Southwark and Bankside, London

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This church has only been a Cathedral since 1905, when the Anglican Diocese of Southwark was formed, but the building dates from the 13th century when it was a priory church following the rule of life of St Augustine of Hippo. Is the cinderella of the cathedrals in London and lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. It worths visit this cathedral it´s so beautiful and history breaths inside it. Entry is free but donations are welcome to support it

Fue iglesia hasta 1.905 cuando pasó a ser catedral, año en el cual se formó la diócesis aglicana de Southwark, pero la construcción del edificio es del siglo 13 cuando fue iglesia priorato bajo los preceptos de vida de San Agustín de Hippo. La llaman la cenicienta de las catedrales de Londres y se encuentra en parte sur del rio támesis junto a London Bridge. Merece la pena visitar esta catedral, es muy bonita y dentro se respira historia. Es gratis entrar pero si quieres puedes hacer un donativo para el mantenimiento.

Don't expect too much as the 14th century Rose window gable is the only surviving part of this once impressive 12th century palace which was the London home for the Bishops of Winchester. However, there are lots of other sights in the area (Golden Hinde, The Clink, Southwark Cathedral, London Dungeon, the Globe...) so you might as well look at it when you are here, and imagine how the provincial bishops travelled to London regularly to be where it all happened. The bishops in fact were even responsible for upholding the law in Bankside (the riverside part of Southwark) so there must have been quite a bit of work, licensing the many taverns and prostitutes here.

This was previously off the beaten path, but now that the Golden Hinde and Shakespeare's Globe are in the area, thankfully more people discover this gem. Its proper name is the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie Southwark, but that is too long to write out everywhere. Overie is a family name with a story. Mr Overie was originally a man who made money shipping people across the Thames and who one day pretended to be dead to save some money on his servants' food bill as he thought they would not eat out of sadness. When later, they all found that he was alive, there was a big feast but Overie got so upset at the wastefulness that he god mad and someone cracked his skull, thinking he was possessed by the devil. Overie's daughter had a fiance who then came to claim his inheritance but fell off the horse and died. Thus, Mary Overie was so sad, she went into a convent and donated the money into building a church in the area. It was probably needed as Southwark then was an area full of brothels.
The cathedral you see today was built between 1220 and 1420 and is a lot smaller than you would expect from knowing how important it once was and from the fact that it is in one of the World's major cities. Nevertheless, it is one of the nicest ecclesiastical buildings I know in London and it is a shame that it is hidden in between the traffic congestion areas of London Bridge today but you can also easily find the nearby riverbank to stroll along. To Americans, the cathedral is of particular interest since there is a chapel to John Harvard here. Harvard was of course the founder of the famous university and was in fact born in Southwark in 1607.

The Greater London authorities used to be housed in the huge building on the south side of Westminster Bridge (now hotels, a gallery and aquarium), but then the office of Mayor was reinstated and since 2002 the Greater London Authority (GLA), the Mayor and the London Assembly are all housed in this new building along the river. You can visit it weekdays between 8.00 and 20.00. The photo here is from the river so you cannot really appreciate the odd architecture in the way you can if you see it from the side.

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Southwark Cathedral is the oldest Gothic church in London. It is thought to have been founded back in 606, though was rebuilt in 1212 after a fire destroyed most of it, and became a cathedral (instead of just a church) in 1905.

This impressive building is located just near London Bridge, next to Borough Market - in fact the benches in the cathedral's garden are popular with people who have bought their lunch at the markets.

The building is shaped like a cross, and is split into several sections. The oldest section, the Retro-Choir is to the east, and trials used to take place here in the 16th century.

When we visited the cathedral one Saturday, we were warmly greeted at the door by one of the 'Cathedral Welcomers' - a nice older lady who gave us a brochure on the cathedral and showed us the William Shakespeare monument and stained glass window.

The cathedral was filled with people - but not tourists - instead there was a choir setting up for a performance and a group of ladies meeting for a coffee morning. It was great to see it filled with light and activity.

There is no charge to visit the cathedral, though there is a small fee if you would like to do an audio tour.

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I think GLA stands for Greater London Authority. I saw this building and took it's portrait from the Thames on my first day in London. The boat we were on did not have any narrative of what we were seeing, so I tried to look up the buildings on a map. I couldn't find this one, because it was newer than the maps.

Members of the public may visit parts of City Hall Monday to Friday from 8am to 8pm and on occasional weekends.

The building was designed to provide a new city landmark by Foster and Partners, one of Britain's leading architects. It is a 'green' building, and the shape is designed to minimise the surface area exposed to direct sunlight. For green plants, the object is to maximize sunlight, but in this case they want to reduce both solar gain and heat loss via the building's skin. The building leans to the south to shade itself. They use cold ground water to air-condition the building. The water is extracted from the water table beneath London through two bore holes and used to cool the building and then used in toilets and for irrigation savings on mains water.

I confused the building with one that was similar but more pointed called "The Gerkin" but that is a different building as UKSue explained "Hello Grandma Your picture of "The Gherkin" unfortunately is NOT your picture is of City Hall the home of the Mayor of London (Ken Livingstone) the London Assembly and the Greater London Authority"

The George just off Southwark High Street is my favourite pub in London. It still retains it's 17th century decor and ambience. The real ale on tap - Abbots was my favourite- probably is not too dissimilar to what the roundheads and cavaliers drank in its courtyard.

The Mayor of london's office looks like an odd shaped behive haircut from the 60's. The Mayor must have a great view from here and the surrounding area is a great place to take pictures from. Across the river you have the Tower of London, and next to this and the Mayor's office you have Tower Bridge.

On Feb 14th, yes valentines day, 2004 a scene from Bridget Jones' Diary 2 was shot here... how do I know? Because I was here whilst they were filming it!