Southwark – London SE1

Welcome to this fourth of four articles about London SE1 and in this one, we are briefly looking at the location of Southwark. The area of Southwark is located in London SE1 and since the 1550′s, has been known as “The Borough” to contrast it with the adjoining “City”. The area has had a large amount of “regeneration” in the last 10 years and light industry and factories has transformed to residential developments etc.. In fact, being centrally located, it is available for pedestrians to the City and West End. Of interest to tourists might be Borough market, which has increased in volume.

Southwark Early History – London SE1

The early history of Southwark in London SE1 was that it was originally a “marsh” location. In fact, excavation has displayed evidence that there was ploughing in the area and previously the location was a number of islands in the Thames River. In ancient “Londinium”, two Roman roads met in Southwark and were called “Stane Street” and “Watling Street”. Of course, Londinium was abandoned following the collapse of Rome’s power in England back in the 5th century AD. Following this time, London and London Bridge are reported to have relapsed into decay.

Around the time of King Alfred, the area of Southwark, nowadays in SE1 was reported to have recovered initially. It may interest you to know that the area of Southwark appears in the “Domesday Book” of 1086, but was know then as “Sudwerc(h)/Sudwerch”. During the years of the early Middle Ages, Southwark experienced a resurgence, though it remained away from the law of the City.

Southwark Recent History – London SE1

In the year 1838, the first railway for London was made, which was scheduled to operate from Southwark (London Bridge) to Greenwich. In the year 1861, there was an additional “Great Fire” in the Southwark area, which precipitated the destruction of a quantity of buildings. It may interest you to know that the first underground line is now known as the City Branch of the Northern Line and operated from 1890. Also, it may interest you to know that Southwark used to be part of Surrey, and actually became part of London in 1889.

London SE1 Summary

So we hope that this information has been useful in looking at London SE1 and may have given you an overview of the place. Remember, that if you have any questions about London SE1, you can visit: “http://www.se1.co.uk” and you might be interested to know that there is a free forum here:

“http://www.se1.co.uk/forum”. In addition, if you are looking for hotels etc., you can also find information as well as on other topics such as hotels etc. So, we hope to help you with your London SE1 questions at: “http://www.se1.co.uk“.

This article is produced with reference to: “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwark” – if you use ANY of this data, you MUST reference with a prominent clickable link from your webpage to: “http://www.se1.co.uk” at the top of the page.