St. Mary Overy

St. Mary Overree, alias St. Saviours Church.

Situate at the SE. Angle of St. Saviours Dock, Wd about 50 Yards, thro' (Chaingate) from the Borough or Long Southwark, in the Diocese of Winchester, and County of Surry.

II. It was called St. Mary's, most likely from the first Founder's Name and Overree, i.e. over the River, with respect to its Situation from the City of London, from which this Church stands Sd directly cross the River, about 400 Yds from Ebgate Lane.

III. The Church of St. Mary Overree, was founded long before William the Conqueror, by one Mary a Maiden; being a House of Sisters, to whom she gave the Profits of the Ferry cross the River Thames to and from London (there then being no Bridge.) This House was afterward, by Swithen a noble Lady, converted into a College of Priests; and in the Year 1106, was again founded a Priory for Canons Regular, by 3 Williams, viz. by William Pont de le Arch, and William Dauncy, Knights and Normans; when William Giffard Bishop of Winchester built the Body of the Church, and King Henry I. by Charter, gave them the Church of St. Margaret on the Hill, a little Sd from this, which Gift was confirmed by King Stephen. Then Peter de la Roch founded a large Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene in the said Church of St. Mary Overree, which Chapel was afterward the Parish Church for the Inhabitants near adjoining. This Church was new erećted about the Year 1400, to which John Gower Esq; a famous Poet (whose Monument is in the following Account) was a great Benefactor. In the Year 1469, the Roof of the middle Ile fell down; and Anno 1539, the Priory was surrendered to H. VIII. valued at 624l. 6s. 6d. per Annum. About Christmas after this, the Inhabitants of the Borough purchased the said Priory Church, which was by Charter made for the joint use, both of this and the Parishioners of St. Margarets aforesaid, and called it by the Name of St. Saviours Southwark, the Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene on the South side, being laid to this, thereby enlarging the same, as is yet very apparent; and in the 32 of Henry VIII. the Charter was confirmed by Aćt of Parliament, constituting the Churchwardens a Corporation. In the Year 1618, a Screen at the W. end was set up, An. 1621 and 1622, the Church was in many places repaired, the new Chapel at the E. end, which had been for above 60 Years let to Bakers, was Anno 1624 restored again to the Church, and 200l. laid out in the Repair, all at the Charge of the Parish. But that which has justly rendered this Church admired for its Beauty, is this Repair; an Account of which follows, as I find it on a Table under the Tower, in these Words:

This Church was laid throughout with Stone, new Pewed and Gallery'd; the great Vault sunk, the Pulpit and Altar-piece erected; the Communion-Table railed, and set with black and white Marble; the Choir inclosed by Gates; the S. and W. Windows opened and enlarged; the whole new glased; the 6th and 7th Bells cast; the Chapel paved, and all the Church cleansed, white-wash'd and beautified as the Charge of the Parish, An. 1703. …

XI. The Extent of this Parish, as near as I can learn, is as follows:

On the E. side of the High str. or Borough, from Chequer alley to the Kings head Inn, including the S. side of that alley. Also Ship yard, Black swan alley, Ax and Bottle yard, Three Crain yard, Cock and Hart yard, Windmill alley, Christopher yard, and Nags head alley.

And on the W. side of the Borough or High str. it extends from the Maiden head Ale house Sd, to Bell yard inclusive; and from Pepper alley Wd, to the Falcon along the Thames side. Then Sd, including the E. side of Gravel lane to Sluts well, and thence along by the Black ditch to Bell yard, including all the Streets, Lanes, Alleys, Courts, Yards &c. in this compass, the whole amounting to about 2500 Houses.

