Borough High Street
Encyclopedia
Southwark
Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...
, 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...
running south-west from London Bridge
London Bridge
London Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames, connecting the City of London and Southwark, in central London. Situated between Cannon Street Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge, it forms the western end of the Pool of London...
, forming part of the A3 road
A3 road
The A3, known as the Portsmouth Road for much of its length, is a dual carriageway, or expressway, which follows the historic route between London and Portsmouth passing close to Kingston upon Thames, Guildford, Haslemere and Petersfield. For much of its length, it is classified as a trunk road...
, which runs from London to Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
.
Overview
Borough High Street continues southwest as Newington CausewayNewington Causeway
Newington Causeway is a road in Southwark, London, England, between the Elephant and Castle and Borough High Street. The Elephant and Castle tube station is at the southern end....
, here co-inciding with ancient Stane Street the Roman road between London and Chichester. Another very important connection is with the Dover Road (the modern A2
A2 road (Great Britain)
The A2 is a major road in southern England, connecting London with the English Channel port of Dover in Kent. This route has always been of importance as a connection between the British capital of London and sea trade routes to Continental Europe...
) which diverges in a south-east direction from Borough High Street at a busy junction of five roads adjacent to Borough tube station
Borough tube station
Borough tube station is a London Underground station in The Borough area of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on the Bank branch of the Northern Line between Elephant & Castle and London Bridge stations. It is in Travelcard Zone 1....
as Great Dover Street
Great Dover Street
Great Dover Street is in Southwark, south London, England. At the northwest end it joins Marshalsea Road and Borough High Street and there is a junction with Long Lane; Borough tube station is at this location. At the southeast end is the Bricklayers' Arms roundabout and flyover...
. The Dover Road mostly follows the alignment of Roman Watling Street
Watling Street
Watling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Britons mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans later paved the route, part of which is identified on the Antonine Itinerary as Iter III: "Item a Londinio ad...
, though, here, the original Roman route was along Tabard Street closely parallel with Great Dover Street to the north.
The stretch of Borough High Street south of the junction with 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...
, Marshalsea Road
Marshalsea Road
Marshalsea Road is a major street in Southwark, south London, England. At the northwest end is the Southwark Bridge Road. At the southeast end is Borough tube station on Borough High Street. Continuing across the street are Long Lane and Great Dover Street...
, and Tabard Street, where stands the ancient church of 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....
, was formerly called 'Blackman Street' after a long resident family there.
The famous Borough Market
Borough Market
Borough Market is a wholesale and retail food market in Southwark, London, England. It is one of the largest food markets in London, and sells a large variety of foods from all over the world.-Information and History:...
was once held on the street but has been moved to the west with its main entrance on Southwark Street. Southwark Cathedral
Southwark Cathedral
Southwark Cathedral or 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....
, prominent on the west side of the street near London Bridge, can be reached by a small pedestrian bridge and stairs though its postal address is Montague Close.
The earliest recorded name for the street is simply 'The Borough' which was the part between the fork of the street and London Bridge. South of the fork it was called 'St Margaret's Hill'. These names were subsumed in the Tudor period as 'Longe Southwark' (differentiated from 'Short Southwark' now 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 by the late Georgian era as simply 'High Street' and the northern section from the junction with Duke Street Hill was renamed 'Wellington Street' to commemorate the Duke of Wellington. From the 1890s the London County Council started to rationalise all metropolitan street names and 'Borough High Street' became the name for the current route.
History
Before the building of Westminster BridgeWestminster Bridge
Westminster Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames between Westminster on the north side and Lambeth on the south side, in London, England....
, Borough High Street was the only connection to London, north of the river, from the south. As a major communications node for traffic between London and Portsmouth, Dover, south-east England generally and also travellers from Europe, Borough High Street had many coaching inns. These were of considerable size, with courtyard and surrounding multi-tier galleries. There were twenty-three in total, including the Bear, the Queen's Head, the King's Head, the Catherine Wheel, the Tabard
The Tabard
The Tabard, an inn that stood on the east side of Borough High Street in Southwark, was established in 1307, when the abbot of Hyde purchased the land to construct a hostel for himself and his brethren, when business took them to London, as well as an inn to accommodate the numerous pilgrims headed...
