Southwark St George the Martyr was a civil parish in the metropolitan area of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England and part of the ancient Borough of Southwark. In 1855 the parish vestry became a local authority within the area of responsibility of the

Metropolitan Board of Works The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the principal instrument of local government in a wide area of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent, defined by the Metropolis Management Act 1855, from December 1855 until the establishment of the London Cou ...

. It became part of the

Metropolitan Borough of Southwark The Metropolitan Borough of Southwark (''Br'' �sʌðɨk was a metropolitan borough in the County of London from 1900 to 1965. It was created to cover the western section of the ancient borough of Southwark and the parish of Newington. In common ...

in 1900 and was abolished as a civil parish in 1930.

History

In 1295 the

ancient borough The ancient boroughs were a historic unit of lower-tier local government in England and Wales. The ancient boroughs covered only important towns and were established by charters granted at different times by the monarchy. Their history is large ...

of Southwark was enfranchised and initially consisted of the parishes of St George the Martyr, St Margaret, St Mary and St Olave.

Geography

The bulk of the parish was centred on St George's Circus, with

Newington Causeway __NOTOC__ Newington Causeway is a road in Southwark, London, between the Elephant and Castle and Borough High Street. Elephant & Castle Underground station is at the southern end. It follows the route of the old Roman road Stane Street. In 19 ...

and

Borough High Street Borough High Street is a road in Southwark, London, running south-west from London Bridge, forming part of the A3 route which runs from London to Portsmouth, on the south coast of England. Overview Borough High Street continues southwest ...

forming the eastern boundary. That part of the parish, also known as

St George's Fields St George's Fields was an area of Southwark in south London, England. History Originally the area was an undifferentiated part of the south side of the Thames, which was low-lying marshland unsuitable even for agricultural purposes. There ...

was essentially the same as the

King's Manor The King's Manor is a Grade I listed building in York, England, and is part of the University of York. It lies on Exhibition Square, in the city centre. History King's Manor was originally built to house the abbots of St Mary's Abbey, York. ...

. In the north east it included the church of St George the Martyr Southwark and then formed a long, narrow panhandle along the

Old Kent Road Old Kent Road is a major thoroughfare in South East London, England, passing through the London Borough of Southwark. It was originally part of an ancient trackway that was paved by the Romans and used by the Anglo-Saxons who named it Wæceli ...

, terminating at what is now

Burgess Park Burgess Park is a public park situated in Camberwell the London Borough of Southwark, and is close to Walworth to the north, Bermondsey to the east and Peckham to the south. At , it is one of the largest parks in South London. Unlike most ot ...

and surrounding the triangular parish of Newington on two sides. It comprised and had a population in 1881 of 59,712. Southwark Met

Governance

In 1855 the parish vestry became a local authority within the area of responsibility of the

. Under the

Metropolis Management Act 1855 The Metropolis Management Act 1855 (18 & 19 Vict. c.120) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the Metropolitan Board of Works, a London-wide body to co-ordinate the construction of the city's infrastructure. The Act al ...

any parish that exceeded 2,000

ratepayers Rates are a type of property tax system in the United Kingdom, and in places with systems deriving from the British one, the proceeds of which are used to fund local government. Some other countries have taxes with a more or less comparable role ...

was to be divided into wards; as such the incorporated vestry of St George the Martyr was divided into three wards (electing

vestrymen A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

): No. 1 or St Michael (18), No. 2 or St Paul (15) and No. 3 or St George (15). It became part of the

in 1900 and the vestry was abolished, replaced by the Southwark Metropolitan Borough Council. The civil parish was abolished in 1930.

Ecclesiastical parish

The ancient parish, dedicated to St George, was in the

Diocese of Winchester The Diocese of Winchester forms part of the Province of Canterbury of the Church of England. Founded in 676, it is one of the older dioceses in England. It once covered Wessex, many times its present size which is today most of the historic enl ...

until 1877, then the

Diocese of Rochester The Diocese of Rochester is a Church of England diocese in the English county of Kent and the Province of Canterbury. The cathedral church of the diocese is Rochester Cathedral in the former city of Rochester. The bishop's Latin episcopal signa ...

until 1905, and then finally in the

Diocese of Southwark The Diocese of Southwark is one of the 42 dioceses of the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was created on 1 May 1905 from part of the ancient Dio ...

. From 1843, as housing increased and moreover the population of Southwark St George the Martyr increased rapidly, six small parishes taking over most of its population were created:
'The borough of Southwark: Churches', A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4 (1912), pp. 151-161. Date accessed: 10 March 2014. * St Mary Magdalene, Southwark in 1843 * St Jude, Southwark in 1850 * St Stephen, Southwark in 1853 * St Paul, Southwark in 1858 * St Michael and All Angels, Southwark in 1867 * St Alphege, Southwark in 1872

References

{{coord, 51.4986, -0.105, type:landmark_region:GB-SWK, display=title History of the London Borough of Southwark History of local government in London (pre-1855) Parishes governed by vestries (Metropolis) Former civil parishes in London Bills of mortality parishes