Southwark Cathedral

As I’ve written before, I’m slowly trying to visit all of the Anglican Cathedrals in the UK, and expose a roll of XP2 in each! As Southwark Cathedral was a short walk from my hotel in London, I couldn’t not visit!

I did indeed get through a roll of XP2 in the Canon EOS 30, the exterior image at the start I used an orange filter on. I’ve not tried the coloured filters on XP2 before, they seem to work the same as they do with regular black and white film. There was no reason to assume otherwise, but you never know!

Like most (but not all) cathedrals there is a long history of Christian tradition on this site. It is believed there were a community of nuns here in the 7th century, but the first written reference is in the Domesday Book in 1086. It’s had a long and continuous history but it wasn’t until 1905 that it became a cathedral!

Outside sits a bronze of Shakespeare (above). Edmund, Williams’ younger brother, who followed him to London died at the age of 27 was buried here, and many of the actors who appeared in Shakespeare’s plays appear in the church records of the time. There is both a memorial and a stained glass window inside the cathedral to the great man, but I rather liked the figure seated outside in the garden! Also in the garden is a Memorial to Mahomet Weyonomon. He was a sachem chief of the Mohegan tribe, who came to London in 1735 to petition King George II for justice for his tribe. British “settlers” were rapidly encroaching onto his tribes land, sadly he contracted small pox and died whilst here, at only 36. It reminds me of an oyster shell!

Back inside I continued my wander – it is quite a light and airy church and the 400 speed was just the right choice. The 40mm STM lens, seemed to be the ideal focal length too.

The cathedral stands right at the southern end of London Bridge, there have been a few over the years, but it is the area of the oldest crossing of the Thames in London. Because of this, centuries of “stuff” have been dropped and re-appear along the tidal shore here. On the way out was a case of little artefacts found during “mud larking!”

I’ve visited a few cathedrals now, if you’d like to see more – feel free to click on the “Cathedrals” category below!

Chatter: Canon EOS 30 with the 40mm STM. Inside Ilford XP2, lab processed in C41 and home scanned.