, the White Hart, and the George. Many of them dated back originally to the mediæval period, and were in use as coaching inns up to the mid nineteenth century, when this mode of transport was superseded by the railway. These inns were very famous and receive mention in the work of such literary giants as Chaucer, Shakespeare and Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, though are now all gone - apart from the George.
From the twelfth century to 1862 St. Thomas' Hospital lay to the east of Borough High Street with Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital is a large NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in south east London, England. It is administratively a part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. It is a large teaching hospital and is home to the King's College London School of Medicine...
adjacent.
On the west side of the street the modern office block called Brandon House at 180 Borough High Street (opposite Borough tube station
Borough tube station
Borough tube station is a London Underground station in The Borough area of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on the Bank branch of the Northern Line between Elephant & Castle and London Bridge stations. It is in Travelcard Zone 1....
) marks the site of a mansion called Suffolk Place
Suffolk Place
Suffolk Place was a mansion located on the west side of Borough High Street in Southwark belonging to the Dukes of Suffolk. It was built in the fifteenth century and rebuilt in fine Renaissance style in 1522 by Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk and boyhood friend of Henry VIII...
, demolished in 1557. It is depicted by Anthony van den Wyngaerde's sixteenth century Panorama of London, which features Borough High Street prominently in the foreground of the picture. After demolition the site of the mansion and the area to the west of Borough High Street here became notorious as the criminal enclave of The Mint.
The infamous Marshalsea
Marshalsea
The Marshalsea was a prison on the south bank of the River Thames in Southwark, now part of London. From the 14th century until it closed in 1842, it housed men under court martial for crimes at sea, including those accused of "unnatural crimes", political figures and intellectuals accused of...
and King's Bench Prison
King's Bench Prison
The King's Bench Prison was a prison in Southwark, south London, from medieval times until it closed in 1880. It took its name from the King's Bench court of law in which cases of defamation, bankruptcy and other misdemeanours were heard; as such, the prison was often used as a debtor's prison...
s were also located on Borough High Street.
Street numbering
The present numbering of the buildings on the street is confusing because of piecemeal alteration over the past 150 years:- The street was widened and realigned to the west in the 1820s for the Rennie London BridgeLondon Bridge
London Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames, connecting the City of London and Southwark, in central London. Situated between Cannon Street Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge, it forms the western end of the Pool of London...
. The 'fork' at the junction with Southwark Street
Southwark Street
Southwark Street is a major street in the London Borough of Southwark, in London England, just south of the River Thames. It runs between Blackfriars Road to the west and Borough High Street to the east. It also connects the access routes for London Bridge, Southwark Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge...
was created when that street was inserted, in 1864, to connect the London Bridge
London Bridge
London Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames, connecting the City of London and Southwark, in central London. Situated between Cannon Street Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge, it forms the western end of the Pool of London...
, Southwark Bridge
Southwark Bridge
Southwark Bridge is an arch bridge for traffic linking Southwark and the City across the River Thames, in London, England. It was designed by Ernest George and Basil Mott. It was built by Sir William Arrol & Co. and opened in 1921...
, and Blackfriars
Blackfriars
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 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...
Bridge routes together. This new route cut across Stoney Street and isolated its southern end, which section was subsequently renumbered as part of Borough High Street although it actually lies behind numbers 28–32 to their west-side. The small alleyway connecting the two branches of the 'fork' is named 'Counter Court' (see Borough Compter
Borough Compter
The Borough Compter was a small compter or prison initially located in Southwark High Street but moved to nearby Tooley Street in the 17th century, where it stood until demolished until 1855. It took its name from 'The Borough', a historic name for the Southwark area of London on the south side of...
) but is not an address for any premises.
