Getting to the South Bank would have been an adventure in itself! If you could afford to, you would take a “wherry” (a shallow rowing boat) across the river. If you couldn’t, you would go on foot across London Bridge, the only bridge that crossed the Thames until 1750. The bridge was crowded with houses and shops along its length, with a grisly point of interest at the southern end: the heads of traitors were left rotting on spikes here, a warning to those entering the city.

 
Once you had arrived there was plenty to keep you occupied. Bankside was London’s theatreland and had three public playhouses to choose from. The Globe was the newest of the three; Henslowe’s Rose Theatre (brought to life in Shakespeare In Love) had been established since 1587 and the Swan opened in 1595. The theatres were in direct competition for audiences and their constantly changing programmes meant that fans never ran out of new plays to see. If a play seemed a bit too highbrow for the mood you were in, the adjacent Bear Garden provided spectacle of a very different sort.

Animal baiting, brothels and taverns

Bear baiting, bull baiting and cock fighting were always popular sports, Queen Elizabeth herself being a fan. Great amounts of money changed hands in bets as well as for entrance to the rings. The sports were incredibly cruel and extremely bloodthirsty. Here is a sample handbill: “Tomorrow being Thursday shall be seen at the Beargarden on the Bankside a great match played by the gamesters of Essex who hath challenged all comers whatsoever to play five dogs at the single bear for £5 and also to weary a bull dead at the stake; and for your better content shall have pleasant sport with the horse and ape and whipping of the blind bear.” 

Bulls and bears were expensive so the games were arranged for maximum blood-letting without allowing the animals to actually die. They were taunted and tortured by dogs or men with whips, lashing out to defend themselves. The bears became celebrities, well-known to all Londoners, and one, Sackerson, is even mentioned in Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives Of Windsor. In Act One Scene One, Slender, when trying to impress a girl, boasts: “I have seen Sackerson loose twenty times, and have taken him by the chain.”

 

Brothels, or “stews” (think modern day “sauna”), were in abundance here.  A visit to the Globe in the afternoon was a favourite prelude to a visit to a brothel. The owners, such as Philip Henslowe, often had interests in both. The most famous of these stews was Hollands Leaguer, near the Swan playhouse, which catered for rich and exclusive patrons only. Whilst at the brothel you could expect to be wined and dined at exorbitantly expensive rates, possibly accompanied by bare bosomed ladies, prior to retiring to a private chamber or a secluded arbour in the garden. Clients had to beware the typical “crossbiting” con, where the crossbiter, or con man, would storm in at the critical moment, pretending to be an aggrieved husband. The victim would then have to pay extravagant amounts of money to be allowed to leave the premises, his reputation and person unharmed.

If you merely wanted a drink and a smoke without the added expense of a female companion, Southwark provided plenty of inns and taverns for you to relax in. (That said, prostitutes also plied their trade in taverns and often joined with the confidence tricksters, pickpockets and gamblers to dupe unsuspecting revellers there too.) The “drinking” of tobacco was a popular and fashionable pastime, along with the copious consumption of beer and wine. Nothing much has changed in pubs in that respect!

 

The area today

The area around the Globe today bears many reminders of Elizabethan Bankside. Borough Market is still going strong on Fridays and Saturdays, and you can visit Southwark Cathedral (then called St Mary Overye) and the Clink Museum. The street signs reflect the past activities: Bear Gardens, Bull Alley, Rose Alley (which could refer to the theatre or the euphemism for taking a quick pee – plucking a rose), Maiden Lane, Clink Street (where the prison stood), Pepper Street, not to mention Cardinal Cap Alley. One explanation of this unusual name is that a Cardinal dropped his cap in this alley while escaping from a raid on a brothel!