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History
852AD - 1212AD
1212AD - 1539AD
1539AD - 1815AD
1815AD - 1907AD
The Present

Southwark Cathedral is situated on a very historic site. It is believed that there has been a church here for over 1000 years. Prior to that there was a Roman villa. Some of its pavement has been incorporated into the floor. In 1977 a well was discovered beneath the choir, it contained a pagan statue believed to have been put there in the fourth century.

St Swithun, Bishop of Winchester 852 - 867, is traditionally believed to have set up a college of priests on the site. The first conclusive proof of a church comes in the Domesday Book of 1086. This records that a monasterium was present during the reign of Edward the Confessor (1042 - 1066) with its own wharf for the profitable unloading of goods brought up the river. After the Norman Conquest control of the church passed to Odo, Bishop Bayeaux and then William de Warenne, Earl of Surrey.

In 1106 a new church, St Mary Overie (over the river), was founded by two knights, William Pont de l'Arche and William Dauncey. This church was served by Regular Canons of St Augustine. Part of their duties was to give relief to the sick and needy. To do this they built a hospital and dedicated it to St Thomas of Canterbury. Now relocated to Lambeth St Thomas's Hospital is still caring for the sick today. Guy's Hospital, still based near the Cathedral, was founded in 1720 to care for patients who could not be accommodated in St Thomas's.

Bishop William Gifford assisted with the building of St Mary Overie. His successor, Henry of Blois, left his mark by building his espiscopal palace, Winchester Palace, two minutes walk from the Cathedral. This building was occupied until 1626, meaning that St Mary Overie could rely on the patronage of the Bishop of Winchester for all that time. Remains of the Palace, including a beautiful rose window, survive to this day.

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