Southwark St Olave was an ancient civil and ecclesiastical parish on the south bank of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

, covering the area around where Shard London Bridge now stands in the modern London Borough of Southwark. The boundaries varied over time but in general the parish stretched east from

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...

past

Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Listed building#Grade I, Grade I listed combined Bascule bridge, bascule and Suspended-deck suspension bridge, suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones (architect), Horace Jones and e ...

to St Saviour's Dock. Southwark St Olave and St Thomas replaced the civil parish in 1896. It was abolished in 1904 and absorbed by Bermondsey parish.

Boundary changes

Southwark St Olave formed part of the ancient Borough of Southwark. Part of its area was split off around 1550 to create

Southwark St Thomas St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. It is one of the institutions that compose the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Fo ...

, corresponding to the hospital of the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

. In 1733, part of area was used to create

Southwark St John Horsleydown Southwark St John Horsleydown was a small parish on the south bank of the River Thames in London, opposite the Tower of London. The name Horsleydown, apparently derived from the "horse lie-down" next to the river, is no longer used. The pari ...

Administration

The parish became, with St John Horsleydown and St Thomas, part of the St Olave

Poor Law In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

Union and in 1855 it became part of the St Olave District of the Metropolis. It was absorbed by the

County of London The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government A ...

in 1889. In 1896 St Olave was abolished as a civil parish and was combined again with Southwark St Thomas to form Southwark St Olave and St Thomas. In 1900 the combined parish became part of the

Metropolitan Borough of Bermondsey The Metropolitan Borough of Bermondsey was a Metropolitan borough in the County of London, created in 1900 by the London Government Act 1899. It was abolished and its area became part of the London Borough of Southwark in 1965. Formation and bou ...

and was abolished in 1904, with its former area absorbed into the Bermondsey civil parish, as was that of St John Horsleydown. The ecclesiastical parish of St Olave was abolished in 1947, and then formed part of Southwark St Olave and St John.

References

{{coord , 51, 30, 16, N, 0, 4, 51, W, type:adm3rd_region:GB-SWK, display=title History of the London Borough of Southwark Parishes united into districts (Metropolis) Former civil parishes in London Bills of mortality parishes

Boundary changes

Administration

See also

References