London’s Southwark Cathedral

Where Gumbo Was #284

Southwark Cathedral is one of London’s two Anglican cathedrals, but it plays a pale second in name recognition and renowned beauty to Christopher Wren’s Saint Paul’s.

Not that that kept George G from recognizing our puzzle location on Day 1!

Nevertheless, it has a beauty of its own, and a long and complex history, and, because it’s set in the midst of a bustling area of London with almost no land of its own, it has a very different feel: Less monumental and more a public gathering place.

Part of the reason it has so many people around it in midday is because it’s located right next to the Borough Market, the city’s largest public outdoor market, and to London Bridge station, a busy rail and subway hub. In fact, the railway viaduct that runs almost next to it was a compromise: the railway builders wanted to demolish the church to make way for the trains.

With a near neighbor, the London Shard

My first reaction to seeing the Cathedral there, on our way to the market, was surprise that such an important building got so little respect from its neighbors; only later did I remember that through most of their history nearly all of Europe’s cathedrals were at the center of crowds, often with makeshift shops using their outside walls as the back of the store.

Not every part of the cathedral backs up on the market and busy streets; it has some quiet spaces, including a courtyard that is a lunchtime favorite with people who work in the area and buy food in the market. The food is not meant to be eaten in the courtyard, but it often is…and in any case, it’s a pleasant spot to rest after eating.

Of course, lunch and a rest is not the only mid-day option at the Cathedral; there are other activities in various parts of the complex, as well as actual religious events.

The day we were there, a choir from the BBC was rehearsing and then presenting a television production of Benjamin Britten’s one-act opera Noye’s Fludde, a medieval-themed retelling of the story of Noah and his ark. That was our lunchtime treat!

Southwark wasn’t always a cathedral, and it wasn’t always called Southwark. In a day when 19th-century factories are being re-used as shopping malls and condos, it should feel right at home. It was already quite old in the 1500s, when it shared the picture above with London Bridge, lined with houses and shops.

The oldest parts, most of them now buried under later work, date to 1106, although it is believed there was a convent on the site as early as the 10th century, followed by a college of priests. In 1106, it was refounded as an Augustinian priory, and remained so until Henry VIII dissolved all the religious houses. It was dedicated to St. Mary, and Overie, meaning across the water, was added to distinguish it from all the other St. Mary churches in the city.

The appearance of the church as we see it now dates to work started in 1220 after the Great Fire of 1212 did major damage. In 1390, before the tower was finished, it was hit with another fire; the final work was done in 1420. The rebuilt church was London’s first Gothic church.

Except for adjoining buildings, now linked by a covered archway, the outer appearance of the church is much as it was in the 15th century. Inside is a different matter; the interior of the nave was reconstructed and somewhat updated in the 19th century, finished just in time for Victoria’s 1897 Jubilee.

But the building’s life was not a particularly straight path. After the priory was closed, St. Mary Overie was rededicated as St. Saviour’s, a parish church. It passed at different times through being part of the Diocese of Winchester and then the Diocese of Rochester. Only in 1905, with the creation of the Diocese of Southwark did it finally become a cathedral, with the name of Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie.

Southwark has its share of famous-folk associations as well. One chapel, paid for by alumni and with significant stained glass, honors John Harvard, founder of the college that bears his name; its crest is visible in one of the upper windows. He was born in the parish and baptised in the church.

Harvard’s family were business associates of members of William Shakespeare’s family. The parish served an area south of the Thames that included the Globe and other theatres. There’s a memorial to the Bard, as well as the tomb of his brother Edmund, and stained glass windows depicting some of his characters.

It’s also the home to tomb of an important if little-known-today literary figure, John Gower, Poet Laureate to Richard II and Henry IV, who died in 1408. He had a house and chapel in the church grounds. The polychrome panels were as unusual then as they are now. Gower was, in a sense, the first English poet; before him, Latin and then French were the languages of poetry. Gower, too, wrote in those languages, but also in English. The three books under the head of his effigy are each in one of the three languages.