Coordinates: 51°30′30″N 0°06′00″W / 51.5082°N 0.1001°W / 51.5082; -0.1001

Bankside
240px Bankside including the Tate Modern
Bankside  Bankside shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ319805
London borough	Southwark
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	SE1
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
EU Parliament	London
UK Parliament	North Southwark and Bermondsey
London Assembly	Lambeth and Southwark
List of places: UK • England • London

Bankside is a district of London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. Bankside is located on the southern bank of the River Thames, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of Charing Cross, running from a little west of Blackfriars Bridge to just a short distance before London Bridge at St Mary Overie Dock to the east . It is part of a business improvement district known as Better Bankside.

History[link]

Toponymy[link]

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'.^[1]

Urban development[link]

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. 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, is occupied by IPC Media, while Bankside 2 and 3 are occupied by The Royal Bank of Scotland. Architect for the buildings was Allies and Morrison.

Governance[link]

It is part of the Borough and Bankside Community Council which corresponds to the Southwark electoral wards of Cathedrals and Chaucer.^[2] They are part of the Bermondsey and Old Southwark Parliament constituency and the Member of Parliament is Liberal Democrat Simon Hughes. It is within the Lambeth and Southwark London Assembly constituency and the London European Parliament constituency.

Transport[link]

Blackfriars station on the City side north bank of the river has been redeveloped as part of the Thameslink improvements and opened a Bankside entrance in 2012. London Bridge and Southwark are the other stations closest to Bankside, located to the east and south of it respectively.^[3] A direct pedestrian connection exists between the Tate Modern and St Paul's Cathedral via the Millennium Bridge.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bankside page on London SE1 community website
• Better Bankside - official Business Improvement District website
• Bankside Mix - local promotion and tourism website

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