church was built during the reign of Edward the Confessor and was a Cluniac priory with attached hospital for the poor. The buildings were located outside the city wall. In the 15th century, Henry V seized the property on the grounds that it was not English and granted it to the parish of St. Botolph, but it again became a religious foundation when one William Bever founded a brotherhood of the Holy Trinity there. Upon the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century, the church, hospital and lands were granted to one of the king's heralds-at-arms, William Harvye or Somerset, in 1548. The present church was built 1788-1791. Currently, the St Botolph's-without-Aldersgate building is used by London City Presbyterian Church, a congregation of the Free Church of Scotland. During the week, the building is also used for lunchtime services, under the auspices of St Helen’s, Bishopsgate, Church of England.[Wikipedia] Aldersgate was a gate in the London Wall in the City of London, which has given its name to a ward and Aldersgate Street, a road leading north from the site of the gate, towards Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington. The ward is bounded by Aldersgate Street, Beech Street, Noble Street, Angel Street, King Edward Street and Montague Street. The ward contains the western part of the Barbican Estate, which in total has about 5000 residents, the largest resident population in the City. The remainder of the Estate is in Cripplegate ward. The ward straddles the (now former) line of London Wall and the old gate and historically was divided into "Within" and "Without" divisions. The old gate was taken down in 1617, and re-built in the same year from a design by Gerard Christmas. The gate was damaged in the Great Fire of London, but was repaired and remained until 1761. Aldersgate Street contained the Bishop of London's Chapel and his chambers at London House, which was used from the eighteenth century because it was closer to St Paul's Cathedral than his official residence at Fulham. Also on this street is the church of St Botolph Aldersgate, and the site of the meeting room where John Wesley reaffirmed his faith in 1738, which is marked by a plaque.[Wikipedia] St Giles-without-Cripplegate is a Church of England church in the City of London. When built it stood without (that is, outside) the city wall, near the Cripplegate. The church is dedicated to St Giles, patron saint of beggars and cripples. It is one of the few medieval churches left in the City of London, having survived the Great Fire of 1666. There was a Saxon church on the site in the 11th century but by 1090 it had been replaced by a Norman one. Almost nothing is known about the early Saxon church, which was probably a little chantry or chapel made of wattle and daub. In 1394 it was rebuilt in the perpendicular gothic style. As the population of the parish increased, the church was enlarged and was rebuilt in the perpendicular style in 1394. It has been extensively restored on three occasions after fire damage. The first fire occurred in 1545. The restoration plans of that year remained in Lambeth Palace, and were used in the restoration after the Second World War. The church was built in the perpendicular, late Gothic, style that emphasises vertical lines, particularly in the window tracery. The church escaped the Great Fire of London in 1666 but was badly burnt in the Cripplegate Fire of 1897. There was a direct hit on the north door in the summer of 1940, and in the following December the church was showered with so many incendiary bombs that even the cement caught alight. All that remained was the shell, the arcade in the chancel, the outside walls and the tower. Cripplegate was a city gate in the London Wall and a name for the region of the City of London outside the gate. The area was almost entirely destroyed by bombing in World War II. Cripplegate stood at the northern end of what is now Wood Street at the junction of St Alphage Gardens. It was already in place when the city wall was built, as it was the northern gate of a Roman fort which was built in 120 AD. The northern and western walls formed part of the new wall, although these defences were completely rebuilt in early medieval times. Like a number of its sister gates, it was used as a prison for part of its life, being leased for accommodation at other times. The gate gave access to a substantial medieval suburb and to the village of Islington. Extra defensive works on the northern site outside the gate gave rise to the name 'barbican' (or outer fortification of the City). During World War II the Cripplegate area was virtually demolished and by 1951 the resident population of the City stood at only 5,324 of whom 48 lived in Cripplegate. The word "Cripplegate" has nothing to do with cripples, although no doubt there would have been plenty of cripples by the Cripplegate, wanting alms from travellers as they entered and left the City. The word comes from the Anglo-Saxon "cruplegate" which means a covered way or tunnel which ran from the town gate of Cripplegate to the Barbican, a fortified watchtower on the City wall. Sections of the wall can be seen near the Church; the foundations are generally Roman but higher up the structure is of varying dates as it was regularly strengthened and rebuilt. In 1760 the gate, up to then used as a storehouse and a prison, was sold to a carpenter in Coleman Street for £91. The Church was outside the wall at the Cripplegate, hence 'St. Giles without'.[Wikipedia, St Giles, Wikipedia] |
