Long Lane is a main east–west road in

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, south

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Route

The south side of the medieval-founded

St George the Martyr Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

church, of high classical 1730s design, adjoins the street before its western ending. East of the church is a paved, tree-studded, pedestrianised zone before park St Georges Gardens, the successor to its

churchyard In Christian countries a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster-Scots, this can al ...

. This was the church where Little Dorrit (in Dickens's ''Little Dorrit'') was baptised and married. Dickens in reality lodged one block southwest as a child in Lant Street when his father was in the

Marshalsea The Marshalsea (1373–1842) was a notorious prison in Southwark, just south of the River Thames. Although it housed a variety of prisoners, including men accused of crimes at sea and political figures charged with sedition, it became known, i ...

debtors' prison during 1824. It was a traumatic period of his life. A few metres north of the lane's "London" end (so along Great Dover Street) are steps to

Borough tube station Borough is a London Underground station in the Borough area of the London Borough of Southwark in central London. It is on the Bank branch of the Northern line between Elephant & Castle and London Bridge stations. It is in Travelcard Zone ...

. Just before its western end, a T-junction with Great Dover Street, it has the north end of the modernised but medieval route of that street, Tabard Street, which is a Georgian renaming of the London conclusion of the

Old Kent Road Old Kent Road is a major thoroughfare in South East London, England, passing through the London Borough of Southwark. It was originally part of an ancient trackway that was paved by the Romans and used by the Anglo-Saxons who named it Wæce ...

(its conclusion can otherwise be considered bustling Borough High Street/London Bridge beyond, all piling in the traffic to the city from Surrey and Sussex). A few metres north, Great Dover Street has its final crossroads, crossing

Borough High Street Borough High Street is a road in Southwark, London, running south-west from London Bridge, forming part of the A3 route which runs from London to Portsmouth, on the south coast of England. Overview Borough High Street continues southwest a ...

to face Marshalsea Road which links to Southwark Bridge Road.

Road numbering

The road is designated the A2198. At the east end, via Abbey Street is a crossroads, crossing Tower Bridge Road (the A100). Before giving over to Abbey Street most traffic is signposted to and from Bermondsey Street (the A2205) which is further east.

History

Long Lane originally led from the site of

Bermondsey Abbey Bermondsey Abbey was an English Benedictine monastery. Most widely known as being founded in the 11th century, it had a precursor mentioned in the early eighth century, and was centred on what is now Bermondsey Square, the site of Bermonds ...

to the High Street by St George's Church. It was created by the Priory/ Abbey to connect its Bermondsey landholding to that of the southern end of the High Street and to its manor on the western side of Southwark which later became known as

St George's Fields St George's Fields was an area of Southwark in south London, England. History Originally the area was an undifferentiated part of the south side of the Thames, which was low-lying marshland unsuitable even for agricultural purposes. There ...

sometime from 1104. The land to the north of Long Lane was called Snow Fields in the eighteenth century and a street of that name runs through the same area. There have been

archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be cond ...

s alongside Long Lane.

Incidents

* On 9 January 2008, a 16-year-old was stabbed on a nearby street named Porlock Street.

References

External links