KURSA - Southwark (Bankside) Jun 2025

Southwark Cathedral and Bankside ~ June 2025

A KURSA group of members and friends visited Southwark Cathedral, The Golden Hinde Galley, and Borough Market.

Scroll down to see the Golden Hinde and Borough Market.

Southwark Cathedral is in the heart of the exciting and colourful Bankside community on the south bank of the Thames. We were met by a guide who took us around some key points of the building.

The original 7th century church of St Mary Overie was re-founded as an Augustinian priory in 1106 ad, also known as St Mary Overie. The first written reference is in the Domesday Book of 1086.

In 1539, with the Dissolution of the Monasteries, it became a parish church called St. Saviour's, then in 1905 it became Southwark Cathedral.

Many famous people were associated with this Cathedral, including;

William Shakespeare who lived in the parish, and Edmund Shakespeare (William’s brother), John Fletcher and Philip Henslowe were all buried in the building.

Charles Dickens, regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. Dickens' experience of living in the crime-ridden and poverty-stricken area shaped many of his famous novels, including Little Dorrit and Oliver Twist, which are partly set in Southwark.

John Gower, the court poet, lived there at the start of the 15th century. He was a friend of Chaucer who was famous for The Canterbury Tales which begins in Southwark. Gower died at the priory and left a large part of his money to St Mary Overie.

Lancelot Andrewes, the only Bishop of Winchester to be buried in Southwark Cathedral. He was involved in the Authorised Version of the Bible also known as the King James Bible, and credited for his translation of the Pentateuch ~ the first five books of the Bible in the Old Testament.

John Harvard was baptised in the parish church of St Saviours in 1607. Harvard University in the USA considers him to be the most honoured of their founders.

Today Southwark Cathedral remains a centre for daily worship, continuing to serve the people of the parish and diocese. As a centre of teaching, worship, prayer and pilgrimage, it offers an open and inclusive welcome to all who visit.

The Golden Hinde

This is the only full-sized reconstruction of the 16th century galleon in which Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the world between 1577 and 1580. It was built in Devon and launched in 1975.

The figurehead of the Golden Hinde is the head of a female deer painted gold. Hinde (pronounced “highnd”) is an old English word for female deer and featured in the Hatton family coat of arms. Sir Christopher Hatton was one of the principal sponsors of Drake’s world voyage.

Since it's launch, this later Golden Hinde has sailed over 100,000 miles ~ further than Drake’s original voyage!

On to the nearby Borough Market, London's oldest fruit and vegetable market. A popular destination for food lovers, offering a wide array of fresh produce, artisanal goods, and street food. It was first established 1,000 years ago, when a market took shape at the foot of London Bridge. Since 1756 it has been in the current location and is now run by a charitable trust on behalf of the community. But although there are many stalls of fresh produce and street food, the high prices are perhaps geared for tourists!