Southwark Trivia
@southwarktrivia.bsky.social
Interesting tidbits about the historic borough of Southwark
There is a long history of repurposing old cannons as street furniture across Europe. Southwark is no different. Could this be a French gun captured during the Napoleonic wars, or is that an urban legend? Located South West of Southwark Bridge - What are your favourite bollard canons?
October 29, 2025 at 6:39 AM
There is a long history of repurposing old cannons as street furniture across Europe. Southwark is no different. Could this be a French gun captured during the Napoleonic wars, or is that an urban legend? Located South West of Southwark Bridge - What are your favourite bollard canons?
True to its radical spirit, Southwark was a key location in the 1381 Peasant Revolt. A rallying point for Wat Tyler's men - inspired by wayward priest John Ball - local buildings were targeted and destroyed: including Lambeth Palace, owned by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
#southwarkhistory
#southwarkhistory
October 11, 2025 at 9:38 AM
True to its radical spirit, Southwark was a key location in the 1381 Peasant Revolt. A rallying point for Wat Tyler's men - inspired by wayward priest John Ball - local buildings were targeted and destroyed: including Lambeth Palace, owned by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
#southwarkhistory
#southwarkhistory
At the bottom of Borough High Street, you will find Stones End Street. This road was named for the end of the paved thoroughfare leading out of Southwark and the beginning of the countryside. It was also the site of a parliamentary fort, defending London in the civil war era.
#southwarkhistory
#southwarkhistory
September 20, 2025 at 6:18 PM
At the bottom of Borough High Street, you will find Stones End Street. This road was named for the end of the paved thoroughfare leading out of Southwark and the beginning of the countryside. It was also the site of a parliamentary fort, defending London in the civil war era.
#southwarkhistory
#southwarkhistory
Dickens lived in a Lant Street ghetto whilst his father was in Marshalsea debtors prison. "Lant" refers to aged urine, collected for its high ammonia content. The current street is named for Thomas Lant, however, who was chartered by Queen Anne to rent 400 houses there from 1773 to 1824.
#southwark
#southwark
September 11, 2025 at 6:08 AM
Dickens lived in a Lant Street ghetto whilst his father was in Marshalsea debtors prison. "Lant" refers to aged urine, collected for its high ammonia content. The current street is named for Thomas Lant, however, who was chartered by Queen Anne to rent 400 houses there from 1773 to 1824.
#southwark
#southwark
Elizabethan trader Christopher Merrick gifte Trinity Estate to charity in 1660. The King Alfred statue located at Trinity Church has been in situ since 1826 and is now thought to have been crafted from a much earlier Roman statue of Minerva.
#southwark
#southwarkhistory
#southwark
#southwarkhistory
August 23, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Elizabethan trader Christopher Merrick gifte Trinity Estate to charity in 1660. The King Alfred statue located at Trinity Church has been in situ since 1826 and is now thought to have been crafted from a much earlier Roman statue of Minerva.
#southwark
#southwarkhistory
#southwark
#southwarkhistory
Southwark Schools: The 1870 Education Act saw 3 schools appear in Southwark: Snowsfields, Lant Street School (now Charles Dickens Primary), and Harper Street. School became compulsory in 1876, and by 1891 they were free.
#southwark #southwarkhistory
#southwark #southwarkhistory
June 5, 2025 at 6:27 AM
Southwark Schools: The 1870 Education Act saw 3 schools appear in Southwark: Snowsfields, Lant Street School (now Charles Dickens Primary), and Harper Street. School became compulsory in 1876, and by 1891 they were free.
#southwark #southwarkhistory
#southwark #southwarkhistory
Guy's Hospital first applied the scientific method to the study of diseases. Thomas Addison, Richard Bright, and Thomas Hodgkin all worked there (each famous for studying an eponymous disease). John Keats was at Guy's as an apprentice doctor. Can you name any famous Guy's alumni?
#southwarkhistory
#southwarkhistory
March 21, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Guy's Hospital first applied the scientific method to the study of diseases. Thomas Addison, Richard Bright, and Thomas Hodgkin all worked there (each famous for studying an eponymous disease). John Keats was at Guy's as an apprentice doctor. Can you name any famous Guy's alumni?
#southwarkhistory
#southwarkhistory
Southwark has always been multicultural; the mid-18th century population comprised of 10% Irish, with a growing number of slaves and freed people. 40% of these workers provided services supporting the movement of trade: e.g., smiths, farriers, and leatherworkers.
#southwarkhistory #southwark
#southwarkhistory #southwark
February 22, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Southwark has always been multicultural; the mid-18th century population comprised of 10% Irish, with a growing number of slaves and freed people. 40% of these workers provided services supporting the movement of trade: e.g., smiths, farriers, and leatherworkers.
