Marshalsea Road
Encyclopedia
Southwark
Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...
, south London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. At the northwest end is the Southwark Bridge Road
Southwark Bridge Road
Southwark Bridge Road is a road in Southwark, London, England, between Newington Causeway near Elephant and Castle and Southwark Bridge across the River Thames, leading to the City of London, in a meandering route...
. At the southeast end is Borough tube station
Borough tube station
Borough tube station is a London Underground station in The Borough area of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on the Bank branch of the Northern Line between Elephant & Castle and London Bridge stations. It is in Travelcard Zone 1....
on Borough High Street
Borough High Street
Borough High Street is a main street in Southwark, London running south-west from London Bridge, forming part of the A3 road, which runs from London to Portsmouth.- Overview :...
. Continuing across the street are Long Lane
Long Lane, Southwark
Long Lane is a major road in Southwark, south London, England.At the northwest end is a complicated junction with Borough High Street, Marshalsea Road, Tabard Street, and Great Dover Street. The historic St George the Martyr church, with Dickensian connections, is at this junction, now standing on...
and Great Dover Street
Great Dover Street
Great Dover Street is in Southwark, south London, England. At the northwest end it joins Marshalsea Road and Borough High Street and there is a junction with Long Lane; Borough tube station is at this location. At the southeast end is the Bricklayers' Arms roundabout and flyover...
. At the northeast corner is the historic St George the Martyr
St George the Martyr Southwark
St George the Martyr is a church in the historic Borough district of south London. It lies within the modern day London Borough of Southwark on Borough High Street at the junction with Long Lane, Marshalsea Road, and Tabard Street....
church, where the Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
character Little Dorrit
Little Dorrit
Little Dorrit is a serial novel by Charles Dickens published originally between 1855 and 1857. It is a work of satire on the shortcomings of the government and society of the period....
was married in Dickens' book of the same name. The area around Marshalsea Road has many Dickens associations.
Opposite Borough tube station, on the corner of Marshalsea Road and Borough High Street, is Brandon House. This is now the headquarters of Acas
Acas
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service is a Crown non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom. Its purpose is to improve organisations and working life through the promotion and facilitation of strong industrial relations practice...
(the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service), an independent non-departmental public body of the UK Government for resolving industrial relations disputes.
The Christian Medical Fellowship
Christian Medical Fellowship
The Christian Medical Fellowship , founded in 1949, is an evangelical, interdenominational organisation that links together Christian doctors and medical students in the UK....
(CMF) is located at 6 Marshalsea Street and the Tara Bryan Gallery is at No 10.
BCH Architects, specialists in church restoration projects and ecclesiastical architecture, are located at 16–18 Marshalsea Road.
History
The area was previously known as The Mint. It was a slum area with privileges for debtorDebtor
A debtor is an entity that owes a debt to someone else. The entity may be an individual, a firm, a government, a company or other legal person. The counterparty is called a creditor...
s until The Mint in Southwark Act 1722
The Mint in Southwark Act 1722
The Mint in Southwark Act 1722 is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain . It was passed to remove certain legal privileges of The Mint, a location in Southwark which had become the haunt of debtors, and to allow the Sheriff of Surrey to enter and remove them.It was repealed by sections 1 and 2...
removed these rights. The area remained a slum until the 19th century. The only reminder of The Mint is Mint Street off Marshalsea Road, where there used to be a workhouse
Workhouse
In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
.
The Marshalsea
Marshalsea
The Marshalsea was a prison on the south bank of the River Thames in Southwark, now part of London. From the 14th century until it closed in 1842, it housed men under court martial for crimes at sea, including those accused of "unnatural crimes", political figures and intellectuals accused of...
prison, associated with the Marshalsea Court
Marshalsea Court
The Marshalsea Court was a court associated with the Royal Household in England.It was a court of record held by the Steward and Marshal of the Royal Household, to administer justice between the sovereign's domestic servants "that they might not be drawn into other courts and their service lost"...
, was located close to the southeast end of what is now Marshalsea Road, just north of St George's Church. The area has Dickensian connections and the prison was mentioned in the works of Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
. The Marshalsea was very significant to Dickens since his father was imprisoned at the prison for debt from 2 February 1824 to 28 May 1824. At the time, Dickens lived nearby in Lant Street
Lant Street
Lant Street is a street south of Marshalsea Road in Southwark, south London, England.-Overview:At the northwest end is the Southwark Bridge Road and at the southeast end is Borough High Street. Close by, just to the north in Borough High Street, is the historic St George the Martyr church, where...
, just south of Marshalsea Road, in a house that belonged to the Vestry Clerk of St George's Church. The prison was closed in the 19th century and only a fragment of wall now remains, forming the north part of St George's churchyard.
In 1875, it was suggested that a new road to connect with Southwark Bridge Road would be beneficial to the traffic congestion on London Bridge
London Bridge
London Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames, connecting the City of London and Southwark, in central London. Situated between Cannon Street Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge, it forms the western end of the Pool of London...
. Powers to create such a road were granted to the Metropolitan Board of Works
Metropolitan Board of Works
The Metropolitan Board of Works was the principal instrument of London-wide government from 1855 until the establishment of the London County Council in 1889. Its principal responsibility was to provide infrastructure to cope with London's rapid growth, which it successfully accomplished. The MBW...
by the 1877 Metropolitan Street Improvements Act. Subsequently, Marshalsea Road was opened in 1888, named after the former prison.
In 1902, a small public open space, known as Little Dorrit's Playground
Little Dorrit's Playground
Little Dorrit's Playground, named after Little Dorrit, the eponymous Charles Dickens character, is a public playground and small park just north of Marshalsea Road in Southwark, south London, England.- History :...
, after the Charles Dickens character, was opened north of Marshalsea Road. Much of the area became derelict as a result of air raid damage during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. North of Marshalsea Road is Little Dorrit's Court, also named after the Dickens character.