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| St Luke's Old Street is a historic Anglican church building in the London Borough of Islington. It is now a music centre operated by the London Symphony Orchestra. The church is sited on Old Street, north of the City of London, and was built to relieve the church of St Giles-without-Cripplegate, Cripplegate, under the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches, an attempt to meet the religious needs of London's burgeoning 18th century population. It was completed and the corresponding parish of St Luke's created in 1733. The inhabitants afterwards applied to parliament and had the Middlesex liberty of St. Giles Cripplegate assigned to them for their parish. The church was finished in 1732, and was consecrated in the following year, on St. Luke's day. The church is very substantially built of Portland stone and has an obelisk by way of a spire. The church was designed by John James, though the obelisk spire, a most unusual feature for an Anglican church, west tower and flanking staircase wings were by Nicholas Hawksmoor. The parish was reunited with St Giles in 1959 and the church was closed in 1964 after subsidence made it unsafe and it lay empty. The roof was removed two years later for safety reasons and the shell became a dramatic ruin for 40 years, overgrown with trees until it was taken over by the London Symphony Orchestra.[Wikipedia, Familysearch] Old Street is a street in east London that runs west to east from Goswell Road in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, to the crossroads where it intersects with Shoreditch High Street (south), Kingsland Road (north) and Hackney Road (east) in Shoreditch in the London Borough of Hackney. The nearest London Underground station is Old Street on the Northern Line. Old Street was recorded as Ealdestrate c.1200 and le Oldestrete in 1373. As befits its name there are some suggestions that the road is of ancient origin: part of an old Roman road connecting Silchester and Colchester, by-passing the City of London. The western part was widened 1872-7, but it narrows east of Coronet Street and here survive, at Nos. 340-342 on the south side of the street and Nos. 323 and 325-329 on the north side, some domestic buildings from the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, though somewhat battered and altered in function. At the east end of Old Street on the south side is the old Shoreditch Town Hall. The eastern half of the road is on the London Inner Ring Road.[Wikipedia] St Luke's is an area in the London Borough of Islington, just north of the City of London near the Barbican and Shoreditch. It takes its name from the church of St Luke's, on Old Street west of the tube station. The area extends north of the church to City Road and south to Finsbury Square and Whitecross Street. The name is rarely used today. The civil and ecclesiastical parish of St Luke's was created on the construction of the church in 1733, from the part of the existing parish of St Giles Cripplegate outside the City of London. Being outside the City boundaries, the parish had a large non-conformist population. John Wesley's house and Wesleyan Chapel are in City Road, as is Bunhill Fields burial ground. The civil parish became officially known as "St Luke's Middlesex". The parish was historically in the county of Middlesex, and was included in the area of the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1855. From 1889 it was part of the County of London. The vestry administered local government in the area until the civil parish became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury in 1899. In 1965, this borough was amalgamated with the Metropolitan Borough of Islington to form the London Borough of Islington.[Wikipedia] St George the Martyr is a church in the historic Borough district of south London. It lies within the modern day London Borough of Southwark on Borough High Street at the junction with Long Lane, Marshalsea Road, and Tabard Street. St George the Martyr is named after Saint George. According to traditional hagiography, the saint served as a soldier in the Roman Army and was killed on the orders of the emperor Diocletian in 303 for refusing to persecute Christians and confessing to his own Christianity. The earliest reference to this church is in the Annals of Bermondsey Abbey, which claims that the church was given by Thomas de Ardern and Thomas his son in 1122. The west tower dominates views along Borough High Street from both the north and south due to the curve in the street at this point, where it now meets Great Dover Street. Originally, a much narrower road to the south of the church called Church Street led into Kent Street (now renamed Tabard Street), the historic route to Dover. Due to the volume of traffic, Great Dover Street was cut through parallel to Kent Street as part of the road network enhancements associated with the new Westminster Bridge and London Bridge route improvements, in 1750. The present church is believed to be the third on the site. There was a Norman church of unknown appearance. This was replaced at the end of the fourteenth century by a church with a bell tower. The church was rebuilt in a Classical style between 1734 and 1736. The red brick and Portland Stone structure of the church has suffered from considerable subsidence damage, and the nave was declared unsafe in 2000, although services continued in other parts of the building. Restorations were carried out between 2005-2007.[Wikipedia] Southwark St George the Martyr was a civil parish in the metropolitan area of London, England and part of the ancient Borough of Southwark. In 1855 the parish vestry became a local authority within the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of Works. It comprised 284 acres and had a population in 1881 of 59,712. The bulk of the parish was centred around St George's Circus, with Newington Causeway and Borough High Street forming the eastern boundary. In the north east it included the church of St George the Martyr Southwark and then formed a long, narrow panhandle along the Old Kent Road, terminating at what is now Burgess Park and surrounding the triangular parish of Newington on two sides. It became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Southwark in 1900 and was abolished as a civil parish in 1930.[Wikipedia] |