The Priory Church of St. Mary Overie,

East from the Bishop of Winchester's House, directly over against it, standeth a fair Church called St. Mary over the Rie, or Overy, that is, Over the Water. This Church, or some other in place thereof, was (of old time long before the Conquest) an House of Sisters, founded by a Maiden, named Mary. Unto the which House and Sisters she left (as was left to her by her Parents) the Oversights and Profits of a Cross Ferry, or Traverse Ferry over the Thames: there kept, before that any Bridge was builded. This House of Sisters was after by Swithen, a Noble Lady, converted unto a College of Priests, who in place of the Ferry, builded a Bridge of Timber, and from time to time kept the same in good Reparations. But, lastly, the same Bridge was builded of Stone, and then, in the Year 1106. was this Church again founded for Canons Regular, by William Pont de le Arche, and William Dauncy, Kts. Normans.	St. Mary Overies a Priory.
To this Monastery, among other its Revenues, belonged the Rectory and Church of Banstead, and the Manours of North Todworth and South Merfield, with the Appendances in the County of Surrey.]	J. S.
William Gifford, Bishop of Winchester, was a good Benefactor also, for he (as some have noted) builded the Body of that Church, in the Year 1106, the seventh of Henry the First.	Lib. Rufen. Liber Bermondsey.
The Canons first entred the said Church then. Algodus was the first Prior. King Henry the First, by his Charter, gave them the Church of St. Margaret in Southwark. King Stephen confirmed the Gift of King Henry, and also gave the Stone House, which was William de Ponte le Arche, by Downgate.
This Priory was burned about the Year 1207. Wherefore the Canons did found an Hospital near unto their Priory; where they celebrated until the Priory was repaired. Which Hospital was after (by consent of Peter de la Roche, Bishop of Winchester) removed into the Land of Anicius, Archdeacon of Surrey, in the Year 1228. a Place where the Water was more plentiful, and the Aire more wholsome, and was dedicated to St. Thomas.	St. Thomas's Hospital.

St. Saviour, Southwark, or St. Mary Overies, the parochial church of, is situated a little to the westward of the southern end of London-bridge. Its latter name appears to be a corruption of St. Mary o' th' Ferry. It is a church of great antiquity and beauty, is built in the conventual form, and was founded before the conquest, but was principally rebuilt in the fourteenth century; since which period it has undergone many extensive reparations. The tower which is square, and is surmounted by four pinnacles, was repaired in 1818 and 1819, and the architectural decorations of the interior of the choir have been since that time restored in conformity to the original design, by Mr. George Gwilt. It is now undergoing further reparations, under the direction of Mr. Wallace.

In this fine building, which is perhaps the largest parish church in the kingdom, are monuments to the memories of our celebrated poet John Gower, who was a great benefactor to this church in the reigns of Edward III., and Richard II., of William of Wykeham, the architect of Windsor Castle, of Bishop Andrews, the Bishop of Winchester, of the family of the Austins, of "notified Abraham Newland," and the dramatists Fletcher and Massinger, who lie buried in one grave.

At the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII., this church was made parochial, and the advowson was sold by him to the inhabitants of St. Margaret's on the Hill, and St. Mary's, at which period it received the name of St. Saviour's. The living is a rectory in the gift of the parish, who appoint two chaplains to the office. It is in the county and archdeaconry of Surrey, and in the diocese of Winchester. The present chaplains are, the Rev. Willian Mann, M.A., and the Rev. William Harrison, D.D.

Saviour's (St.) Southwark, the church of the Augustinian Priory of St. Mary Overy, and first erected into a parish church by Act of Parliament, 32 Henry VIII. (1540–1541), when the two parishes of St. Margaret and St. Mary Magdalen in Southwark were united, and the church of the Priory of St. Mary Overy made the parish church, and called by the name of St. Saviour's. The priory church of St. Mary Overy was built by Bishop Giffard of Winchester and others about 1106, when the Augustinian Priory was established (or reorganised) by the two Norman knights, William Pont de 1'Arche and William Dawncey. One hundred years after much of the borough including the church and part of London Bridge was burnt. It was rebuilt in 1208.

1208 [10th of King John]. And Seynt Marie Overeye was that yere begonne.—Chronicle of London (Nicolas, p. 7).

The church had not been entirely destroyed by the fire, for a beautiful doorway and other traces of Giffard's work were discovered shortly before the demolition of the nave in 1838, and bits of earlier work which have been found at various times, indicate the existence of a church of the Saxon period. In 1238 Peter de Rupibus, then Bishop of Winchester, built the chapel afterwards set apart and used as the parish church. To stimulate the speedier completion of the building the Archbishop of York granted in 1273 an indulgence of eighty days to all who might contribute to the fabric. At the beginning of the 15th century Cardinal Beaufort, son of John of Gaunt, and Bishop of Winchester, spent large sums upon the church in repairs and alterations. His arms and Cardinal's hat are still to be seen carved on a pillar in the south transept. On February 2, 1424–1425, the marriage of James I. of Scotland and Johanna Beaufort was celebrated in this church with the customary pomp. The marriage feast was kept in the Bishop of Winchester's palace close to the church. In 1469 the stone roof of the nave fell and was replaced by the wooden roof, which lasted till the present century. Some of the bosses, curiously carved and with remains of the original colouring still upon them, are preserved in the Lady Chapel. The date of the roof is fixed by the rebus of Henry de Burton, who was Prior of St. Mary Overie in 1469.¹ The original form was Overies, and the derivation of the word is given by Somner and quoted by Bosworth. A.S. ofer (genitive, ofres; dative, ofre) means a bank or shore, therefore the meaning of the name is St. Mary of the Bank, or on the Bankside. Overies is probably the genitive ofres, and the s was dropped under the erroneous supposition of its being a plural, like Chinee from Chinese.

