Take a walk along Redcross Way in Southwark, just south of Borough Market and Southwark Cathedral, and you will come to a gate in the wall that is covered in ribbons, pictures, dolls and other ephemera. This is the Cross Bones Graveyard.
A metal plaque on the gates, placed there by Southwark Council, explains that this cemetery was once used for the burial of local prostitutes from the nearby "stews", amongst others. These ladies of the night were referred to as "Winchester Geese". The little park is currently closed for refurbishment, so I wasn't able to enter. Doing a little digging (not literally), I discovered that the plaque might be quite erroneous. The writer John Stow (1525 - 1605) in his Survey of London does mention a cemetery for prostitutes and the local poor in this general vicinity - but it may not necessarily be this particular plot of land.
Not very far away lies Clink Street. The name comes from the Clink Prison which was founded here in 1127. "Clink" is now used as a generic name for prisons world-wide - and this is where the name comes from. Most people walking along this narrow street only notice the visitor attraction - the Clink Museum, which is sort of The London Dungeon-lite. Just a few yards away you can see all that remains of Winchester Palace - once the London seat of the Bishops of Winchester. Only two walls and some foundations remain visible. It is remarkable that these survive. When a Victorian warehouse was demolished, the west wall with its Rose Window was found hidden within. The area of the Clink was what was known as a Liberty - in that certain local laws applied and the City and the Crown hadn't quite the same jurisdiction. This is why the area was popular with the builders of theatres and bear-baiting establishments. The Bishops of Winchester actually licensed prostitutes to work in the Bankside brothels - or "stews". There were quite a few rules they had to follow. Prices were fixed, the women could not live in the brothels full time - only work there - and they were banned from the area on certain feast days and whenever the Bishop was in residence to attend Court. Due to their clerical patronage, the prostitutes became known as Winchester Geese.
Henry VIII started the destruction of the palace, and Oliver Cromwell's Puritans saw to the end of the entertainments in the locality - though Shakespeare's Globe has seen the return of theatre to the district.
A few pictures of Clink Street. Doctor Who fans will recognise it from the story The Talons of Weng-Chiang. Tom Baker was nearly hit by an axe just where the museum entrance now is.
The image at the top of this post was a poster on the wall by the Cross Bones Graveyard gates. Here is another one:
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