St Mary Magdalene's Churchyard

Back in 2003, as a result of a phone call from a concerned member of the public, Southwark Council visited St Mary Magdalene's Churchyard and examined what lay behind a very fine hoarding at the northern boundary of the Churchyard.

The hoarding itself was perfectly legitimate, having been covered by an agreement between Southwark Council and the adjacent owner/developer. What wasn't quite so legitimate was what lay behind the hoarding.............................

Behind the hoarding was a concrete terrace which was an extension, into the churchyard, from the adjacent development. The terrace was some 27m by 4m and extended downward by more than 2m. To construct this structure, an equivalent cubic amount of the churchyard had been removed and with that went what are known as 'disaggregated remains' ie skeletal remains of those buried in the churchyard in the years before the churchyard was deconsecrated. (As I understand it, the disturbance or removal of 'disaggregated remains' is a criminal offence.) 

This was a good example of the conflict between development and public spaces, particularly when public spaces, such as churchyards and parks, no longer have the attention of staff who know their boundaries. Developers understand this.

Some places change

This building no longer exists on Long Lane.
There is an interesting photograph held by the
John Harvard Library of the Socialists and
Oswald Moseley's blackshirts fighting
outside this building in the 1930s.

The Thom Paperworks on Long Lane was, in the late 1990s,
the production site for 'London's Burning'.

And now this is Trocette Mansions...........

.....and this is what Bermondsey Square was in 1985...........

......and a lost gem, 88/90 Weston St, not far from the junction with Guy Street.

Tower Bridge Road 1934

The triangular island at the junction of Tower Bridge Road and Grange Road, looking north.

In the background it is possible to make out a warehouse carrying the 'Rankin Bros' identity. Rankin Bros were importers of cork and occupied premises in the middle of what is now the redeveloped Bermondsey Sq and also on Bermondsey St and in Tanner St.

A close-up view of the notice-board in the centre of the image is available here. The notice-board reflects the then Bermondsey Borough Council's commitment to public health.