South Bank

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South Bank

The South Bank is the area in London

London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
on the southern bank of the River Thames

River Thames

The Thames is a major river flowing through southern England. While best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows through several other towns and cities, including Oxford, Reading, Berkshire and Windsor, Berkshire....
near Waterloo station

Waterloo station

London Waterloo is a major railway terminus in London, England owned and operated by Network Rail. It is in the London Borough of Lambeth near the South Bank, in Travelcard Zone 1, and houses a British Transport Police station....
that houses a number of important cultural buildings/institutions. The South Bank stretches 2 square miles (5 square kilometres) along the shores of the River Thames

River Thames

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The South Bank is the area in London

London

River Thames

Waterloo station

River Thames

Festival of Britain

The Festival of Britain was a national Art exhibition which opened in London and around United Kingdom in May 1951. The official opening was on 3 May....
, which proposed the name for this post-war urban regeneration project; the ancient name of the area is Lambeth Marsh and Lower Marsh. Presently it is London's fastest-growing section, a locale of modern cultural centre with numerous theatre, gallery, and concert halls. The legacy of the Festival is the Royal Festival Hall

Royal Festival Hall

The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900 seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge....
, now part of Southbank Centre arts complex. The area is split between the boroughs of Lambeth

London Borough of Lambeth

The London Borough of Lambeth is a London borough in South London, England and forms part of Inner London....
and Southwark

London Borough of Southwark

The London Borough of Southwark is a London borough in south east London, England. It is directly south of the River Thames and the City of London, and forms part of Inner London....
(for the part of the riverside which stretches towards Blackfriars Bridge; the riverside beyond that point is properly Bankside

Bankside

Bankside is an area in Southwark, London, on the southern bank of the River Thames, situated between Blackfriars Bridge to the west and London Bridge to the east....
.)

Since then, the Queen Elizabeth Hall

Queen Elizabeth Hall

The Queen Elizabeth Hall is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England that hosts daily European classical music, jazz, and avant-garde music and dance performances....
and Purcell Room

Purcell Room

The Purcell Room is a concert and performance venue which forms part of the Southbank Centre, one of central London's leading cultural complexes....
were opened in 1967 (on the site of a former Shot Tower

Shot Tower, Lambeth

The Shot Tower at the Lambeth Lead Works was a shot tower that stood on the South Bank of the River Thames in London, England, between Waterloo Bridge and Hungerford Bridge, on the site of what is now the Queen Elizabeth Hall....
), The Hayward in 1968, and the National Theatre

Royal National Theatre

The Royal National Theatre, London, England, is generally known as the National Theatre and commonly as The National. It is located on the The South Bank in the London Borough of Lambeth, England, immediately east of the southern end of Waterloo Bridge....
in 1976. Nearby are the National Film Theatre and the BFI IMAX

London IMAX

The London IMAX is an IMAX cinema in the South Bank district of London, England, just north of Waterloo Station. It is operated by the British Film Institute....
cinema. King's College London

King's College London

King's College London is a United Kingdom higher education institution and co-founding constituent college of the University of London. Founded by George IV of the United Kingdom and the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington in 1829, its royal charter is predated, in England, only by those of the Universities of University of Oxford and Un...
has a campus in the centre.

Adjacent to the National Theatre is the distinctive white tower of the London Weekend Television

London Weekend Television

London Weekend Television was the ITV network franchise holder for London and the Home Counties at weekends. It broadcast from Fridays at 5:15pm to Monday mornings at 5:59am....
(LWT) building, where (among other things) the long-running television

Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
Arts programme The South Bank Show
The South Bank Show

The South Bank Show is a television arts magazine show, made by London Weekend Television, presented by Melvyn Bragg, broadcast on ITV and seen in over 60 countries worldwide — including Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden and the USA....
is produced. Carlton Television

Carlton Television

Carlton Television is the United Kingdom ITV Broadcast license for Greater London and parts of Home counties from 9:25am every Monday to 5.15pm every Friday....
and GMTV

GMTV

GMTV is the national ITV breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom. It is owned by GMTV Ltd, comprising ITV plc and The Walt Disney Company ....
have also broadcast from the building since 1993, and it is now called The London Television Centre.

