Southwark Cathedral
In 1538, the last prior of Southwark Priory, Bartholomew Linsted, told a story to the historian John Stow about how the site began. Linsted claimed a maiden named Mary founded a nunnery long before the Norman Conquest using profits from a ferry she inherited from her parents. Later historians tried to rationalize this tale by suggesting the noble lady Swithen was actually Swithun, Bishop of Winchester who served from 852 until his death in 863. Thomas P. Stevens, an honorary canon of the cathedral, accepted this identification and dated the supposed original nunnery to about the year 606 without providing evidence. An information panel at the east end of the cathedral still claims there had been a convent founded in 606 AD and a monastery established by St Swithun in the 9th century. The earliest reference to the actual site appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 when the minster seems to have been under the control of William the Conqueror's half-brother, Bishop Odo of Bayeux. In 1106 during the reign of Henry I the church became an Augustinian priory under the patronage of the Bishops of Winchester.
The Great Fire of 1212 severely damaged the church and rebuilding took place during the thirteenth century though exact dates remain unknown. The reconstructed state featured a cruciform plan with an aisled nave of six bays, a crossing tower, transepts, and a five-bay choir. A chapel dedicated to Mary Magdalen stood in the angle between the south transept and the choir while another chapel was later added to the east of the retrochoir. In the 1390s the church suffered damage from fire again and around 1420 the Bishop of Winchester Henry Beaufort assisted with rebuilding the south transept and completing the tower. The stone ceiling collapsed in 1469 leading to wooden vaults being installed over the nave and north transept. Some carved bosses from that vault are preserved in the cathedral even though they were destroyed in the 19th century. A splendid memorial to the poet John Gower features polychrome panels that have been kept renewed since his burial in the church.
Henry VIII dissolved all religious houses in England and St Mary Overie surrendered to the Crown in 1540. William Saunders served as the receiver in charge of dissolving the priory that year. St Mary Overie received the new dedication of St Saviour and became the church of a new parish combining those of St Mary Magdalen and the nearby deconsecrated church of St Margaret. The parishioners leased the priory church and rectory from the Crown until 1614 when they purchased it outright for £800. During the reign of Queen Mary heresy trials were held in the retrochoir where six high-ranking clergymen including former Bishop of Gloucester John Hooper were condemned to death in January 1555. Lancelot Andrewes bishop of Winchester until his death in 1626 was buried in a small chapel at the east end that afterwards became known as the Bishop's Chapel. After the destruction of that chapel in 1830 his tomb moved to a new position immediately behind the high altar.
William Shakespeare's brother Edmund was buried there in 1607 though his grave remains unmarked with only a commemorative stone later placed in the paving of the choir. Two dramatists John Fletcher and Philip Massinger were also buried in the church alongside Edward Alleyn who served as an officer and benefactor of the parish charities. John Harvard clergyman and school benefactor helped found Harvard University was born in the parish and baptized in the church on the 29th of November 1607. His father Robert worked as a local butcher and inn-holder and was a business associate of Shakespeare's family. A large stained glass window dedicated to William Shakespeare depicts scenes from his plays with an alabaster statue representing the playwright reclining holding a quill at its base. The cathedral instituted a festival to commemorate this cultural history in the 1920s which endured into the late 20th century.
By the early 19th century the fabric of the church had fallen into disrepair leaving the interior pewed and galleried to a fearful extent according to Francis Bumpus. Between 1818 and 1830 the tower and choir were restored by George Gwilt Jun who removed early sixteenth-century windows and substituted an elevation of his own invention. In May 1831 it was decided to remove the nave roof which had become unsafe leaving the interior open to the weather. The roofless nave was demolished to within seven feet of the ground in 1839 and rebuilt to a design by Henry Rose. Pugin wrote that it was intolerable when a venerable building is demolished to make way for such an erection. Anthony Thorold Bishop of Rochester initiated another rebuild between 1890 and 1897 by Arthur Blomfield intended to recreate its 13th-century predecessor as accurately as possible. The collegiate parish church of St Saviour was designated as a cathedral in 1905 when the Church of England Diocese of Southwark was created.
The total number of bombs dropped on Southwark between the 7th of October 1940 to the 6th of June 1941 alone was 1,651 High Explosive Bombs and 20 Parachute Mines. On the 20th of February 1941 it was reported that the cathedral had been damaged by a bomb with shrapnel damage still visible on the outside of the building to this day. In 2001 Mandela opened a new northern cloister on the site of the old monastic one featuring a refectory shop conference centre education centre and museum. These Millennium buildings received an award for being one of the best new buildings of the year in 2002. Memorials to Isabella Gilmore and victims of the Marchioness disaster stand alongside monuments to Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu within the grounds.
Doorkins Magnificat a brown female cat began visiting in 2008 as a stray looking for food and shelter before making the cathedral her permanent home. Dean Colin Slee named the cat as a joke reference to prominent atheist Richard Dawkins. Doorkins became known as a local celebrity meeting both the Mayor of London and Queen Elizabeth II on formal visits to the cathedral. She is the subject of the children's book Doorkins the Cathedral Cat and in 2018 was immortalised with a stone gargoyle inside the cathedral. The death of Doorkins was reported on the 2nd of October 2020 followed by a memorial service held at the cathedral on the 27th of October 2020. Hodge a black and white tuxedo cat was formally adopted from a rescue organisation in 2020 coincidentally on the day of Doorkins' death. At a trial of the facts held in 2015 it was proven that Hubert Chesshyre who had dementia and was found unfit to plead had sexually abused a teenage chorister during the 1990s while serving as a lay clerk from 1971 until 2003.
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Common questions
When was Southwark Cathedral designated as a cathedral?
The collegiate parish church of St Saviour was designated as a cathedral in 1905 when the Church of England Diocese of Southwark was created.
Who founded the original nunnery at the site of Southwark Cathedral?
A maiden named Mary founded a nunnery long before the Norman Conquest using profits from a ferry she inherited from her parents according to prior Bartholomew Linsted. Later historians suggested the noble lady Swithen was actually Swithun Bishop of Winchester who served from 852 until his death in 863.
What happened to Southwark Cathedral during World War II?
Between the 7th of October 1940 and the 6th of June 1941 alone 1,651 High Explosive Bombs and 20 Parachute Mines were dropped on Southwark. On the 20th of February 1941 it was reported that the cathedral had been damaged by a bomb with shrapnel damage still visible on the outside of the building to this day.
When did Doorkins the cat die and what memorial followed?
The death of Doorkins Magnificat was reported on the 2nd of October 2020 followed by a memorial service held at the cathedral on the 27th of October 2020. She is the subject of the children's book Doorkins the Cathedral Cat and in 2018 was immortalised with a stone gargoyle inside the cathedral.
Who was buried in Southwark Cathedral besides clergy members?
William Shakespeare's brother Edmund was buried there in 1607 though his grave remains unmarked with only a commemorative stone later placed in the paving of the choir. Two dramatists John Fletcher and Philip Massinger were also buried in the church alongside Edward Alleyn who served as an officer and benefactor of the parish charities.