Description

SOUTHWARK

TQ3280SE CATHEDRAL STREET
636-1/17/188 (East side)
02/03/50 Cathedral Church of St Saviour and
St Mary Overie (Southwark Cathedral)

I

Medieval Augustinian priory of St Mary Overie; Anglican
cathedral since 1905. C12 church damaged by fire 1212 and
rebuilt from 1220. East front, choir and retrochoir 1214-1260.
Choir ceiling and tower pinnacles by George Gwilt Jnr.
1818-27; transepts altered 1830 by Robert Wallace. Nave
replaced in 1839-40 by Henry Rose and again in 1890-97 by Sir
Arthur Blomfield in C13 style.
MATERIALS: knapped flint with stone dressing; tower and
transepts of ashlar.
PLAN: cruciform with central crossing (north and south
transepts with central tower); 7-bay nave, 5-bay presbytery,
3-bay ambulatory at east end.
EXTERIOR: lower stage of tower C14 (attributed to Henry
Yvele); 2 upper stages of the tower, C14-C15, each with
2-light transomed windows on each face. Early C19 pinnacles by
Gwilt. 5-bay E arm with clerestory, E window and flying
buttresses to E arm, Gwilt rebuilding of C14 additions.
Remains of C12 church in north wall of N transept. Main
entrance is the south-west door.
INTERIOR: north wall of nave (north aisle), door jambs of late
C12 date. Arcading at W end of S wall probably of similar
date. Piers with scalloped imposts in E Chapel, also late C12
supporting 2 plain round-headed arches.
Choir C13, 3-storey elevation, low arcade with alternating
circular and octagonal piers with attached shafts, arcaded
wall passage of 4 even arches between arcade and clerestory.
Moulded capitals throughout. Single lancet windows in
clerestory and a wall passage behind a stepped triplet arch.
Quadripartite vaults and clerestory rebuilt by Gwilt, with
cast-iron roof trusses above. Grouped lancet windows on the E
wall by Gwilt.
Retrochoir probably completed by 1260. Four aisles of 3 bays.
6 piers with 4 shafts 'en delit'. Inner aisles taller than the
outer ones. C13 double roll bases; dogtooth pattern in E
lancets. N and S retrochoir walls windows with bar tracery
appear in alternation with lancets. The tracery windows are of
3 lights, the central one taller with 3 unfoiled circles
above. Nook shafts with stiffleaf foliage. Restored by Gwilt.
The easternmost window of the N side of the retrochoir has
Decorated tracery and is a C14 replacement. C14 tracery on
blind W wall.
The crossing piers towards the nave and E arm have unmoulded
C12 arches east and west which predate the fire. The later N
and S arches rest on grouped shafts. Above the arches, an
arcaded passage of the later C14 on all four sides.
N transept: 2-storey, no triforium, clerestory with wall
passage and windows of one or two lights. Vaulting shafts of
Purbeck marble.4-light N window, 1830, Wallace.
S transept: C15 Decorated style. Vaults and S window by
Blomfield. Concave hexagon in upper lights of 3-light windows.
Nave wholly of 1890-97, except for C12 remains listed above
and E responds.
Chapter House: offices and restaurant by Ronald Sims 1988.
FITTINGS: late medieval nave ceiling bosses remounted and
gilded by George Pace. E or Harvard Chapel, mostly by
Blomfield, 1907. Spired tabernacle by Augustus Welby Northmore
Pugin, painted and gilded stone and plaster, 1851.
Painting:'Pieta' by Garofalo, C16. At west end, black marble
font with towering wooden cover by George Bodley.
Crossing: brass chandelier 1680. N transept: Lord Mayor's sword
rest of wood, 1674, from St Olave. Choir and sanctuary: E wall,
early C16 stone reredos given by Bishop Fox d.1526 and restored
1833 by Wallace; statues by Nicholls of Kennington, 1905.
C20 High altar retable by Sir Ninian Comper. Lectern, pulpit
and stalls, 1890s. Retrochoir: N choir aisle, Elizabethan
or 'Nonesuch' chest, gift of Alderman Hugh Offley c 1588.
C20 Altars and screens by Sir Ninian Comper.
MONUMENTS: E end of N aisle to John Gower, 'famous English
Poet', d.1408; E end of S aisle to Shakespeare, 1911 by HW
McCarthy. N transept W wall, Joyce Austin monument by Nicholas
Stone 1633; N wall, monument to Lionel Lockyer d.1672 and
Richard Blisse d.1703. N Choir aisle: wall monument to John
Trahearne d.1618. Tomb of Alderman Richard Humble d.1616.
Wooden effigy of knight c1280. Retrochoir: 3rd bay from north
grave slab to Aleyn Farthing, C13 with Lombardic lettering. S
choir aisle monuments: tomb of Bishop Lancelot Andrewes d.1626
by Gerard Janssen, canopy by Blomfield, colouring by Comper;
tomb of Edward Talbot d.1934, first Bishop of Southwark
(1905-11) by Cecil Thomas. S wall, Greek tablet to Abraham
Newland 1807 by John Soane.
Fragment of Roman mosaic set into the floor at the steps to
the S transept.
S transept monuments: W side wall monument to William Emerson
d.1575; John Bingham d.1625 by Janssen. S wall tablet to Revd
Thomas Jones d.1770 by William Tyler. Monument to Richard
Benefield, but in mid C17 costume. To left, wall monument to
Thomas Cole, d.1715. Between the E wall arches Bishop
Beaufort's arms with cardinal's hat (conferred) 1426. Organ
case designed by Blomfield 1897.
STAINED GLASS: Harvard Chapel, stained glass by John Lafarge,
1907. W 'Creation' window by Henry Holiday, 1893; N aisle,
Kempe, 1900. N choir aisle: 2 lancets by Powell of
Whitefriars, 1865 and 1867. Choir: stained-glass window above
altar screen 'Lord in Glory' 1950, by Comper. At E end of N
wall, Martyr Window, 1890s by Kempe. To S, window of 1920s by
Laurence Lee to Thomas Francis Rider, Blomfield's builder.
In churchyard, tomb of George Gwilt Jnr, d.1856. C19 stone
gate piers with Gothic Revival caps.
(RCHME; VCH; The Buildings of England: Cherry B: London 2:
South: England: 1983-1984; Pevsner & Metcalf: The Cathedrals
of England: 1985-).

Listing NGR: TQ3268580311

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Southwark Cathedral at Wikipedia
• Southwark Cathedral official website
• Wikidata Q922967

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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