#southwarkhistory #southwark
#southwarkhistory #southwark
The City of London has attempted to bring Southwark to heel many times. One attempt resulted in Edward III establishing the Guildable Manor in 1327. This court allowed the City limited control of trade and tax, and still holds a ceremonial rent-paying event to this day
#southwark #southwarkhistory
#southwark #southwarkhistory
February 20, 2025 at 7:03 AM
The City of London has attempted to bring Southwark to heel many times. One attempt resulted in Edward III establishing the Guildable Manor in 1327. This court allowed the City limited control of trade and tax, and still holds a ceremonial rent-paying event to this day
#southwark #southwarkhistory
#southwark #southwarkhistory
Today, we remember Harry Cole, volunteer, community Bobby, and author of several books about his experiences growing up and then policing in Southwark. He schooled at Charles Dickens Primary School in the 1930s and has a housing association named after him off Thurlow Street.
February 6, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Today, we remember Harry Cole, volunteer, community Bobby, and author of several books about his experiences growing up and then policing in Southwark. He schooled at Charles Dickens Primary School in the 1930s and has a housing association named after him off Thurlow Street.
In contrast to St Thomas' (after Becket, est. 1173) hospital, which historically catered for wealthier patients, Guy's hospital was established in 1721 by philanthropist Thomas Guy to serve all members of Southwark society. The wealthy of yesteryear exhibited compassion, empathy, and morality...
February 1, 2025 at 6:56 AM
In contrast to St Thomas' (after Becket, est. 1173) hospital, which historically catered for wealthier patients, Guy's hospital was established in 1721 by philanthropist Thomas Guy to serve all members of Southwark society. The wealthy of yesteryear exhibited compassion, empathy, and morality...
Southwark Fair was a long-running annual feature of life in the borough. Dating from 1409, it originally only lasted a few days, until its cancellation by City of London authorities in 1762, caused by its vast increase in size, vice, and general debauchery.
#southwark #southwarktrivia
#southwark #southwarktrivia
January 23, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Southwark Fair was a long-running annual feature of life in the borough. Dating from 1409, it originally only lasted a few days, until its cancellation by City of London authorities in 1762, caused by its vast increase in size, vice, and general debauchery.
#southwark #southwarktrivia
#southwark #southwarktrivia
Southwark has a proud progressive history. In 1770, a marriage between Ann Bradley, a white woman, and Michael Thomas, a black man, took place in St. Olave's Church. Possibly the first modern UK interracial marriage; the ceremony was completed, although violence was reported.
#southwarktrivia
#southwarktrivia
January 18, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Southwark has a proud progressive history. In 1770, a marriage between Ann Bradley, a white woman, and Michael Thomas, a black man, took place in St. Olave's Church. Possibly the first modern UK interracial marriage; the ceremony was completed, although violence was reported.
#southwarktrivia
#southwarktrivia
This post honours James Braidwood, Scottish firefighter who died fighting the 1861 Tooley Street fire at Cotton's Wharf, London Bridge. His death was the catalyst for the 1865 Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act, which led to the creation of the London Fire Brigade.
#southwark #southwarktrivia
#southwark #southwarktrivia
January 12, 2025 at 9:39 AM
This post honours James Braidwood, Scottish firefighter who died fighting the 1861 Tooley Street fire at Cotton's Wharf, London Bridge. His death was the catalyst for the 1865 Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act, which led to the creation of the London Fire Brigade.
#southwark #southwarktrivia
#southwark #southwarktrivia
Southwark has historically been fiercely independent and even featured several revolutionary acts, including Wat Tyler's revolt of 1381 and the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots of 1780, which saw the burning down of the King's Bench prison.
#southwark #southwarktrivia
#southwark #southwarktrivia
January 11, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Southwark has historically been fiercely independent and even featured several revolutionary acts, including Wat Tyler's revolt of 1381 and the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots of 1780, which saw the burning down of the King's Bench prison.
#southwark #southwarktrivia
#southwark #southwarktrivia
Part Two: St.Olave's Church was erected on Tooley Street (a corruption of St.Olave's) and is mentioned in the Domesday book of 1086. St.Olaf House now stands in its stead, once the original HQ of the Hay's Wharf company, it is now part of London Bridge Hospital
#southwark #southwarktrivia
#southwark #southwarktrivia
December 31, 2024 at 8:42 AM
Part Two: St.Olave's Church was erected on Tooley Street (a corruption of St.Olave's) and is mentioned in the Domesday book of 1086. St.Olaf House now stands in its stead, once the original HQ of the Hay's Wharf company, it is now part of London Bridge Hospital
#southwark #southwarktrivia
#southwark #southwarktrivia
Thomas Dekker, Elizabethan author of The Shoemakers Holiday and frequent collaborator with Ben Johnson and Philip Henslowe, once called Borough High St, "a continuous ale house with not a shop to be seen". The George still exists from that time.
#southwark #southwarktrivia
#southwark #southwarktrivia
December 28, 2024 at 9:34 PM
Thomas Dekker, Elizabethan author of The Shoemakers Holiday and frequent collaborator with Ben Johnson and Philip Henslowe, once called Borough High St, "a continuous ale house with not a shop to be seen". The George still exists from that time.
