London Destinations: Bankside
Millennium Bridge
On the south side of the river Thames, opposite the City of London and neighbouring South Bank and London Bridge; Bankside's central location makes it extremely accessible, served by major rail and underground connections at London Bridge, Waterloo, Southwark and Blackfriars. Blackfriars Station southern entrance provides direct access to Bankside. The Jubilee line and the river services provide a fast way of getting you to and from the West End, whilst you'll find buses offer a great alternative, with frequent services and lots of routes. But the best way to explore London is on foot.
Bankside is one of the oldest settlements in Britain, dating back over 6000 years. When the Romans founded Londinium on the north bank of the Thames, a bridge was built near the present day London Bridge, and the surrounding area has been inhabited ever since. The main entertainments that drew crowds to Bankside were the 'stewhouses' (brothels), animal-baiting pits and public theatres, sometimes all at once. The Rose, the Swan, the Globe and the Hope were the four Bankside playhouses of the Tudor era, and some of the first ever in London. Some of England's greatest writers and players, including William Shakespeare, lived and worked here.
Theatres aside, the area of the Thames between Blackfriars Bridge and London Bridge was also known to freeze over in exceptionally cold winters and Londoners used to take to the ice for all manner of activities in what were known as Frost Fairs. During the late 18th century Bankside quickly developed into an industrial environment, with docks, warehouses and wharves. Following industrial decline after the Second World War it remained largely undiscovered, until its recent renaissance as one of the capital's prime visitor destinations.
Bankside's great feat of planning has been to join up individual attractions to make one exciting coherent destination, accessible from the City via the Millennium Bridge and forming a natural riverside extension to the east of the South Bank. The area is refreshingly pedestrian friendly and every time you turn a corner another cultural highlight reveals itself.
One of the best views in London can be had from the middle of the Millennium Bridge, with the giant dome of St. Paul's forming a perfect counterpoint to the 99-metre chimney of Tate Modern, Britain's best modern art gallery.
Inside Tate Modern's 35 metre high Turbine Hall
Things to See and Do
Millennium Bridge
The Millennium Bridge has had a short but intetresting life. Minutes after it was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000, hundreds of people swarmed across it to celebrate the opening of London's latest attraction. Within an hour, the police moved in and closed it down - the amount of foot traffic had caused the bridge to sway dangerously. Its designers had to go back to the drawing board and strengthen its deck to stop it from swaying. It took two years to eliminate the motion, by which time it had garnered the nickname "The Wibbly Wobbly Bridge". Reopened in 2002, it has become the most photographed bridge across the Thames after Tower Bridge. The southern end of the bridge is near the Globe theatre, the Bankside Gallery, and Tate Modern, the north end next to the City of London School below St Paul's Cathedral.
Tate Modern
In the late 80s Tate realized that its collection had outgrown its home on Millbank and decided to create a new gallery to house Tate's international modern art. The redundant Bankside Power Station, closed in 1981 due to increased oil prices, proved an astonishing discovery; a building of enormous size, great architectural distinction, superbly sited opposite St Paul's Cathedral and in a fascinating and historic, if neglected area, next to the rebuilt Globe Theatre, where a thriving community of artists lived and worked. The Tate Gallery was at pains to work with the local community during the building work including local residents throughout the process and thereafter.
The Tate Modern opened in 2000 and has become the third most visited tourist attraction in Britain and the anchor attraction on the south side of the Thames, drawing attention and people to a previously undiscovered and undeveloped area.
Oxo Tower
The Oxo Tower is a building with a prominent tower on the south bank of the River Thames to the west of Blackfriars Bridge. The building is flanked to the west by Bernie Spain Gardens and Gabriel's Wharf, and to the east by Sea Containers House.
The building has mixed use as Oxo Tower Wharf containing a set of design, arts and crafts shops on the ground and first floors with two galleries, Bargehouse and gallery@oxo. Upstairs there's the Tamesa Brasserie and Bincho Yakitori (Japanese tapas). Also contains a restaurant and bar on the top floor, giving you a great view over the Thames. You pay for the privilege through the food bill, though you can go up the tower and have access to a separate balcony for free. Interesting views of the surrounding South London area and great views of the Embankment.
The building was originally constructed as a power station to supply electricity to the Royal Mail post office, built towards the end of the 19th century (official date unknown). It was subsequently acquired by the Liebig Extract of Meat Company in the 1920s (official date unknown) manufacturers of Oxo beef stock cubes, for conversion into a cold store.
The building was largely rebuilt to an Art Deco design by company architect Albert Moore between 1928 and 1929. Much of the original power station was demolished, but the river facing facade was retained and extended. Liebig wanted to include a tower featuring illuminated signs advertising the name of their product. When permission for the advertisements was refused, the tower was built with four sets of three vertically-aligned windows, each of which "coincidentally" happened to be in the shapes of a circle, a cross and a circle. This was significant because Skyline advertising at the time was banned along Southbank.
The Globe Theatre
In 1949, when Sam Wanamaker came to London for the first time, he looked for the site of the original Globe Theatre and was disappointed not to find a more lasting memorial to one of the greatest playwrights in the world. While many said that the Globe reconstruction was impossible to achieve, he persevered for over twenty years, overcoming a series of monumental obstacles. In 1987, building work began on site when the six-metre deep foundations were laid. Two years later during a routine exploratory excavation held in the interval between site clearance and re-development of an office block, the nearby Rose and shortly after, the Globe itself, were discovered by archaeologists. These two finds greatly influenced the final design of the modern Globe, which was completed by 1996.
