Southwark Cathedral
Montague Close, Southwark, London SE1

Southwark Cathedral, the Cathedral Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, has the least attractive setting of any cathedral in England.  It stands below road level, beside London Bridge, surrounded by warehouses and dominated by a railway viaduct.  However, London's oldest Gothic building has a fascinating history and great architectural interest. 

Southwark has been a place of worship for over 1,000 years. 

Until the 19th century Southwark came under the diocese of Winchester, and from the 12th century the Bishops of Winchester had their London palace close by.  However, Southwark's association with Winchester goes back to St Swithin himself, who set up a college of priests along this stretch of the Thames in the 9th century, and there was a monastery here at the time of Edward the Confessor. 

There is no trace of the early church and little remains of the first Norman church of St Mary Overie (over the water).  St Mary's was an Augustinian house, founded in the 11th century, and served by the Canons Regular of that order. 

In 1206 a disastrous fire destroyed nearly everything and the earliest parts of the present church date from the rebuilding that followed.

A magnificent Gothic church, with a fine choir and retrochoir, was completed by the 14th century.  Another fire severely damaged this building but this was repaired and Southwark remained an important Augustinian house until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. 

When Southwark surrendered to Henry VIII in 1539 the priory church of St Mary Overie became the parish church of St Saviour, Southwark.  Under the last Roman Catholic Bishop of Winchester, Stephen Gardiner, Southwark enjoyed a short renaissance but after his death the building fell into disrepair.

At the end of the 16th century and early-17th century the borough of Southwark enjoyed a period of great prosperity.  This was London's first theatre-land and the Globe, Rose and Swan were all situated here. 

In 1614 the parishioners of Southwark purchased the church from James I and restored it.  During the Civil War the neighbouring Winchester Palace was converted into a prison and left to decay. The church survived but by the mid-19th century the building was in such a ruinous state that many felt it should be pulled down.  Although the nave was demolished the choir and retrochoir were extensively restored. 

In the late-19th century, when it was decided that Southwark should become the cathedral of a new South London diocese, major building work was needed to prepare the church for its new responsibilities, and in 1889 - 97 a new nave was constructed. This was designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield and is one of England's most successful Victorian Gothic buildings. 

Southwark was elevated to the status of cathedral in 1905 but, as it still serves as a parish church, the head of its Chapter is a provost and not a dean.

Southwark Cathedral's great glory is its Early English choir, with five bays and a triple arcaded clerestory complemented by the splendid retrochoir which dates from a similar period.  Between these is a magnificent early-16th century reredos with Victorian figures.  

In the 1930s Sir Ninian Comper carried out restoration work, including the tombs of John Gower, the 15th century poet and contemporary of Chaucer, and Bishop Lancelot Andrews, who died in 1626.  Comper was also responsible for the east window and the furnishings of all the four chapels.

Southwark's treasures include a Jacobean communion table and one of the earliest wooden effigies in England, a figure of a knight dating from the last quarter of the 13th century. 

John Harvard, founder of the great American university, was born in Southwark and baptised here in 1607.  The cathedral's Harvard Chapel has been lavishly decorated as a result of gifts from members of that university.

The cathedral has literary connections with Gower, Chaucer and Dickens and there is a monument to Shakespeare carved in 1912 with a memorial window above, installed in 1954.  Bishop Talbot, the first Bishop of Southwark in 1905, has a prominent memorial.

Admission free

Opening Times

Open:Daily 09:00-18:00