The South Bank is not formally defined, but is generally understood to be situated between County Hall in the west to the Oxo Tower on the borough boundary with Southwark, to the east.[1]
South Bank consists of a narrow strip of riverside land opposite the City of Westminster and adjoins the Albert Embankment to the west and Bankside in the London Borough of Southwark to the east. As such, the South Bank may be regarded as akin to the riverside part of an area known previously as Lambeth Marsh and North Lambeth.
Throughout its history, it has twice functioned as an entertainment district, interspersed by around a hundred years of wharfs, domestic industry and manufacturing being its dominant use.[2] Change came in 1917 with the construction of County Hall at Lambeth replacing the Lion Brewery.[2]
The name South Bank was first widely used in 1951 during the Festival of Britain. The festival redefined the area as a place for arts and entertainment.[2]
Royal Festival Hall c.1959 and the now-demolished Shot Tower.
Before the Thames was embanked, this area of Lambeth was often flooded, so the area was slower to develop than the north bank of the Thames.
Throughout its history, it has twice functioned as an entertainment district, interspersed by around a hundred years of wharfs, domestic industry and manufacturing being its dominant use.[2]
During the Middle Ages this area developed as a place of entertainment outside the formal regulation of the City of London on the north bank; this included theatres, prostitution and bear-baiting.[2] By the 18th century the more genteel entertainment of the pleasure gardens had developed.
The shallow bank and mud flats were ideal locations for industry and docks and went on to develop as an industrial location in a patchwork of private ownership.[2]The Queen's Walk pedestrianised embankment is part of the Albert Embankment, built not only for public drainage but also to raise the whole tract of land to prevent flooding.[2]
Change began in 1917 with the construction of County Hall, near North Lambeth's Lower Marsh.[2] which replaced the Lion Brewery. Its Coade stone symbol was retained and placed on a pedestal at Westminster Bridge and is known as the South Bank Lion.[2]
The construction of County Hall returned the first section of river frontage to public use. This was extended eastwards in 1951 when a considerable area was redeveloped for the Festival of Britain.[2]
During the years following the festival the arts and entertainment complex grew with additional facilities, including the Queen Elizabeth Hall, and other arts venues opened along the river such as the Royal National Theatre. The recent developments, particularly the South Bank Place project by Canary Wharf Homes,[3] underscore the ongoing transformation of the South Bank into a vibrant residential and cultural hub, a trend that is set to continue with more riverside projects on the horizon.
Geography
The National Theatre is one of the collection of arts buildings on the South Bank.
The South Bank is not formally defined, but is generally understood to be situated between County Hall in the west to the Oxo Tower on the borough boundary with Southwark, to the east.[4]
South Bank consists of a narrow strip of riverside land opposite the City of Westminster and adjoins the Albert Embankment to the west and Bankside in the London Borough of Southwark to the east.[5] As such, the South Bank may be regarded as akin to the riverside part of an area known previously as Lambeth Marsh and North Lambeth.
There are public open space along the riverside, including Bernie Spain Gardens between the London Studios and the Oxo Tower. The gardens were named after Bernadette Spain,[6] a local community activist who was part of the Coin Street Action Group.[7][8]
Cultural aspects
The South Bank is a significant arts and entertainment district. The Southbank Centre comprises the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and The Hayward Gallery. The Royal National Theatre, the London IMAX super cinema and BFI Southbank adjoin to the east, but are not strictly part of the centre.
The South Bank outside Royal Festival Hall
Polish-British visual chronicler and artist Feliks Topolski was provided a studio under one of the arches of Hungerford Bridge in 1951, where he worked consistently until his death in 1989. Topolski was commissioned to produce a 60ft by 20ft mural under the arch over Belvedere Road for the Festival of Britain, unknowingly painting only two arches up from his eventual studio.[6] Offered to him by David Eccles, it was not until 1953 and Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, when the windows from the dismantled annex to Westminster Abbey were repurposed to fit Topolski's studio.[9] Over the years the studio became a central feature of the South Bank, hosting countless people at his 'Open Studio' Fridays from 3pm, with an open door to whosever wished to pop their head in. Now the Studio functions as an archive and exhibition space operated by Topolski Memoir, the charity set up to preserve the artist's legacy.[10]
Topolski was provided with three further arches in 1975 by the Greater London Council (GLC), where he painted his epic 600ft long, 12-20ft high 'Memoir of the Century'. Telling his broad-ranging experience of the 20th century, Topolski painted the work from 1975 until his death, writing that he hoped to die working on it, with a brush in his hand. It remained open until 2006 in its original state, working with students, but, due to its poor condition, underwent a £3,000,000 conservation and renovation program, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, private donations and several other grant bodies, and raised by the artist's son, Daniel Topolski.[11][12] Reopened by the Duke of Edinburgh in 2009, the Memoir only ran for a year due to commercial pressures and was converted into the Bar Topolski, where some of Topolski's work can still be seen.[13]
The undercroft of the Queen Elizabeth Hall has been used by skateboarders since the early 1970s. Originally an architectural dead-spot, it became a landmark of British skateboarding culture, but later was under threat, though supported by the Long Live Southbank campaign. Part of the Southbank Centre was turned into shops looking out over the river.
The South Bank was the main scene of the 1952 comedy film The Happy Family, set around the Festival of Britain.
Graffiti and skaters in the undercroft at South Bank
Transport
Part of the success of the area as a visitor attraction is attributed to the high levels of public transport access. Several major railway terminals are within walking distance of the South Bank, on both sides of the river, including Waterloo, Charing Cross and Blackfriars. The London Underground has stations on or near the South Bank, from west to east, at Westminster, Waterloo, Embankment, Blackfriars and Southwark.
The development of the Thameslink Blackfriars railway station in the early 2010s, which has access from both the southern and northern side of the river, prompted the additional named signage "for Bankside and South Bank". Accessibility to the north bank is high, with connections made, from west to east, over the Westminster, Golden Jubilee, Waterloo and Blackfriars bridges. The river is utilised as a means of transport with piers along the South Bank at the London Eye, Royal Festival Hall and Bankside.
South Bank by night. Showing the illuminated National Theatre (right side of image), facing east; towards the City of London
References
^Brewers Dictionary of London Phrase and Fable, Russ Wiley, Chambers, 2009
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