In October 1539 the priory was suppressed, the canons were put out and their place taken by secular priests, and the property passed to Sir Anthony Brown, whose son became Viscount Montague. In 1540 the priory was made a parish church—the little church of "Marie Mawdley" (really a chapel attached to the chapel on the south side of the choir) that of St. Margaret's (in the middle of the High Street) being united with it. Some elaborate dealings protracted to the time of James I. took place between the parish and the court, in which the parish was very unfairly treated. The rectory and church buildings now became the property of the parishioners, and have remained so ever since. Alterations have been made by Acts of Parliament in 1868 and 1883, and the right of popular election of the chaplain has ceased.

The three days' "Examinacions of the Constante Martir of God, M. John Bradfourde, before the Lorde Chancellour, B. of Winchester, the B. of London, and other Commissioners," were held in this church in January 1555. Bradford was one of the most illustrious of the Marian martyrs, and no efforts were spared to convert him. After each day's examination he was taken to the "revestry" of this church and assailed by fresh hands zealous to "confer" with him. Among these was a gentleman who came "for old acquaintance sake," says Bradford, "for I was at Muttrel tourney [the battle of Montreuil] a paymaster, in which he was, and had often received money at my hands." Other martyrs in the Marian persecution, such as Bishop Hooper, John Rogers, Bishop Ferrars, Dr. Groom and Mr. Saunders were tried in St. Saviour's Church.

After Westminster Abbey St. Saviour's contained some of the finest specimens of Early English architecture in London. Little, however, of the original work remains. A remarkable and conscientious restoration of the choir and tower was made, 1822–1825, by George Gwilt, architect.

Of the many worthy names which the parish register of St. Saviour's preserves, none deserves honour better than his. For thirty years he fought a difficult battle against ignorance and parsimony, and it is not too much to say that although all was not saved, we owe it to Mr. Gwilt and those who worked with him that all was not destroyed.—Quarterly Review, vol. clxx. p. 407.

The nave was taken down in 1838, and in the following year it was replaced by a very unsightly building, at a cost of £8000, erected from the designs of Henry Rose, the floor being at a higher level than the choir and transepts, from which it is shut off by a partition. It is proposed to remove this portion of the church and to reconstruct the nave as far as possible on the lines of the old one. For the complete restoration of the building, which is projected, the services of Sir Arthur Blomfield, R.A., have been (1890) retained as architect.

The choir is of excellent design, the lancet shaped arch being preserved throughout. On the floor cut in the stone are the names of John Fletcher, Edmund Shakespeare, and Philip Massinger, buried in this church, not implying the actual position of burial but simply the fact. The altar screen (similar to the one at Winchester) was like that one erected at the expense of Bishop Fox. In the string-course is his famous device, the pelican. The choir was restored in 1822, but the altar screen was not discovered until 1833, when a 17th century screen was removed. It was restored under Robert Wallace, architect.

The Lady Chapel was restored in 1832–1834, also under George Gwilt, architect. The woodwork divided off a corner of this chapel, which was used by Gardiner in the time of Queen Mary as a Consistory Court.

The church has always been famous for its bells. In 1612 the great bell was not to weigh less than 50 cwt. At the Restoration of 1737 the weight of all the bells was about 10 tons 15 cwts. This endangered the stability of the tower, but the danger was overcome by the skilful use of iron ties by Mr. Gwilt.

Monuments.—Effigy of knight cross-legged, in north aisle of choir. To John Gower, the poet (d. 1402); a perpendicular monument, originally erected on the north side of the church, in the chapel of St. John, where Gower founded a chantry. The monument was removed to its present site, and repaired and coloured in 1832, at the expense of George Granville Leveson Gower, first Duke of Sutherland. Gower's monument has always been taken care of. Peacham speaks of it in his Compleat Gentleman, p. 95, as "lately repaired by some good Benefactor."