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| St Dunstan's, Stepney is an Anglican Church which stands on a site which has been used for Christian worship for over a thousand years. It is thought that the first church was built here sometime between St Augustine's conversion of the English in the 6th century, and 952 when a second church was erected on the site by St Dunstan. In about AD 952 the Bishop of London (who is also Lord of the Manor of Stepney) replaced an existing wooden structure with a stone church dedicated to All Saints. In 1029, when Dunstan was canonised, the church was rededicated to St Dunstan and All Saints, a dedication it has retained. Up until the early 14th century the church served the whole of Middlesex east of the City of London. Then new churches were built at Whitechapel and Bow. The existing building is the third on the site and was built of Kentish ragstone mainly in the 15th century (although the chancel dates from 200 years earlier). A porch and octagonal parish room were added in 1872. The church is surrounded by a churchyard of nearly seven acres. In the 17th century the churchyard was enlarged to cope with the massive number of deaths during the Great Plague of London. The church has a long traditional link with the sea and many sailors were buried here. It was once known as the 'Church of the High Seas', and until quite recently births, marriages and deaths at sea were registered here. People have lived in what we now call Stepney since about 1000BC. In the middle ages, Stepney became a favoured country retreat for lords and merchants. St Dunstan's became a place of wealth and importance. The population of London's East End grew hugely in the next two centuries, and in the eighteenth century the parish was split to cater to the vast numbers of people who now sought work in local industries. By Victorian times, Stepney had a reputation as one of the worst slums in London.[Wikipedia, St Dunstan's] St Mary Abchurch is a Church of England church on Cannon Street in the City of London, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is first mentioned in 1198-1199. Rather than occupying any lofty position, or possessing a high steeple that towers over the surrounding vista, St Mary's is situated halfway down a narrow and easily overlooked thoroughfare called Abchurch Lane, linking the more formidable highways Cannon Street and King William Street. The provenance of the suffix is unclear: it may have been because the building could be seen 'up' the hill from St Mary Overies across the river, later Southwark Cathedral, as the Prior was the Patron of the living until the fifteenth century. Alternatively it may have been named after a forgotten benefactor named Abbe. After the Reformation, Archbishop Parker persuaded Elizabeth I to grant the church to his College, Corpus Christi Cambridge, before St Martin's was demolished and the college has appointed the incumbent ever since. It contained side chapels and a medieval crypt which still exists below the churchyard. Restored and beautified in 1611, it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666, and rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren in 1681–1686 with a four-storey, 51-foot-high tower, a leaded spire and a red brick exterior with stone dressings. It was originally intended to be much larger, with a structure similar to St. Stephen, Walbrook, however for reasons unknown the church was rebuilt to a smaller scale. The dome springs from four plain brick walls, has no external thrusts and measures over forty feet across. It was not painted until 1708 when the whole church went under repair. St Mary contains Wren's least 'interfered with' interior. The church entrance is approached across the churchyard, beneath which is the 14th century vaulted crypt. Cannon Street is a road in the south of the City of London. It runs roughly parallel with the River Thames, and about 250 metres north of it. It is the site of the ancient London Stone. The area around Cannon Street was the place of residence of the candle makers and in the Middle Ages the street was known as Candelwrichstrete. The name was shortened several times as a result of the local cockney dialect and settled on Cannon Street in the 17th century. The London Stone, from which distances were measured in Roman times, was originally situated in the middle of Cannon Street. It was later set into the wall of St Swithin's Church, and now rests in a case to the side of the street.[Wikipedia, St Mary's, Wikipedia] St Saviour's, Southwark, or to give its full name, The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark. It has been a place of Christian worship for over 1,000 years, but a cathedral only since 1905. The origins of the church is lost in the past. There has almost certainly been a church on this spot since Saxon times, and possibly even before the existence of a bridge across the Thames when only a ferry transported people across the river into London. In late Saxon times there was a priory on this site, St Mary's Southwark, or Over Rhè (the Saxon for Over Water) from where the name Overie derives. It became St Saviour's in the sixteenth century when the Priory was surrendered to Henry VIII during the dissolution of the monasteries. The medieval nave did not long survive the Georgian period. Its unsafe roof was demolished in 1831 and the nave left open to the elements for almost eight years when the walls were then demolished. the church was rebuilt in the mid-nineteenth century, but poorly,, and the church was once again rebuilt in the late nineteenth century when the church became the cathedral for the Londoners south of the Thames. Southwark St Saviour was a civil parish in the metropolitan area of London, England, and part of the ancient Borough of Southwark. It was created in 1541 from the former area of the parishes of St Margaret and St Mary Magdalene. In 1855 it was grouped with Southwark Christchurch into the St Saviour's District of the Metropolis. It became part of the County of London in 1889. The Saviour's District was abolished in 1900 and Southwark St Saviour became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Southwark. The parish was absorbed by Southwark in 1930.[Wikipedia, Victorian London, Wikipedia] |
