The King's Bench Prison was a prison in Southwark, south London, England, from medieval times until it closed in 1880. It took its name from the King's Bench court of law in which cases of defamation, bankruptcy and other misdemeanours were heard; as such, the prison was often used as a debtor's prison until the practice was abolished in the 1860s. In 1842, it was renamed the Queen's Bench Prison, and became the Southwark Convict Prison in 1872.
King's Bench Prison by Augustus Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson (1808–11).
The King's Bench Prison in 1830.
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 due to its position at the southern end of the early versions of London Bridge, for centuries the only dry crossing on the river. Around 43 AD, engineers of the Roman Empire found the geographic features of the south bank here suitable for the placement and construction of the first bridge.
Southwark Cathedral, also called St Saviour's, for centuries known as St Mary's Overy, or Overie (short for "over-the-river")
London in 120 AD, showing the original high-tide waterline around Southwark, to the left (south)
Museum of London, inscription on a stele that mentions 'Londoners' for the first time
St Olaf House, Southwark. Olaf, (or Olave), helped the English retake London Bridge, and with it London, from his fellow Norsemen.