He [Gower] lieth under a tomb of stone, with his image also of stone over him: the hair of his head, auburn, long to his shoulders but curling up, and a small forked beard; on his head a chaplet like a coronet of four roses; a habit of purple, damasked down to his feet; a collar of esses gold about his neck; under his head the likeness of three books which he compiled.—Stow, p. 152.

Thomas Cure (d. 1588), founder of Cure's Almshouses. Lancelot Andrewes, Bishop of Winchester (d. 1626); a black and white marble monument in the Lady Chapel, with his effigy at full length. The epitaph, on which Hallam remarks (Const. Hist., vol. ii. p. 63, note, 10th ed.), claims for Bishop Andrewes "a superior reward in Heaven on account of his celibacy"—calebs migravit ad aureolam cœlestem, the crown of virginity in fact, was lost in the fire of 1676. When St. John's chapel was taken down his leaden coffin was found, with no other inscription than L.A. (the initials of his name). John Traherne, gentleman porter to James I. (d. 1618); half-length of himself and wife (upright), with two sons and four daughters (kneeling). John Bingham, saddler to Queen Elizabeth and James I. (d. 1625). Alderman Humble and his wife (temp. James I.), with some pretty verses, beginning—

Like to the damask rose you see.

William Austin (d. 1633); a kind of harvest-home monument, in north transept; this Austin was a gentleman of fortune and importance in Southwark in the reigns of James I. and Charles I. Lionel Lockyer, the famous empiric in Charles II.'s reign (d. 1672); a rueful full-length figure in north transept. The inscription says that his pills, well-known, will

          Survive his dust, and not expire
'Till all things else, at th'universal fire.

He [a Popish Priest] sells indulgences, like Lockyer's Pills, with directions how they should be taken.—Butler's Remains, vol. ii. p. 143.

Abraham Newland, chief cashier to the Bank of England (d. 1807).

Eminent Persons buried in, and graves unmarked.—Sir Edward Dyer, the poet, in the chancel, May 11, 1607; he lived and died in Winchester House, adjoining. Edmund Shakespeare, "player" (the poet's youngest brother), buried in the church, December 31, 1607. Lawrence Fletcher, one of the leading shareholders in the Globe and Blackfriars Theatres, and William Shakespeare's "fellow," buried in the church September 12, 1608. Philip Henslowe, the manager, so well known by his curious Account Book or Diary; buried in the chancel, January 1615–1616. John Fletcher (Beaumont and Fletcher), buried in the church, August 29, 1625. "Philip Massinger, a stranger" (the dramatic poet), buried in the church, March 18, 1638–1639.

The houses in Dodington Grove, Kennington, were built some of them over earth removed during the renovating and rebuilding of St. Saviour's; there probably, if anywhere, is the sacred dust of the great people buried at St. Saviour's, serving as foundations for the tenements of those who probably never heard of them.

Among notable chaplains of the parish may be mentioned Sutton, who in his sermon on the Romans, delivered in 1616 from St. Saviour's pulpit, inveighed against certain people "who dishonour God, living upon usurie, by dicing houses, and by penning and acting of playes." He was very sharply answered by Nathan Field, an actor whose name appears in the list at the beginning of the first folio of Shakespeare (1623). Moreton, fellow of Emmanuel, friend and executor to the Harvards. Crodacott, a puritan divine deprived on St. Bartholomew's Day. Sacheverell, the incendiary preacher of Queen Anne's time, who, in his famous sermon, preached at St. Paul's, November 5, 1709, described himself as Fellow of Magdalen, Oxford, and Chaplain of St. Saviour's, Southwark. Thomas Jones, of the Wesley School, and much esteemed by earnest religious people; he died young, of fever caught in visiting the sick.

Registers are well preserved and of considerable interest. Those of St. Margaret, before it became one with St. Mary Overy, begin 1538; other records of the same parish of a hundred years or so before, but in a very fragmentary state, still remain. 1553 the name of St. Saviour appears instead of St. Margaret. In these registers, among the births, marriages, and deaths, may be found names of note connected with the Shakesperian stage, and before that.