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| Southwark is a district of south London, and forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north. It historically formed an ancient borough in the county of Surrey, made up of a number of parishes, which increasingly came under the influence and jurisdiction of the City of London. As an inner district of London, Southwark experienced rapid depopulation during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The name Suthriganaweorc or Suthringa geweorche is recorded for the area in the 10th century and means "fort of the men of Surrey". Southwark is recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as Sudweca. The name means "southern defensive work" and is formed from the Old English suth and weorc. The southern location is in reference to the City of London to the north, Southwark being at the southern end of London Bridge. Southwark is on a previously marshy area south of the River Thames. Recent excavation has revealed prehistoric activity including evidence of early ploughing, burial mounds and ritual activity. The area was originally a series of islands in the River Thames. This formed the best place to bridge the Thames and the area became an important part of Londinium owing its importance to its position as the endpoint of the Roman London Bridge. Two Roman roads, Stane Street and Watling Street, met at Southwark. Archaeological work at Tabard Street in 2004 discovered a plaque with the earliest reference to 'London' from the Roman period on it. Londinium was abandoned at the end of the Roman occupation in the early fifth century. Southwark appears to recover only during the time of King Alfred and his successors. Sometime about 886 AD, the 'burh' of Southwark was created and the Roman City area reoccupied. It was probably fortified to defend the bridge and hence the re-emerging City of London to the north. During the early Middle Ages, Southwark developed and was one of the four Surrey towns which returned Members of Parliament for the first commons assembly in 1295. The area was renowned for its inns, especially The Tabard. In 1838 the first railway for the London area was created, planned to run from Southwark at London Bridge station to Greenwich only.[Wikipedia] |
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| Bromley is a large suburban town in south east London. It was historically a market town, and prior to 1965 was in the county of Kent. Its location on a coaching route and the opening of a railway station in 1858 were key to its development and the economic history of Bromley is underpinned by a shift from an agrarian village to commercial and retail hub. As part of the suburban growth of London in the 20th century, Bromley significantly increased in population and has formed part of Greater London since 1965. It has developed into one of a handful of regionally significant commercial and retail districts outside central London. Bromley is first recorded in a charter of 862 as Bromleag and means 'woodland clearing where broom grows'. The history of Bromley is closely connected with the See of Rochester. In AD 862 Ethelbert, the King of Kent, granted land to form the Manor of Bromley. It was held by the Bishops of Rochester until 1845. The Romans are thought to have built a camp at Keston,where a natural spring known as Caesar's Well is the source of the Ravensbourne. Some time after the Roman era, an Anglo-Saxon settlement developed around the location now occupied by the market square. The town was an important coaching stop on the way to Hastings from London. It was a quiet rural village until the arrival of the railway in 1858 in Shortlands, which led to rapid growth, and outlying suburban districts such as Bickley were developed to accommodate those wishing to live so conveniently close to London. The parish church of St Peter and St Paul stands on Church Road. It was largely destroyed by enemy action in 1941 and rebuilt in the 1950s incorporating the medieval tower and reusing much of the flint and fragments of the original stone building. H. G. Wells, most famous for his novel, The War of the Worlds, was born in Bromley in 1866.[Wikipedia, Bromley] |
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| Lewisham is a district in south London. It is most likely to have been founded by a pagan Jute, Leof, who settled (by burning his boat) near St Mary's Church (Ladywell) where the ground was drier, in the 6th century. In the most ancient Saxon records it was called Levesham, that is, the house among the meadows. The village of Lewisham was originally centred further south around the parish church of St Mary. The centre migrated north with the coming of the North Kent railway line to Dartford in 1849, encouraging commuter housing. Lewisham was administratively part of Kent until 1889.[Wikipedia] |
