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Newington Butts is a former hamlet, now an area of the London Borough of Southwark, that gives its name to a segment of the
A3 road The A3, known as the Portsmouth Road or London Road in sections, is a major road connecting the City of London and Portsmouth passing close to Kingston upon Thames, Guildford, Haslemere and Petersfield. For much of its length, it is classified ...
running south-west from the Elephant and Castle junction. The road continues as
Kennington Park Road Kennington Park Road is a main road in south-east London, England, and is part of the A3 trunk road. It runs from Newington Butts at its Y-junction with Kennington Lane, south-west to the Oval, where the A3 continues as Clapham Road, towards ...
leading to Kennington; a fork right is Kennington Lane, leading to
Vauxhall Bridge Vauxhall Bridge is a Grade II* listed steel and granite deck arch bridge in central London. It crosses the River Thames in a southeast–northwest direction between Vauxhall on the south bank and Pimlico on the north bank. Opened in 1906, it ...
. Michael Faraday was born in Newington Butts. It is believed to take its name from an
archery butts A butt is an archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hun ...
, or practice field. The area gave its name to an Elizabethan theatre which saw the earliest recorded performances of some Shakespearean plays.


Toponymy

The Middle English word "butt" referred to an abutting strip of land, and is often associated with medieval field systems. The 1955 ''Survey of London'' published by London County Council could find no historical reference to archery butts in Newington although the connection is mentioned elsewhere (e.g., in 1792). The name may have alternatively derived from the triangle of land between the roads, as the word "butts" is used elsewhere in Surrey to refer to odd corners or ends of land.


History

Newington was a rural village that grew up on the Walworth Road at its junction with the Portsmouth Road, about a mile south of London Bridge. Being outside the jurisdiction of the City of London it became home to activities such as plays that were banned near London during hot weather, for fear of spreading infection. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the triangle of ground between the roads was known as the Three Falcons and was
copyhold Copyhold was a form of customary land ownership common from the Late Middle Ages into modern times in England. The name for this type of land tenure is derived from the act of giving a copy of the relevant title deed that is recorded in the ...
of the manor of Walworth. In 1791 the leading scientist Michael Faraday was born at Newington Butts. In 1802, Thomas Hardwick reported that the estate consisted of a number of small tenements in bad condition. In the spring of 2008, St Mary's Churchyard, the green open space on the northern border of Newington Butts, was given a face lift. The largely grassy area now contains a
children's playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people w ...
. Dotted about within the playground and on the grass elsewhere are concrete mounds with rubber (safety) surfaces which were designed to add interest and topography to the developed area. These mounds might recall
archery butts A butt is an archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hun ...
but this has been denied by the Elephant and Castle Regeneration Team. In
Cockney rhyming slang Rhyming slang is a form of slang word construction in the English language. It is especially prevalent among Cockneys in England, and was first used in the early 19th century in the East End of London; hence its alternative name, Cockney rhymin ...
, 'Newington Butts' means '
guts The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans and ...
'.


Theatre

The
Newington Butts Theatre The Newington Butts Theatre was one of the earliest Elizabethan theatres, possibly predating even The Theatre of 1576 and the Curtain Theatre, which are usually regarded as the first playhouses built around London. William Ingram believes it was ...
was one of the earliest
Elizabethan theatre English Renaissance theatre, also known as Renaissance English theatre and Elizabethan theatre, refers to the theatre of England between 1558 and 1642. This is the style of the plays of William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonso ...
s, possibly predating even
The Theatre The Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse in Shoreditch (in Curtain Road, part of the modern London Borough of Hackney), just outside the City of London. It was the first permanent theatre ever built in England. It was built in 1576 after t ...
of 1576 and the
Curtain Theatre The Curtain Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Hewett Street, Shoreditch (within the modern London Borough of Hackney), just outside the City of London. It opened in 1577, and continued staging plays until 1624. The Curtain was bu ...
, which are usually regarded as the first dedicated playhouses in London.


See also

* English Renaissance theatre *
Newington, London Newington is a district of South London, just south of the River Thames, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It was an ancient parish and the site of the early administration of the county of Surrey. It was the location of the County of ...
* Newington Causeway


Notes and references


Further reading

* transcribes the original manuscripts relating to Newington Butts playhouse. *
Shakespearean Playhouses
', by Joseph Quincy Adams, Jr. from
Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libra ...


External links


Newington Butts, Kennington
photograph, c. 1870. {{coord , 51, 29, 34, N, 0, 6, 4, W, type:landmark_region:GB-SWK, display=title Streets in the London Borough of Southwark Archery venues Archery in the United Kingdom Medieval archery