The railway viaduct across the street was also erected in 1864 and this cut across a quadrant of both the main streets. This led to the numbering on the west-side of the street ceasing at the junction with Bedale Street (No 6), at which the Southwark Street
Southwark Street
Southwark Street is a major street in the London Borough of Southwark, in London England, just south of the River Thames. It runs between Blackfriars Road to the west and Borough High Street to the east. It also connects the access routes for London Bridge, Southwark Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge...
numbers begin. However, these appear continuous with Borough High Street which only becomes apparent at the junction with Stoney Street further along to the west. The main street's numbers continue at No 28, the HSBC Bank
HSBC Bank
HSBC Bank may refer to any one of the following principal local banks for HSBC Group:- Americas :* HSBC Bank Argentina* HSBC Bank Brazil* HSBC Bank Canada* HSBC Bank Chile* HSBC Bank Costa Rica* HSBC Bank El Salvador* HSBC Bank Honduras...
branch, which also seems to be on the south-side of Southwark Street, but that street's south-side numbers do not start until after the junction with the 'fork' going west. On the approach to the Bridge, Borough High Street northeast-side numbering stops at No 7 which is a vault shop within the railway viaduct, the lower numbers' disappearance was caused by the 1990s developments on the river side north of Duke Street Hill, the main office block north of this is actually 'No 1 London Bridge' and the pedestrian only 'London Bridge Walk' leading to Colechurch House is also numbered from this point.
To compound the eccentric numbering, the building that appears first at the northwest side of Borough High Street (Hibernia Chambers/Glaziers Hall No 9 Montague Close at its ground floor) had its first floor level connected to the Bridge level pavement in 2000 and was given the address 'No 2 London Bridge'. On the northwest side, the street numbers of the High Street start after the small bridge crossing over 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 :...
as No 2 Borough High Street.
With the extension of the railway viaduct in 2010 the buildings between it and the junction with Bedale Street were and replaced and some new address may be created for the new building. This would mean that Borough High Street would have a gap between No 4 and No 28.
Amenities and features
Borough is now a thriving cosmopolitan area of London, with many restaurants (such as the Hiba Restaurant and Tas), bars and the well-known food market Borough MarketBorough Market
Borough Market is a wholesale and retail food market in Southwark, London, England. It is one of the largest food markets in London, and sells a large variety of foods from all over the world.-Information and History:...
. The street also has many cafés and food shops including Sainsbury's Local. Just off the road is the Old Operating Theatre
Old Operating Theatre
The Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret is a museum of surgical history and one of the oldest surviving operating theatres. It is located in the garret of St Thomas's Church, Southwark, on the original site of St Thomas' Hospital....
, now a museum and Herb Garret, the oldest surviving operating theatre in Britain. Public Houses include:
- The George InnThe George Inn, SouthwarkThe George, or George Inn, is a public house established in the medieval period on Borough High Street in Southwark, London. Currently owned and leased by the National Trust, it is located on the south side of the River Thames near London Bridge. It is the only surviving galleried London coaching...
- The Slug and Lettuce
- St. Christopher's Inn
- Belushi's
- The Roxy Bar & Screen
The Post Office (dated 1913) opposite Borough tube station closed in 2008.
David Bomberg House
David Bomberg House is a hall of residence at 282–382 Borough High Street for London South Bank UniversityLondon South Bank University
London South Bank University is a university in south London. With over 25,000 students and 1,700 staff, it is based in the London Borough of Southwark, near the South Bank of the River Thames, from which it takes its name...
students. The building comprises 289 single en-suite bedrooms, divided into five blocks. It is close to the Borough tube station
Borough tube station
Borough tube station is a London Underground station in The Borough area of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on the Bank branch of the Northern Line between Elephant & Castle and London Bridge stations. It is in Travelcard Zone 1....
and the main campus of London South Bank University on Borough Road
Borough Road
Borough Road is in Southwark, London SE1. It runs east-west between St George's Circus and Borough High Street.- History and location :The route was created as part of the planning and road improvements associated with the completion of Westminster Bridge in 1750, to provide access to Southwark...
north of Elephant and Castle
Elephant and Castle
The Elephant and Castle is a major road intersection in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Southwark. It is also used as a name for the surrounding area....