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| Greenwich is a district of South East London. Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian (0° longitude) and Greenwich Mean Time. The town became the site of a Royal palace, the Palace of Placentia from the 15th century, and was the birthplace of many in the House of Tudor, including Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. The town became a popular resort in the 17th century with many grand houses. From the Georgian period estates of houses were constructed above the town centre. Greenwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created. Grenewic, or Grenevic originates with the Saxons, and is literally the green village or the village on the green. It became known as East Greenwich to distinguish it from West Greenwich or Deptford Strond, the part of Deptford adjacent to the Thames, but the use of East Greenwich to mean the whole of the town of Greenwich died out in the 19th century. The present church on the site west of the town centre is St Alfege's Church, designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor in 1714 and completed in 1718.[Wikipedia] Charlton, although a London suburb retains some of its principal village characteristics. The manor house, parish church, and Bugle Horn pub grouped around the remnants of the village green. The place name in Anglo Saxon means "farmstead of the freemen or peasants". The earliest traces of a community at Charlton were found in what is now Maryon Park where an Iron Age hillfort was excavated in the 1920s. Within the hill fort was found evidence of earlier stone age people. The present village is beautifully situated on high ground overlooking the Thames. At the heart of the community is Charlton House, its former manor house. Built c.1610 this Jacobean mansion is a unique survival in London. Although there was Victorian suburban development on the slopes from Charlton Road to the Woolwich Road, Charlton retained the appearance of a quiet Kentish village until the 1930s. Development had also taken place at the bottom of the hill on the marshes where New Charlton grew up around the burgeoning new industries along the riverside in the nineteenth century. Large housing developments, both private and municipal like the Guild Estate, Springfield, and Cherry Orchard, joined the small, attractive Kentish village to its larger neighbours, Blackheath and Woolwich.[Ideal Homes] |
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| Nottingham is a city in the East Midlands region of the United Kingdom. It is located in the county of Nottinghamshire. Nottingham is famed for its links with the Robin Hood legend and, during the Industrial Revolution, obtained worldwide recognition for its lace-making and bicycle industries. It was granted its city charter as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Queen Victoria in 1897 and has since been officially titled the City of Nottingham. In Anglo-Saxon times, around 600 AD the site formed part of the Kingdom of Mercia and was known in the Brythonic language as Tigguo Cobauc, meaning Place of Caves. When it fell under the rule of a Saxon chieftain named Snot it became known as "Snotingaham". Nottingham was captured in 867 by Danish Vikings and later became one of the Five Burghs – or fortified towns – of The Danelaw. In the 11th century Nottingham Castle was constructed on a sandstone outcrop by the River Leen. The Anglo-Saxon settlement developed into the English Borough of Nottingham. A settlement also developed around the castle on the hill opposite and was the French borough supporting the Normans in the castle. Eventually, the space between was built on as the town grew and the Old Market Square became the focus of Nottingham several centuries later. By the 15th century, Nottingham had established itself as the centre of a thriving export trade in religious sculpture made from alabaster. During the Industrial Revolution, much of Nottingham's prosperity was founded on the textile industry; in particular, Nottingham was an internationally important centre of lace manufacture. However, the rapid and poorly planned growth left Nottingham with the reputation of having the worst slums in the British Empire outside India. Residents of these slums rioted in 1831.[Wikipedia] Radford is an inner-city area of Nottingham, located just outside the city centre itself. St. Peter's Church, Radford was given by William Peveril to Lenton Priory. The church was rebuilt in 1812 at a cost of £2,000..[Wikipedia] Basford is a suburb in northern Nottingham. Basford parish was absorbed into Nottingham in 1877. There is both an ‘Old Basford’ and a ‘New Basford’ although New Basford is mainly Victorian. Basford lies close to the River Leen, a tributary of the River Trent. The place name comes either from Old English "the ford near the home of Bassa" (Bassa's ford) or French le bas ford, 'the lower ford'. For many years one of the largest industries in Basford was the manufacturing of soap. A soap factory was established in Basford in the 1890s by Gerard Bros. In 1955 Gerard Bros. was acquired by Cussons Sons & Co. manufacturer of Cussons Imperial Leather soap. In 2005 the factory was closed and production was moved to Thailand. Basford also had over the years three breweries though probably only the main one Shipstones will be familiar, the other two being Basford Brewery (taken over via Shipstones) and the redundant Prince of Wales Brewery in Old Basford which closed over 90 years ago however it's buildings remain pretty much as built in the form of Murphy's Chemical Works on Alpine St.[Wikipedia] 34-36 Castle Gate, Nottingham. A town house built in the early 18th century, altered in the 1800s, restored and converted to offices c.1990. Brick with painted ashlar dressings, and plain tile roof with blue brick coped gable and rebuilt ridge and gable stacks. Rendered plinth, ground floor and first floor sill bands, moulded wooden eaves cornice. 3 storeys plus attics.[British Listed Buildings] |
