Christchurch 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. It was located south of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

straddling either side of Blackfriars Road. It originated as the manor of Paris Garden in the parish of St Margaret, Southwark. The parish of St Margaret was replaced by St Saviour in 1541 and then in 1670 the area was split off as a parish in its own right when Christ Church was constructed. It was prone to flooding and was not heavily built upon until after 1809. In 1855 the parish was included in the metropolitan area of London where local government was reformed. The parish was united with St Saviour to form part of the St Saviour's District. When the district was abolished in 1900 the parish 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 ...

. It was abolished as a civil parish in 1930. The area now forms the northwestern part of the

London Borough of Southwark The London Borough of Southwark ( ) in South London forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London and London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas ...

Toponymy

The area is recorded as Wideflete in 1113. In 1420 the name "Parish Garden" was used. The street called Paris Garden is the result of a renaming of Brunswick Street in the early 20th century.

History

The manor of Paris Garden was located adjacent to the ancient borough of Southwark, in the Brixton Hundred of the county of Surrey. It formed part of the ancient parish of St Margaret and despite being outside the borough of Southwark was generally considered to form part of "Southwark". The area enjoyed special privilege as a liberty, which helped contribute to the poor reputation of the area. It was possible to avoid arrest within the liberty. In 1541 the parish of St Margaret became the new parish of St Saviour. William Baseley was granted a 21 year lease of the manor in 1542. In 1547 he was licensed to organise bowls, dice and other legally forbidden recreations. Paris Garden became infamous for bear and

bull baiting Bull-baiting is a blood sport involving pitting a bull against dogs. History England Crowds in London during the Royal Entry of James VI and I in March 1604 were entertained by bull-baiting. During the time of Queen Anne, bull-baiting was p ...

throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. When the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

extended its authority south of Thames in 1550 the liberties of the Clink and Paris Garden were not part of the new jurisdiction of the ward of Bridge Without. Christ Church was constructed and the area was split off in 1670 as a new parish called Christchurch. The parish was included in the returns of the Bills of mortality from 1671, having previously been included in the returns for St Saviour. When the Metropolitan Police was established in 1829 the parish was included in the initial Metropolitan Police District. In the 1831 United Kingdom census the parish is listed as being part of Southwark. Following the Reform Act 1832 it was added to the Parliamentary Borough of Southwark. For the administration of the

New Poor Law The ''Poor Law Amendment Act 1834'' (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Earl Grey. It completely replaced earlier legislation based on the ''Poor Relie ...

the parish was united with St Saviour as the St Saviour's Union in 1836. The parish was small and, although the population had almost doubled in the first half of the 19th century, it was considered too small to form an administrative unit when local government in the metropolitan area of London was reformed in 1855. The parish came within the new

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 ...

area and was joined with the parish of St Saviour (including the Clink) to form the St Saviour's District. Christchurch Vestry nominated 15 members to sit on the Board of Works of the St Saviour's District. The district board in turn nominated one member to sit on the Metropolitan Board of Works. The parish became part of the newly formed

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 and the Metropolitan Board of Works was replaced by the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

. In 1895 the Christchurch vestry petitioned the

Corporation of London The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

for inclusion (with the parish of St Saviour) within an expanded

. In 1897 the vestry of Christchurch joined with that of St John, St Olave and St Thomas to promote a bill in parliament to abolish the St Saviour's and the St Olave's districts and include their former areas within the City of London. The city corporation did not support the bill and it did not pass into law because of considerable opposition. In 1900 Christchurch became part of the

. Southwark Metropolitan Borough Council replaced the Christchurch Vestry and the St Saviours District Board of Works. The Christchurch parish continued to be used for the election of poor law guardians until this practice ended in 1930.

Geography

The northern boundary was in the middle of the

between Old Barge House Stairs and Falcon Dock. When

Blackfriars Bridge Blackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying the A201 road. The north end is in the City of London near the Inns of Court and Temple Ch ...

opened in 1769 the entire bridge was included within the

. The rest of the boundary was formed by a looping stream. It was low lying and formed part of the

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

of the Thames. The area was not heavily built upon until after 1809 when the

Surrey and Kent Commissioners for Sewers Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

obtained the legal powers necessary to construct sewers. Civil parish of Southwark Christchurch 1801-1921

Maps

File:Parish of Christchurch, Surrey. Wellcome L0009762.jpg, A map of Christchurch, Surrey File:Southwark Met. B Ward Map 1916.svg, A map showing the Christchurch ward of Southwark Metropolitan Borough as it appeared in 1916

References

{{coord , 51, 30, 22, N, 0, 6, 19, 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