The Streets of Southwark: Introduction
The Spirit of Place
Southwark is both the origin and the heart of south-east London. It is a place that saw the evolution of London over two thousand years from is origins in Roman times to the vast commercial city we see in the present day. Throughout history Southwark has stood as a threshold at the entrance to London, like a well worn doorstep that leads to the more magnificent city on the north bank. This function as an entrance or gateway gives it a distinct identity, an identity that makes it at once an essential part of London, but also separate and outside.
It is this separation from the city of London that enabled a special identity to develop in Southwark. The area around the southern foot of London Bridge was destined not to be just an extension of London south of the river but was to become a place in its own right, a place with its own physical and cultural identity.
This "spirit of place", or "genius loci" as the Romans called it, is a concept that attempts to understand the special forces at work in each place we can identify distinct from all other places.
Such places may evoke many feelings, goodness and healing or negative and malign. The good spaces are those that people have gone to throughout history when seeking health and well being in spirit, mind and body. They have often been called sacred places, which acquire folk memories over many generations,.
In contrast, other places seem more filled with negative forces, perhaps because they are cold, dark, dank and unhealthy, repellent to us who seek fresh air and sunlight and warmth. The negative mood certain places express at certain times in history comes from our construction of an economically impoverished society, environmentally downgraded and enslaved and culturally impoverished to the point it becomes dysfunctional and on the edge of survival.
Southwark has frequently suffered this fate, but has always risen above all degradation and stood proud as one of the most remarkable places in the city we call London.