Token-books.—These at first sight appear like waste-books of some common chandler's shop—long and narrow books of common paper, in brown paper covers; they are nevertheless valuable manuscripts, containing names of all parishioners above fifteen; of streets, courts, rents, and houses in regular order; of the pence given in each case in receipt of a sacramental token of lead, having some suitable inscription, cast by the warders for the purpose of ensuring attendance at the parish church when the sacrament was administered, under penalty for neglect. The names of some sixteen of the actors of the 1623 folio appear in these books as taking the sacrament at St. Saviour's. These token-books, containing names of people in that illustrious and stirring time and in a notable district, are very valuable, but they are not cared for as they ought to be, considering that the parish contains many rich people, and that the cost of putting them in order and binding them would be trifling; to show their value as records of the past, in no other way but by these books could the actual birthplace of that pilgrim father (as he may perhaps be called), John Harvard, founder of the great University of New England, have been discovered.

From the Churchwarden's Accounts St. Saviour's, March 30, 1613:—

It.—For another quire of pap to make the token booke	. . .	iiijd
For writinge the borough side token booke	. . .	iijs iiijd
For writinge the bankside token booke	. . .	iiijs

   4800 tokens, £60. In this case the contribution was at 3d. each, and the money was generally given to the poor.

Among other burial-places belonging to St. Saviour's now entirely disused was one at the corner of Union Street and Red Cross Street, known as the Cross Bones, having an emblem of the name over the gateway. This was "the single women's churchyard," an unconsecrated place of burial appropriated, with scarcely a doubt, to the women of the stewes.

In the vestry minutes, December 1786, it is noted of the Cross Bones that some persons had dug up bodies there for dissection, that they had put them into a coach and got away with their spoil. A reward of five guineas was offered and some strong language was used in the vestry. It turned out that the sexton of the place was concerned in the traffic.

¹ Quarterly Review, vol. clxx. p. 397.

St. Mary Overie. Outside the cathedral is a slab with the following legend:

The Legend of Mary Overie

Legend suggests that before the construction of London Bridge in the tenth century a ferry existed here. Ferrying passengers across the River Thames was a lucrative trade. John Overs who, with his watermen and apprentices, kept the “traverse ferrie over the Thames”, made such a good living that he was able to acquire a considerable estate on the south bank of the river.

John Overs, a notorious miser, devised a plan to save money. He would feign death, believing that his family and servants would fast out of respect and thereby save a day’s provisions. However, when he carried out the plan, the servants were so overjoyed at his death that they began to feast and make merry. In a rage the old man leapt out of bed to the horror of his servants, one of whom picked up a broken oar and “thinking to kill the Devil at the first blow, actually struck out his brains”.

The ferryman’s distressed daughter Mary sent for her lover, who in haste to claim the inheritance fell from his horse and broke his neck. Mary was so overcome by these misfortunes that she devoted her inheritance to founding a convent into which she retreated.

This became the priory of St. Mary Overie, Mary having been made a saint on account of her charity. During the Reformation the church of St. Mary Overie described as “a fair church called St Mary over the Rie that is over the water” was renamed St. Saviour’s Church. In 1905 it became Southwark Cathedral and the collegiate church of St. Saviour and St. Mary Overie.

from Notes & Queries:

Stow, in his 'Survey of London,' says, "East from the Bishop of Winchester's house standeth a fair Church called St. Mary over the Rie or Overie, that is, over the water"; and Camden, in his 'Britannia' (for the sake of convenience he speaks of St. Mary Overie in the chapter on Middlesex), says, "The Priory of the blessed Virgin Mary, called St. Mary over Rhe, because it standeth beyond the River of Tamis in Tegard to London." Again, in his account of Surrey, be begins, "Surria, which Bede nameth Suthronia, commonly called Suthrey and Surrey, and by the Saxons of bordering South (upon the river, Suđ rea, for Suđ, with them betokeneth the South, and rea a river or floud)."

I may add that in Dr. Wm. Smith's 'Manual of Modern Geography,' p. 35, he puts in a note on Surrey, "old form Sothe-reye=South realm"; and in the 'National Gazetteer,' published by Virtue, Surrey is said to have been part of Suth-Seaxnarice, or the South Saxon kingdom.

So that, at any rate, there seem different opinions on the subject Camden, by-the-by, calls Riegate "Rhie-gat (which if a man interpret according to our ancient language, is as much as the River's course)."

It was the legend which I termed absurd; as it was evidently an attempt to substitute a Mary Overy—who never existed—for the Blessed Virgin.

Charlotte G. Boger.