Southwark Cathedral..

I revisited this place today as I felt the need to take a shot from another angle and really give this place some justice. The view here is taken from the centre of the building directed towards the alter of the Cathedral.

 

Also the lighting here was much brighter allowing the ceiling to shine that much more because of the natural light filtering through the windows above.

It really is quite an awesome building and has some fascinating architecture. I highly recommend a visit here when you're in London..

 

Thanks for viewing and have a great day!!

 

Southwark Cathedral or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge.

It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark. It has been a place of Christian worship for over 1,000 years, but a cathedral only since 1905. The present building is mainly Gothic, from between 1220 and 1420.

The main railway line from London Bridge station to Cannon Street station passes close to the cathedral, blocking the view from the south side. Borough Market and the Hall of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass by the river are in the immediate vicinity.

 

The nave of Southwark Cathedral

The earliest reference to the site was in the Domesday Book survey of 1086, wherein the "minster" of Southwark seems to be under the control of Bishop Odo of Bayeux William the Conqueror's half-brother. It is unlikely that this minster pre-dates the conversion of Wessex in the mid-seventh century, or the foundation of the "burh" ca AD 886. There is no proof of any claims, as presently made by the Cathedral authorities, that a convent was founded on the site in 606 nor of the claim that a monastery was founded by St Swithun in the ninth century. The Saxon minster was a collegiate church servicing a south Thames area. In 1106, Henry I's reign, the latter became an Augustinian Priory: Norman stonework can still be seen, and Thomas Becket preached here before departing to Canterbury, days before his murder in 1170.

The main structure of the present church was built between 1220 and 1420, making it the first Gothic church in London. Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester, repaired the church after a 1212 fire. In the 1390s, it was again devastated by fire, and in around 1420, once again a Bishop of Winchester Henry Beaufort, assisted with the rebuilding of the south transept and the completion of the tower.

 

Shot taken handheld - 1/20s f/5, ISO 1250

Done