Southwark: Borough Market, art and theatre history

Southwark offers a range of ways to shape a trip: Borough Market, art in Bankside and theatre history each bring their own focus. If you’re looking for a hotel in Southwark, first decide which themes matter most for your stay. These include a market with three clearly defined areas, a gallery in a former power station and archaeological theatre remains whose shape and stage can be made out.

Borough Market and its areas

Borough Market has three main areas: Three Crown Square for larger producers and traders, Green Market for small vendors of specialist products, and Borough Market Kitchen for street food traders. The distinction helps you find your way around: you can decide whether to focus your market visit on larger producers, specialist products or street food. Borough Market is right next to London Bridge Station. The market also offers official, licensed guided tours led by an expert guide. If you’re planning a tour, check the schedule before your trip.

Theatre history and archaeological sites

The Rose was built in 1587 and was the first theatre on Bankside in Southwark. Its archaeological remains have been preserved underwater; illuminated ropes mark them out. This allows visitors to make out the theatre’s shape and size, as well as its stage. Shakespeare’s Globe stands on the banks of the Thames in London, in the Bankside Cultural Quarter. The site of the original Globe Theatre on the south side of Park Street is a separate location: its footprint in Playhouse Court is laid with cobblestones, and information panels stand on the viewing platform. Clink Street is also home to the remains of the western and southern walls of the Great Hall of Winchester Palace.

Art, museums and architecture

Tate Modern is in Bankside, in the London Borough of Southwark. The building was once a power station and is now an art gallery. Gallery admission is free; this does not apply to exhibitions. Bankside Gallery is on the Thames Path between Tate Modern and Blackfriars Station. This location provides two specific landmarks to help you find the Gallery.

The Old Operating Theatre Museum & Herb Garret is located in the attic of a 320-year-old church. The Clink Prison Museum is in the heart of present-day Southwark and presents the scandalous history of Old Bankside through an interactive educational experience. The Roman Catholic Church of the Most Precious Blood was built in 1891–1892 by James Smith & Sons of Norwood and is in the Neo-Romanesque style. Southwark Cathedral offers a programme of music, heritage, tours, talks and family events.

Routes and orientation

One route connects Bankside with London Bridge and Waterloo stations; a walking route runs along a Victorian railway viaduct. These are different points of reference: one is a connection to two stations, the other a striking structure along the way. When planning, you can therefore consider whether a listed station connection or a walk along the viaduct is more important to you.

Discover more destinations: Rotherhithe, Camberwell.

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