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

In 1212 a disastrous fire hit Southwark, badly damaging the church, priory and hospital. Only a few traces of the Norman church remain today including a doorway in the north aisle of the nave. The Bishop of Winchester, Peter des Roches, oversaw the rebuilding of the priory. It was one of the first examples of Gothic architecture in London and is now the oldest Gothic building in the city. Work rebuilding the choir and retro-choir began around 1215 and the eastern portion was ready for the consecration of a bishop in 1260. By 1273 the choir, sanctuary, aisles, retro-choir, lower tower and western bays of the nave had been completed. There was then a ten year delay in the rebuilding process, presumably due to a lack of money.

In the 1390's disaster struck once more when a second fire caused serious damage to the building. Around 1420, the then Bishop of Winchester, Henry Beaufort, later to become Cardinal, assisted with the rebuilding of the south transept and the completion of the tower. Beaufort's niece, Joan, was married at the Priory to James I of Scotland in 1424.

In 1468 the nave roof collapsed and the vault was rebuilt in wood. Some of the coloured intricate bosses from that ceiling can be seen at the west end and remounted on the ceiling of the tower space. In 1520 Bishop Richard Fox constructed the magnificent altar screen which still separates the Choir from the retro-choir.

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