.
The building is named after the English painter David Bomberg
David Bomberg
David Garshen Bomberg was an English painter, and one of the Whitechapel Boys.Bomberg was one of the most audacious of the exceptional generation of artists who studied at the Slade School of Art under Henry Tonks, and which included Mark Gertler, Stanley Spencer, C.R.W. Nevinson and Dora Carrington...
(1890–957), who was a teacher at London South Bank University
London South Bank University
London South Bank University is a university in south London. With over 25,000 students and 1,700 staff, it is based in the London Borough of Southwark, near the South Bank of the River Thames, from which it takes its name...
when it was known as Borough Polytechnic. He was the leading artist of the Borough Group
Borough Group
The Borough Group was a collective of mid-20th century artists from the Borough area of Southwark, south London, England. The group was associated with the David Bomberg, who was then teaching a number of the artists that formed the group at the Borough Polytechnic, hence the name.Cliff Holden...
during the 1940s and 1950s. A portrait of him hangs in the reception area. David Bomberg is considered to be London South Bank University's most famous teacher. In 2009, it was announced that the University had received a gift of a collection of works by Bomberg.
In 2009, a late night license was granted for premises on the ground floor (Costcutter
Costcutter
Costcutter is based in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Poland under which there are supermarkets and local and urban convenience stores. The banner also has its own brand of goods and products which are sold alongside Nisa Today own-brand products and branded products.As of December 2006,...
), despite a significant number of objections from residents. In February 2011, the Chaze bar and restaurant on the ground floor of the building in the former Costcutter space, opposite Southwark
Southwark
Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...
Police Station
Police Station
Police Station is a American TV series that aired in syndication in 1959. Stories were taken from actual files.- Cast :*Baynes Barron as Sergeant White*Larry Kerr as Detective Chuck Mitchell*Henry Beckman as Detective Stan Abramson...
, obtained planning permission after a four-month deferral, despite opposition by the building's owner, London South Bank University.
Adjoining roads
- Borough RoadBorough RoadBorough Road is in Southwark, London SE1. It runs east-west between St George's Circus and Borough High Street.- History and location :The route was created as part of the planning and road improvements associated with the completion of Westminster Bridge in 1750, to provide access to Southwark...
- Great Dover StreetGreat Dover StreetGreat Dover Street is in Southwark, south London, England. At the northwest end it joins Marshalsea Road and Borough High Street and there is a junction with Long Lane; Borough tube station is at this location. At the southeast end is the Bricklayers' Arms roundabout and flyover...
- Trinity Street
- Harper Road
- Lant StreetLant StreetLant Street is a street south of Marshalsea Road in Southwark, south London, England.-Overview:At the northwest end is the Southwark Bridge Road and at the southeast end is Borough High Street. Close by, just to the north in Borough High Street, is the historic St George the Martyr church, where...
- Long LaneLong Lane, SouthwarkLong 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...
- Marshalsea RoadMarshalsea RoadMarshalsea Road is a major street in Southwark, south London, England. At the northwest end is the Southwark Bridge Road. At the southeast end is Borough tube station on Borough High Street. Continuing across the street are Long Lane and Great Dover Street...
- Newington CausewayNewington CausewayNewington Causeway is a road in Southwark, London, England, between the Elephant and Castle and Borough High Street. The Elephant and Castle tube station is at the southern end....
- St Thomas Street
- Southwark StreetSouthwark StreetSouthwark Street is a major street in the London Borough of Southwark, in London England, just south of the River Thames. It runs between Blackfriars Road to the west and Borough High Street to the east. It also connects the access routes for London Bridge, Southwark Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge...
- Tabard Street
- Tooley StreetTooley StreetTooley 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 :...
- Union Street