Friday 12 September 2025
Yesterday was a full day of R&R then today we waited until late morning to let The Tube get itself sorted and workaday folks get where they’re going before we embarked Northern Line at Hampstead for a ride to the London Bridge Station and a walk to Southwark Cathedral for the Architecture of Southwark Cathedral Tour on Day 1 of Heritage Open Days. We’d benefited from the festival quite by accident two years ago when we got the chance to tour Benjamin Franklin’s London Home. This time we were reminded by Seth Gopin, one the Cunard Insights aboard Queen Mary 2, to make the most of the Heritage Open Days opportunities. We arrived well ahead of the 2:30 PM start time so we had time to wander through the church and note some of its characteristics, linger for a bit as services we being held, be greeted by Hodge the Cathedral Cat, enjoy tea and onion quiche at the Southwark Cathedral Cafe, and do a bit of shopping at the gift shop. Then at the appointed time we joined a group of folk who’d booked online for a guided tour that assembled in the Nave with a view of the altar and of a temporary installation of Peace Doves but quickly proceeded to the Retro Choir, the oldest part of the church. The history of the cathedral as a place of worship dates back to the 7th Century. It’s mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The building itself dates back to the establishment of an Augustinian Priory in 1106 AD. After a 1212AD fire it was rebuilt in an Early Gothic architectural style. With the establishment of the Church of England the church was renamed St Savior’s and served as a parish church until its designation as a cathedral in 1905. We got to see traced of the original church building and evidence of multiple renovations as well as many memorials added through the centuries. So much fabulous history. We finished our adventures today with a delicious pub dinner at The Horseshoe back in Hampstead. It’s been a great day of adventure!
Your travel blog is so good we figured now we don’t need to travel to Europe. Though when I grow up, I wanna be just like you guys, but maybe we will start and complete our list of states in our TAB 320 and then head to South America