Bankside

The 'banke' was reclaimed by the Bishop of Winchester who owned the manor of the Clink of which this is part. There is a map plan in the Duchy of Lancaster archive showing 'the way to the banke'.[1] The name is recorded in 1554 as the Banke syde and means 'street along the bank of the Thames'. It is formed from Middle English 'banke' and 'side'.[2] In 1860 Southwark Street was created to connect the Blackfriars and London bridge crossings here and that can be regarded as the area's informal southern perimeter.

Bankside is the riverside of the former liberties of the Clink and Paris Garden. In the Elizabethan period, because of its location outside the jurisdiction of the City of London, the area of the Clink and Paris Garden were outside of the City of London's authority and so became occupied by the bear baiting pits and playhouses, including the Rose, the Hope Theatre, the Swan and the Globe Theatre of which a replica was constructed in the late 1990s. The history of the area is traced in a study that traces the earliest known history of a particular building on Bankside until the present day.[3] It has experienced regeneration in recent decades, becoming a significant tourist destination, and forms a business improvement district. The skyline of Bankside is dominated by the former Bankside Power Station, which now houses the Tate Modern.

A major new development in the area is the Bankside 1/2/3 complex on Southwark Street. Together, these three building house about 5,000 employees. Bankside 1, also known as the Blue Fin Building, was built-for and partially-occupied-by IPC Media, while Bankside 2 and 3 are occupied by The Omnicom Group Ltd. The architect for the buildings was Allies and Morrison.[4]