Southwark Cathedral
As the start of a personal Pilgrim's Way, I visited Southwark Cathedral on Saturday. Back when I was a Christian, I attended a service there once, when a friend was inducted (or whatever you call it) as a Lay Reader. For some reason, I assumed it was a relatively new building; by relatively new, I mean Victorian. I mean, when you think about London cathedrals, the ones that come to mind are Westminster Abbey, Westminster Roman Catholic Cathedral, and St Paul's Cathedral; not Southwark.
However, it seems that it's pretty ancient. It lies on two Roman roads, one of which is Watling Street leading to what, for centuries, was the only bridge over the tidal Thames. It's likely that there was a pre-Christian temple on the site which was supplanted with the arrival of the new religion.
Read about it for yourself:
The first sight of the cathedral as I walked up from London Bridge station:
Having crossed London Bridge and reached the stairs down to the Cathedral yard, I found it was full of tourists - probably people who'd spent the morning at Borough Market.
They were all eating
and eating...
and eating! (Apart from the couple in the centre who are doing something with a ginger cat!!!???!!!)
Plum or cherry blossom?
Gargoyles
A sign in the doorway said you need a permit to take photographs in the Cathedral. Sigh. Further investigation revealed that a permit cost only £2; I duly paid up, hence interior shots to follow...
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