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| St Leonard's, Shoreditch is the ancient parish church of Shoreditch, often known simply as Shoreditch Church. It is located at the intersection of Shoreditch High Street with Hackney Road. The current building dates from about 1740. The original church is possibly Saxon in origin, though the first historical reference to it occurs in the 12th century. Originally a medieval foundation, probably associated with a nearby Priory, St Leonards Church grew up in an area that was to become famous for being the birthplace of the English theatre. It was close enough to the City for easy access, but outside the jurisdiction of the pious aldermen and sheriffs who viewed such displays of public entertainment with suspicion. Similar developments were taking place south of the Thames at Southwark. After the Priory had been dissolved, the first playhouse since Roman times was constructed in its grounds during 1576 by James Burbage. It was known simply as 'The Theatre', a name now used to describe all playhouses. When the lease for the land on which The Theatre stood expired and renewal was refused, the enterprising Burbage brothers dismantled their building and carried it to Southwark,where it was rebuilt as 'The Globe'. Following the partial collapse of the tower in 1716 the medieval church was rebuilt in Palladian style in 1736-1740, with a soaring steeple 192 feet tall, an imitation of Christopher Wren's magnificent steeple on St Mary-le-Bow in Cheapside, and a giant four columned, pedimented Tuscan portico. Inside the church the entablature is supported by giant Doric columns. Many original 18th century fixtures and fittings remain, including the font, the pulpit, the communion table, clock, organ case, bread cupboards and commandment boards. It was lit with gaslight in 1817, the first in London. During its 1730s rebuild, the Church became the site of the first strike in the building trade. This came about because local builders refused to work for the low wages that were being offered, so Irish workers were brought in from outside the parish. This led to anti-Irish riots, and the militia had to be called out to disperse a mob of about 4,000. The suburb of Shoreditch seems to have begun in late Saxon times, at the junction of two Roman roads leading to Bishopsgate. The earliest known reference is to 'Soerditch' in the mid twelfth century, and this may have meant a sewer.[Wikipedia, Our Past History] |
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| Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is an inner-city district, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around Upper Street. Islington grew as a sprawling Middlesex village along the line of the Great North Road, and has provided the name of the modern borough. Islington was originally named by the Saxons Giseldone, then Gislandune. The name means 'Gisla's hill' from the Old English personal name Gisla and dun 'hill', 'down'. The name then later mutated to Isledon, which remained in use well into the 17th century when the modern form arose. Some roads on the edge of the area, including Essex Road, were known as streets by the medieval period, possibly indicating a Roman origin, but little physical evidence remains. What is known is that the Great North Road from Aldersgate came into use in the 14th century, connecting with a new turnpike (toll road) up Highgate Hill. This was along the line of modern Upper Street, with a toll gate at The Angel defining the extent of the village. The Back Road, the modern Liverpool Road, was primarily a drovers' road where cattle would be rested before the final leg of their journey to Smithfield. Pens and sheds were erected along this road to accommodate the animals. The first recorded church, St Mary's, was erected in the twelfth century and was replaced in the fifteenth century. In 1548, there were 440 communicants listed and the rural atmosphere, with access to the City and Westminster, made it a popular residence for the rich and eminent. The local inns, however, harboured many fugitives and recursants. In the 17th and 18th centuries the availability of water made Islington a place for growing vegetables to feed London. The manor became a popular resort for Londoners due to this rural aspect and many public houses were founded to serve the needs of both visitors and travellers on the turnpike. By 1716, there were 56 ale-house keepers in Upper Street, also offering pleasure and tea gardens and activities such as archery, skittle alleys and bowling. By the 18th century music and dancing were offered, together with billiards, firework displays and balloon ascents. By the 19th century many music halls and theatres were established around Islington Green. Some development took place to accommodate the popularity of nearby Sadler's Wells , which became a resort in the 16th century, but the 19th century saw the greatest expansion in housing, soon to cover the whole parish. In 1801, the population was 10,212; by 1891 there were 319,143 inhabitants in the borough. This rapid expansion was partly due to the introduction of horse-drawn omnibuses in 1830. Large well-built houses and fashionable squares drew clerks, artisans and professionals to the district. However, from the middle of the 19th century the poor were being displaced by clearances in inner London to build the new railway stations and goods yards. Many of the displaced settled in Islington, with the houses becoming occupied by many families. This, combined with the railways pushing into outer Middlesex, reduced Islington's attraction for the "better off" as it became "unfashionable". The area fell into a long decline; and by the mid-20th century, the area was largely run down and a byword for urban poverty.[Wikipedia] |