The Globe theatre was opened by Her Majesty the Queen in June 1997. The rebuilding of the Globe stimulated the idea of culture and heritage-led attractions and in 1980 the Bankside Gallery opened. Today the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse is a gloriously atmospheric candlelit theatre, showcasing a range of productions all year long.
There are a few spots on the river bank where the original buildings and roadways were saved from redevelopment, the area downstream of the Globe Theatre is one of them. It is a popular locality that has a number of eating and drinking place, among them is The Anchor, London's oldest pub. It was built in 1625 and still trades today. We treated ourselves to lunch on a balcony overlooking the River Thames. The view wasn't all that wonderful but the history of the place more than made up for it.
Cross Bones Graveyard
On Redcross Way, a tranquil back-street running parallel to Borough High Street, there's a plot of land surrounded by London Underground hoardings. There's a big rusty iron gate with a bronze plaque bearing the epitaph: 'R.I.P. The Outcast Dead'. This is Cross Bones, a pauper's burial ground with a legend going back to medieval times. Over the past decade, the iron gates in Redcross Way have been transformed into a people's shrine, a living communal art-work. People of all faiths and none have left messages and mementoes, testifying to its power as a truly inclusive sacred place, dedicated to a vision of a shared humanity. People come from all walks of life to 'remember the outcast' and to replenish the spontaneous shrine with fresh flowers and other tokens.
The Golden Hinde
The Golden Hinde is an historically accurate replica of the ship in which Sir Francis Drake completed the second-ever circumnavigation of the world between 1577 - 1580, an accomplishment the replica ship has also achieved. The ship is open to the public for self-guided and guided tours. Her creeks, smells and low headroom easily transport the visitor back in time to a more colourful, but definitely less comfortable era. During school holidays it is even possible to join Drake and his crew on an overnight imaginative voyage of adventure. During term-time, school groups can spend a day on board learning about life at sea in the 16th century. Opewn 10am - 5:30pm seven days a week.
Southwark Cathedral
Southwark Cathedral is London's oldest Gothic church. A church has occupied the site for over 1400 years. It has connections with William Shakespeare, US-university benefactor John Harvard and a Mohegan Indian chief. Visit the tomb of the first English poet, and learn about a 17th century doctor and his pills. Drop by on Monday lunchtimes for an organ recital or Tuesday afternoons (3:30pm) for a short music recital. Evening concerts are also part of the Cathedral's programme of events.
Church of St George the Martyr
The church has strong associations with Charles Dickens, whose father was imprisoned for debt in the Marshalsea prison. The surviving wall of the prison adjoins the north side of the churchyard. The church is affectionately known as 'Little Dorrit's Church'. Dickens himself lived nearby, in Lant Street, lodging in a house that belonged to the Vestry Clerk of St George's. This was during the darkest period of his life when, as a teenager, with his father in prison, he had to work in the 'blacking factory', and his literary career must have seemed an impossible dream.
Later, he was to set several scenes of the novel Little Dorrit in and around St George's Church. There is a small representation of Little Doritt in the east window of the church, and we welcome members of the Dickens Fellowship to an annual service. Father Ray Andrews is Chaplain to the Dickens Fellowship, London. Location: Borough High Street, Bankside.
The Clink Prison
On the site of the original 'Clink' Prison, this museum examines some of London's unsavoury past from 1144 to 1780. The prison, known as 'The Clink', was owned by successive Bishops of Winchester, and and from the 12 century until it's destruction in 1780, its inmates ranged from priests to prostitutes. The Clink also held inmates involved with many famous events including the Gunpowder Plot, The Babington Plot and even the sailing of the Mayflower. It was this prison which gave rise to the expression, "in the clink". The origins of the name "The Clink" are possibly onomatopoeic, deriving from the sound of striking metal as the prison's doors were bolted, or the rattling of the chains the prisoners wore. Location: 1 Clink Street, Bankside, London.
Winchester Palace Ruins
Part of the great hall of Winchester Palace, built in the early 13th century as the London house of the Bishops of Winchester, including the striking rose window which adorns the west gable. Southwark in the county of Surrey was formerly the largest manor in the Diocese of Winchester and the Bishop of Winchester was a major landowner in the area. He was a great power in the land, and traditionally served as the king's royal treasurer, performing the function of the modern Chancellor of the Exchequer. The hall was enlarged and the rose window built in the 14th century, possibly by Bishop William of Wykeham (reigned 1367-1398). The palace remained in use until the 17th century, when it was divided into tenements and warehouses, but was mostly destroyed by fire in 1814.
Borough Market
Borough Market is a source of British and International produce, and is London's most renowned food and drink Market. The Market is located next to London Bridge station, which is serviced by the Jubilee and Northern lines on the London Underground and by mainline trains from all over London and the south of England. The Market's history is as vast and rich as the produce on sale - it is London's oldest, dating back to the 13th century. It's the busiest too, occupying a sprawling site. The present buildings were designed in 1851, with additions in the 1860s and an entrance designed in the Art Deco style added on Southwark Street in 1932. It's a foodie's delight, with a vast range of meats, fish, game, fruit and veg, cakes and all manner of preserves, oils and teas, with plenty to be sampled on site. Location: 8 Southwark Street, London.
The Shard
The Shard, also referred to as the Shard London Bridge and formerly London Bridge Tower, is a 72-storey skyscraper, designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, in Southwark, London, that forms part of The Shard Quarter development. The Shard is the tallest building in the United Kingdom, and the seventh-tallest building in Europe. Renzo Piano, the project's architect, designed The Shard as a spire-like sculpture emerging from the River Thames. He was inspired by the railway lines next to the site, the London spires depicted by the 18th-century Venetian painter Canaletto, and the masts of sailing ships.
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