Much of the area was subject to various large scale commercial development plans in the 1970s–1980s, which were successfully opposed by community groups. The renovation of the Oxo Tower

OXO Tower

The OXO Tower is a building with a prominent tower on the south bank of the River Thames in London. The building currently has a set of bijou arts and crafts shops on the ground and first floors....
and development of mixed housing developments and open space by community groups have encouraged the regeneration of the community in the area.

To the west of the RFH, beyond the railway viaduct

Viaduct

A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans. The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere to lead something....
leading up to Hungerford Bridge

Hungerford Bridge

The Hungerford Bridge crosses the River Thames in London, and lies between Waterloo Bridge and Westminster Bridge. It is a steel truss bridge railway bridge ? sometimes known as the Charing Cross Bridge ? flanked by two cable-stayed pedestrian bridges that share the railway bridge's foundation piers, and which are properly named the ...
, is a public open space called Jubilee Gardens, separating it from nearby County Hall

County Hall, London

County Hall is a building in Lambeth, London, that was the headquarters of London County Council and later the Greater London Council . The building is on the bank of the River Thames, just north of Westminster Bridge, facing west toward the City of Westminster, and close to the Palace of Westminster....
. The County Hall houses many attractions including the Dali Universe, hosting the works of Dali

DALI

DALI may refer to:* Danish Audiophile Loudspeaker Industries* The "Distance-matrix ALIgnment" algorithm used in the Families of structurally similar proteins database on structurally similar proteins...
, Picasso and contemporary artist Nasser Azam

Nasser Azam

Nasser Azam is a British people contemporary artist, living and working in ....
, a hotel, the Marriott London County Hall, The London Aquarium and numerous restaurants. By County Hall is the large Ferris wheel

Ferris wheel

A Ferris wheel is a nonbuilding structure, consisting of an upright wheel with passenger gondolas attached to the rim.The original Ferris wheel was designed by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., as a landmark for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago....
built to celebrate the 2000 Millennium, the London Eye

London Eye

The London Eye at a height of , is the biggest Ferris wheel in Europe, and has become the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over 3 million people a year....
.

To the east of the South Bank is the adjoining area of Bankside

Bankside

Bankside is an area in Southwark, London, on the southern bank of the River Thames, situated between Blackfriars Bridge to the west and London Bridge to the east....
, deriving its name from one of the medieval causeways built to hold back the Thames. Bankside is home to the Tate Modern

Tate Modern

The Tate Modern in London is United Kingdom's national museum of international modern art and is, with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, Tate St Ives, and Tate#Tate Online, part of the group now known simply as Tate Gallery....
art gallery and the reproduction of Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English people poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist....
's Globe Theatre

Globe Theatre

The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613....
and, near London Bridge, Borough Market

Borough Market

Borough Market is a wholesale and retail food market in London Borough of Southwark, South East London, England. It is one of the largest food markets in the world, and is regarded by some as one of the highest quality markets in the United Kingdom, selling a large variety of foods from all around the world ....
.

Beyond Waterloo Station, to the south, can be found the rest of the Waterloo area, including the historic market street of Lower Marsh

Lower Marsh

Lower Marsh is a street that remains on the site of one of the oldest settlements on the South Bank of London, England.Until the early 19th century much of north Lambeth was mostly marsh....
and The Cut, home of The Old Vic.

The South Bank is also regarded by many to be the unofficial home of British street skateboarding

Street skateboarding

Street skateboarding is the act of riding a skateboard on paved surface, whether that surface is found at a public school, a shopping mall, or somewhere else....
. The sheltered section beneath the Queen Elizabeth Hall

Queen Elizabeth Hall

The Queen Elizabeth Hall is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England that hosts daily European classical music, jazz, and avant-garde music and dance performances....
has provided the skateboarding community of Britain and international skaters alike with ideal banks and stairs since the 1970s, and is conveniently located near other skatespots such as The Hayward. More recently, a skateboarding related art company, The Side Effects of Urethane, has provided Southbank Centre with several skatable sculptures in their 'Moving Units' project.

In September 2007, a statue of Sir Laurence Olivier as Hamlet was unveiled outside the National Theatre

Royal National Theatre

External links

(Attraction, Bar and Restaurants, Museum, Venue hire, Entertainments)
(Hotel on the South Bank by the London Eye)
(Arts and entertainment complex)
(Business-led regeneration agency)
(Photographs)
(Visitor information)
(Local news and information)
(Regeneration group)

South Bank

See also

External links