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Southwark Cathedral




Southwark Cathedral or '''The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie''', Southwark , London , lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge .

It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese Of Southwark . It has been the place of Christian worship for over 1,400 years.

The main Railway line from London Bridge Station to Cannon Street Station passes close to the cathedral, blocking the view from the south side. Borough Market and the Hall of the Worshipful Company Of Glaziers And Painters Of Glass by the river are in the immediate vicinity.


HISTORY


Saxon and mediƦval


The earliest reference to the site was in the stonework can still be seen, and Thomas Becket preached here before departing to Canterbury , days before his murder in 1170 .

Henry Cardinal Beaufort repaired the church after a 1212 fire. The main structure of the present church was built between 1220 and 1420 , making it the first Gothic church in London.

John Gower was buried there.


16th and 17th centuries

with Southwark Cathedral in 1616, in the foreground]]
Heresy trials occurred in the Galilee chapel in 1555, under Mary I Of England .

Shakespeare buried his brother, Edmund, here in 1607. (The Cathedral contains a 19th century large stained glass window dedicated to William, depicting scenes from all of the plays he wrote, at the base of the which is a statue of a reclining William Shakespeare holding a quill.) It was a popular resting place for dramatists - John Fletcher and Philip Massinger are also buried here. Lancelot Andrewes , part-author of the Authorised Version , is buried by the high altar and John Harvard was baptised here.

It was from Southwark Minster that Czech Wenceslas Hollar drew the "Long View of London" in 1638 , a panorama which has become a definitive impression of 17th century London.


19th century to present

It was designated as a cathedral in 1905 when the Church Of England Diocese Of Southwark was created. Its first and longest serving organist was Dr E. T. Cook who would broadcast daily on BBC Radio during the 1920s and 1930s.

There is a memorial to the victims of the Marchioness Disaster and monuments to Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu . On 16 November 1996 the cathedral became a focus of controversy by hosting a twentieth-anniversary service for the Lesbian And Gay Christian Movement . Jeffrey John , the Dean of St Albans and former bishop-elect of Reading, was Canon Theologian of Southwark. In 2001, Mandela opened a new northern 'cloister' on the site of the old monastic one, with a refectory, shop, conference centre, education centre and museum. In 2002, these Millennium buildings received an award for being one of the best new buildings of the year.


OTHER INFORMATION

The cathedral is used by London South Bank University for its annual Honorary Degree ceremony and by King's College London for its medical and dental degree ceremonies. The cathedral is also used to host The London Nautical School's annual Christmas Carol Service.

There is another cathedral in Southwark — the Roman Catholic St George's Cathedral Southwark .

The Southwark Choir performed the Mr. Bean theme song.

Parts of the Doctor Who episode The Lazarus Experiment take place at Southwark Cathedral but, although the exterior appears, the interior shots were actually filmed at Wells Cathedral .


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