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| St Pancras Old Church is a Church of England parish church in central London. It is believed to be one of the oldest sites of Christian worship in England, and is dedicated to the Roman martyr Saint Pancras, although the building itself is largely Victorian. It is situated on Pancras Road in the London Borough of Camden. The surrounding area is named after the church and parish. Documentary evidence for the early history of the church is scanty, but it is believed to have existed since 314AD. It was known simply as St Pancras Church until the 19th century when St Pancras New Church was built a little over half a mile away on the main Euston Road. Originally, the parish of St Pancras stretched from close to Oxford Street almost to Highgate. However, in the 14th century the population abandoned the site and moved to what is now Kentish Town. The old settlement was abandoned and the church fell into disrepair. It lost its status as the parish church when the New Church was consecrated in 1822, and it became a chapel of ease. Throughout the rapid urban expansion of the 19th century additional churches opened within the bounds of the original St Pancras parish at regular intervals, and by 1890 where there had once been only one, there were now 33 ecclesiastical parishes. By 1847 the Old Church was derelict, but as the local population grew it was decided to restore it. There are still traces of Norman masonry, but the building seen today is basically a Victorian structure. A replacement tower was built and the building was lengthened, though it remained quite small. There have been further restorations since, particularly in 1948 following Second World War bomb damage. The church building covers many periods. Roman bricks and tiles and Norman masonry have been found in the North wall of the nave, and as late as the early nineteenth century the church had a modest and proportionate thirteenth-century tower complete with weather vane.[Wikipedia, Victorian Web] Bethnal Green is a district of the East End of London, England and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was historically an agrarian hamlet in the ancient parish of Stepney, Middlesex, outside eastern gates of the city of London's walls. Its few houses centred around the Green. Following population increases caused by the expansion of London during the 18th century, it was split off as the parish of Bethnal Green in 1743, becoming part of the Metropolis in 1855 and the County of London in 1889. The parish became a metropolitan borough in 1900 and the population peaked in 1901, entering a period of steady decline which lasted until 1981. The economic history of Bethnal Green is characterised by a shift away from agricultural provision for the City of London to market gardening, weaving and light industry, which has now all but disappeared. The place-name Blithehale or Blythenhale, the earliest form of Bethnal Green, is derived from the Anglo-Saxon healh ('angle, nook, or corner') and blithe ('happy, blithe'), or from a personal name Blitha. The area was once marshland and forest which lingered until the 16th century. Over time, the name became Bethan Hall Green, which, because of local pronunciation as Beth'n 'all Green, had by the 19th century changed to Bethnal Green. In the 19th century, Bethnal Green remained characterised by its market gardens and by weaving. Having been an area of large houses and gardens as late as the 18th century, by about 1860 Bethnal Green was mainly full of tumbledown old buildings with many families living in each house. By the end of the century, Bethnal Green was one of the poorest slums in London. Jack the Ripper operated at the western end of Bethnal Green and in neighbouring Whitechapel. In 1900, the Old Nichol Street Rookery was demolished, and the Boundary Estate opened on the site near the boundary with Shoreditch. This was the world's first council housing. St Matthew is the mother church of Bethnal Green; the church's opening coincided with a vast population increase in the former village of Stepney, resulting in the need to separate the area around Bethnal Green from the mother Parish of St Dunstan's, Stepney. All but the bell tower, still standing today, was destroyed by fire in 1859 and the church again suffered devastating damage during the bombing campaigns of the Second World War. St Matthew's was completed & dedicated inm 1746, several years after the parish had been created.[Wikipedia, St Matthew's] Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street. To the north, Kensington is bordered by Notting Hill; to the east, by Brompton and Knightsbridge; to the south, by Chelsea and Earl's Court; and to the west, by Hammersmith and Shepherd's Bush. The area is first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it was written in Latin as "Chenesitone", which has been interpreted to have originally been "Kenesignetun" (Kenesigne's land or meadows) in Anglo-Saxon. The manor of Kensington, Middlesex, was granted by William I of England to Geoffrey de Montbray or Mowbray, bishop of Coutances, one of his inner circle of advisors and one of the wealthiest men in post-Conquest England. He in turn granted the tenancy of Kensington to his vassal Aubrey de Vere I, who was holding the manor in 1086, according to Domesday Book. The bishop's heir, Robert de Mowbray, rebelled against William Rufus and his vast barony was declared forfeit. Aubrey de Vere I had his tenure converted to a tenancy in-chief, holding Kensington after 1095 directly of the crown. He granted land and church there to Abingdon Abbey at the deathbed request of his young eldest son, Geoffrey. As the Veres became the earls of Oxford, their estate at Kensington came to be known as Earls Court, while the Abingdon lands were called Abbots Kensington and the church St Mary Abbots.[Wikipedia] |
