On the south bank of the Thames and demarcated by Blackfriars and Tower
Bridges lies the district known as Bankside, the Borough and Southwark.
Its origin was in a Roman settlement nestling around the southern end of
London Bridge, until the eighteenth century the only bridge across the
Thames in London. Being separated only by the Thames from the City of
London and outside the City's jurisdiction, it developed as a place for
bawdy and disreputable entertainment and leisure - including the Globe
Theatre made famous by performing William Shakespeare's plays. It was an
area also sought out for its 'stews' which were some of London's most
notorious brothels where every taste could be catered for. Borough High
Street contained proportionately more inns and taverns than anywhere
else in Britain - and some were immortalised by Chaucer and Dickens. The
George alone survives to give some idea of what these ancient hostelries
were like. From a time when London was a collection of discrete
districts and villages, here is the long history of Bankside, the
metropolis's disreputable and licentious yet vibrant, cosmopolitan
underbelly.