Bermondsey Square is located on Tower Bridge Road in Bermondsey

Bermondsey

Bermondsey is an area in London on the south bank of the river Thames, and is part of the London Borough of Southwark. To the west lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe, and to the south, Walworth and Peckham.-Toponomy:...

, part of the London Borough of Southwark

London Borough of Southwark

The London Borough of Southwark is a London borough in south east London, England. It is directly south of the River Thames and the City of London, and forms part of Inner London.-History:...

, in south London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The location was formerly the site of the 11th century Bermondsey Abbey

Bermondsey Abbey

Bermondsey Abbey was an English Benedictine monastery. Most widely known as an 11th-century foundation, it had a precursor mentioned in the early 8th century, and was centred on what is now Bermondsey Square, the site of Bermondsey Market, Bermondsey in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast...

.

Archaeological excavations were undertaken in 2005–6 by English Heritage

English Heritage

English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...

. The earliest medieval remains found were a Norman

Norman architecture

About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...

 church from around 1080, which was recorded in the Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

. The area has subsequently undergone redevelopment and Bermondsey Square now contains apartments, offices, a boutique hotel, restaurants and an independent cinema. The area was named as South London's coolest quarter in Vogue's annual Secret Address Book.

Bermondsey Market

Bermondsey Market

Officially called New Caledonian Market, Bermondsey Market is an antiques market located at Bermondsey Square on Tower Bridge Road in Bermondsey, part of the London Borough of Southwark, in South London, England...

 is an antiques market located at Bermondsey Square, which operates every Friday.

Long Lane

Long Lane, Southwark

Long Lane is a major road in Southwark, south London, England.At the northwest end is a complicated junction with Borough High Street, Marshalsea Road, Tabard Street, and Great Dover Street. The historic St George the Martyr church, with Dickensian connections, is at this junction, now standing on...

 leads northwest to Borough High Street

Borough High Street

Borough High Street is a main street in Southwark, London running south-west from London Bridge, forming part of the A3 road, which runs from London to Portsmouth.- Overview :...

. This lane used to link the Abbey with St George the Martyr

St George the Martyr Southwark

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....

 church on the High Street. To the west and heading north from the square is Bermondsey Street, leading to Tooley Street

Tooley Street

Tooley Street is a road in South London connecting London Bridge to St Saviour's Dock; it runs past Tower Bridge on the Southwark side of the River Thames, and forms part of the A200 road. - St Olave :...

 and London Bridge station

London Bridge station

London Bridge railway station is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex in the London Borough of Southwark, occupying a large area on two levels immediately south-east of London Bridge and 1.6 miles east of Charing Cross. It is one of the oldest railway stations in the...

 about ten minutes walk away.

History

Bermondsey Square was formerly called the Court Yard and was and originally the main quadrangle

Quadrangle (architecture)

In architecture, a quadrangle is a space or courtyard, usually rectangular in plan, the sides of which are entirely or mainly occupied by parts of a large building. The word is probably most closely associated with college or university campus architecture, but quadrangles may be found in other...

 of Bermondsey Abbey. There was once a Chapel erected in 1699 by a Puritan

Puritan

The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...

 divine. The chapel was subsequently a wool warehouse before it was demolished. At the entrance of the square, between the King John's Head public house and an oil shop, was the Abbey's gatehouse, which was removed in the early 19th century. Between the entrance to the Long Walk and a salt warehouse stood the Mansion House, built using material taken from the Abbey.

External links

• London SE1 community website information
• LondonTown.com information
• What if, Bermondsey Square
• Bermondsey Square Apartments, London SE1
• Bermondsey Square art, Flickr
  Flickr
  Flickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...