Redcross Way is a fairly run-of-the-mill backstreet running through London Bridge‘s less picturesque parts.
Apart from the ancient burial ground that sits at the end of the street, that is.
Cross Bones Graveyard has become a site of pilgrimage to those who want to honour London’s outcasts, and there’s a fascinating urban history behind this humble plot of land.
The full story goes back to the 12th century, when King Stephen put his brother, the Bishop of Winchester, in charge of the land south of the Thames (which, back then, was outside the city of London). He was put up in a fancy palace with plentiful cellars, a hall for entertaining and even its own bowling alleys – you can still see the ruins standing on Clink Street, just by the Golden Hinde. In return, the Bishop had to take care of a notoriously lawless and debaucherous part of town, infamous for its bear baiting, bull-fighting, theatres and brothels. Read: it’s where medieval Londoners went to let their hair down in between plagues.
So yes – for centuries, the Bishop of Winchester essentially regulated prostitution in Southwark. A set of 39 rules were established to both protect and control the trade – sex workers weren’t allowed to wear aprons, clients weren’t allowed to punch them in the face, etc. – and it was all perfectly accepted and legal, as long as the brothels paid their taxes. The profits are thought to have gone into places like Dulwich College and St Paul’s Cathedral. However, despite being under the wing of the church, these ‘single women’ – nicknamed the Winchester Geese – were denied proper Christian burials. And over the centuries, it’s been thought that they were instead buried on deconsecrated ground somewhere far from the church (which is now Southwark Cathedral).
Fast forward to 1996, and local resident John Constable has a vision. He’s led on a pilgrimage around Southwark by the spirit of a medieval prostitute, who leads him to a concrete car park, owned by TfL and due for redevelopment. And as it turns out, it was a pauper’s burial ground – where thousands of men, women and children have been buried for centuries.
Whether this is the place that the Winchester Geese are actually buried or not is still lost to the mists of time. But thanks to the movement led by Constable and other locals, artists and activists, Cross Bones Graveyard has now become a site of remembrance for the ‘outcast dead’. For over 20 years there’s been a candlelit vigil here, held on the 23rd of every month at 7pm. The Dean of Southwark carries out an annual blessing. And since 2015 the site has flourished as a memorial garden, whose gates harbour a growing collection of ribbons, trinkets and messages. It’s open to everyone to sit and remember their own loved ones, or to contemplate the forgotten histories of marginalised Londoners from centuries past.
As London’s hidden gardens go, it’s definitely one of the more unusual.
NOTE: Cross Bones Graveyard is free to visit, and is open Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays 12-2pm. You can find out more here.
Cross Bones Graveyard | Union St, London SE1 1TA
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