#southwark #southwarktrivia
#southwark #southwarktrivia
St. Guy's Hospital's genesis harks back to when Southwark Cathedral was an Augustinian Priory in ~1106 CE. The priory founded the hospital alongside St. Thomas' Hospital that is now located in our neighbouring borough of Lambeth.
#southwark #southwarktrivia
#southwark #southwarktrivia
December 17, 2024 at 10:30 PM
St. Guy's Hospital's genesis harks back to when Southwark Cathedral was an Augustinian Priory in ~1106 CE. The priory founded the hospital alongside St. Thomas' Hospital that is now located in our neighbouring borough of Lambeth.
#southwark #southwarktrivia
#southwark #southwarktrivia
102 years after Moll Flanders was published, John Dickens was sent to Marshalsea Debtors Prison, located on modern-day Borough High Street. His 12 year old son Charles had to work 10 hours a week for shillings, living in an attic in nearby Lant Street.
#southwark #southwarktrivia
#southwark #southwarktrivia
December 5, 2024 at 7:31 AM
102 years after Moll Flanders was published, John Dickens was sent to Marshalsea Debtors Prison, located on modern-day Borough High Street. His 12 year old son Charles had to work 10 hours a week for shillings, living in an attic in nearby Lant Street.
#southwark #southwarktrivia
#southwark #southwarktrivia
Whilst Newgate prison is central to Defoe's Moll Flanders, Moll does spend time in the Liberty of the Mint. Her time there was desperate and illicit, foreshadowing her future life of crime. Mint Street off Marshalsea Road was the location of the real-life Liberty.
#southwark
#southwarktrivia
#southwark
#southwarktrivia
December 2, 2024 at 7:43 PM
Whilst Newgate prison is central to Defoe's Moll Flanders, Moll does spend time in the Liberty of the Mint. Her time there was desperate and illicit, foreshadowing her future life of crime. Mint Street off Marshalsea Road was the location of the real-life Liberty.
#southwark
#southwarktrivia
#southwark
#southwarktrivia
There is a great vintage flea market on at Mercato Municipal Newington Causeway today, until 4pm. The Causeway is built on top of the old Roman Stane Street that linked London and Chichester, possibly as old as 43CE.
#southwark
#southwarktrivia
#southwark
#southwarktrivia
December 1, 2024 at 1:03 PM
There is a great vintage flea market on at Mercato Municipal Newington Causeway today, until 4pm. The Causeway is built on top of the old Roman Stane Street that linked London and Chichester, possibly as old as 43CE.
#southwark
#southwarktrivia
#southwark
#southwarktrivia
The new Liberty building in SE1 is under way, architected by local firm Allies & Morrison. The construction has unearthed numerous historical finds, including several Roman mosaics which will be on display to the public on the site when it is completed
#sourhwark #southwarktrivia
#sourhwark #southwarktrivia
November 30, 2024 at 1:36 PM
The new Liberty building in SE1 is under way, architected by local firm Allies & Morrison. The construction has unearthed numerous historical finds, including several Roman mosaics which will be on display to the public on the site when it is completed
#sourhwark #southwarktrivia
#sourhwark #southwarktrivia
Before London Bridge was built, neolithic settlements in the area were scattered and unfixed. The first London Bridge was built by the Romans ~50CE. It existed 30 metres downstream from the current modern bridge, and in medieval times, it took over an hour to cross it.
#southwark #southwarktrivia
#southwark #southwarktrivia
November 29, 2024 at 11:38 AM
Before London Bridge was built, neolithic settlements in the area were scattered and unfixed. The first London Bridge was built by the Romans ~50CE. It existed 30 metres downstream from the current modern bridge, and in medieval times, it took over an hour to cross it.
#southwark #southwarktrivia
#southwark #southwarktrivia
Happy Thanksgiving! A famous son of America was baptised in Southwark's own St. Saviour's Church on 29th November 1607: John Harvard. He left these shores for the US in 1637, leaving his estate (and book collection) to a college now named in his honour.
#southwark #southwarktrivia
#southwark #southwarktrivia
November 28, 2024 at 8:22 PM
Happy Thanksgiving! A famous son of America was baptised in Southwark's own St. Saviour's Church on 29th November 1607: John Harvard. He left these shores for the US in 1637, leaving his estate (and book collection) to a college now named in his honour.
#southwark #southwarktrivia
#southwark #southwarktrivia
Disney Place and Street in SE1 were not named after Walt Disney, but were named for the Norman surname D'Isigny (trans. from Isigny-sur-mer). Their names date back to at least the 19th C, although the cartoon mogul did visit in the 1960s with his wife. #southwark #southwarktrivia
November 27, 2024 at 10:50 PM
Disney Place and Street in SE1 were not named after Walt Disney, but were named for the Norman surname D'Isigny (trans. from Isigny-sur-mer). Their names date back to at least the 19th C, although the cartoon mogul did visit in the 1960s with his wife. #southwark #southwarktrivia