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| Pentonville is an area of north-central London in the London Borough of Islington, centred on the Pentonville Road. Pentonville was part of the ancient parish of Clerkenwell, and was incorporated into the Borough of Finsbury 1899. It has been part of the London Borough of Islington since 1965. Nearby places include Islington, St. Pancras and Finsbury. In 1902 Lenin and his wife lived just off Pentonville Rd, it was at this time that he first met his fellow exile Trotsky. Britain’s earliest ring road, the New Road, brought access to the land west of Islington in 1756. The development opportunity was seized by Henry Penton who began to lay out what has been called London’s first planned suburb during the latter years of the century. The church of St James was erected in 1787 and the estate was completed around 1820. A few of the original houses survive in Chapel Market. Within three decades, the city had reached out to merge with the suburb and most of the buildings that now line Pentonville Road date from that period onwards. The area today is dominated by post-war council housing.[Wikipedia, Hidden London, Old and New London] Holloway is an inner-city district in the London Borough of Islington. At the centre of Holloway is the Nag's Head area. It is home to a very multicultural population and is one of the most densely populated areas of London. The origins of the name are disputed; some believe that it derives from Hollow, or Hollow way, due to a dip in the road caused by the passage of animals and water erosion, as this was the main cattle driving route from the North into Smithfield. In Lower Holloway, the former Back Road, now Liverpool Road was used to rest and graze the cattle before entering London. Others believe the name derives from Hallow and refers to the road's historic significance as part of the pilgrimage route to Walsingham. Either way, by 1307, the name Holwey was applied to the district around the road. The main stretch of Holloway Road runs through the site of the former villages of Tollington and Stroud. Until the 19th century the area was predominantly rural, but as London expanded in the second half of the 19th century it became extremely built-up. Holloway, like much of inner North London, experienced rapid growth around the very early 1900s and quickly became an important local shopping centre. This was aided by the importance of the road junction at Nag's Head which became an important hub for trolleybus services up their withdrawal in the 1950s. The London and North Eastern Railway opened a station here, which had a significant impact on the residential and commercial development of the neighbourhood in the latter part of the 19th century. During the Second World War, parts of Holloway experienced intense bombing due to its proximity to Kings Cross railway station.[Wikipedia] |
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| Uxbridge is a large suburban town in northwest London. It historically formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex and was a significant local commercial centre from an early time. As part of the suburban growth of London in the 20th century it expanded and increased in population, becoming a municipal borough in 1955 and has formed part of Greater London since 1965. Uxbridge is a significant retail and commercial centre. The town is near to the boundary with Buckinghamshire, which is locally the River Colne. The name is derived from "Wixan's Bridge". In the early 19th century, Uxbridge had an unsavoury reputation. The jurist William Arabin said of its residents "They will steal the very teeth out of your mouth as you walk through the streets. I know it from experience." By 1800, Uxbridge had become one of the most important market towns in Middlesex, helped by its status as the first stopping point for stagecoaches travelling from London to Oxford. The development of Uxbridge declined after the opening of the Great Western Railway through West Drayton in 1838.[Wikipedia] Tottenham is an area of the London Borough of Haringey. Tottenham is believed to have been named after Tota, a farmer, whose hamlet was mentioned in the Domesday Book; hence Tota's hamlet became Tottenham. There has been a settlement at Tottenham for over a thousand years. It grew up along the old Roman road, Ermine Street. From the Tudor period onwards, Tottenham became a popular recreation and leisure destination for wealthy Londoners. Tottenham remained a semi-rural and upper middle class area until the 1870s. In late 1870, the Great Eastern Railway introduced special workman's trains and fares on its newly opened Enfield and Chingford branch lines. Tottenham's low-lying fields and market gardens were then rapidly transformed into cheap housing for the lower middle and working classes, who were able to commute cheaply to inner London. The workman's fare policy stimulated the relatively early development of the area into a London suburb.[Wikipedia] Edmonton is an area in the east of the London Borough of Enfield, bordering Tottenham. The old highway Ermine Street passed through what is today Edmonton. Ermine Street was the main Roman Road from London through Lincoln and on to York. Edmonton appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is recorded as Adelmetone- 'a farmstead or estate of a man called Eadhelm' from an Old English personal name and tun. Edmonton Hundred was a division of the historic county of Middlesex from Saxon times. Local government in the modern sense began in 1837 with the Edmonton Union. The population of this area grew rapidly, reaching 445,875 by 1911. Since the 1960s Edmonton has been transformed from a predominantly white, working class industrial suburb into a multicultural area by commonwealth immigration and in recent years asylum seekers.[Wikipedia] |
