Newington, London
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Newington is an area within the London Borough of Southwark in London, England. It was the site of the early administration of the county of Surrey and the location of the County of London Sessions House from 1917, in a building now occupied by the Inner London Crown Court.
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[edit] Etymology
The name means "new farmstead" or the newer part of Walworth of which it became the parish. Local administration by the Vestry Boards within the metropolitan area assigned what is usually known as 'Walworth' as the vestry of 'St Mary, Newington'.
The name has now fallen out of common usage because of London's urban sprawl and most residents would refer to the area as either Borough or Elephant and Castle. The name lives on in the streets called Newington Causeway and Newington Butts and in the open space Newington Gardens, formerly the location of Horsemonger Lane Gaol from 1791.
[edit] History
Newington gained in importantance around 1200 with the establishment of Lambeth Palace nearby, which increased the local traffic. The area remained as a farming village with a low level of population until the second half of the 18th century. There was a little industry, for example, the manufacture of clay pipes for tobacco smoking. In William Shakespeare's time, there was a theatre called Newington Butts and later there were further theatres.
New roads brought development opportunities. The local landowner and MP for Winchester, Henry Penton, started to sell some of his farmland. The 19th century brought more dense speculative housebuilding, and some philanthropic provision too. The Trinity House Estate, laid out around a 1820s classical church by Francis Bedford, is still largely in existence.
The scientist Michael Faraday was born here, in Newington Butts, in 1791. The visionary English artist Samuel Palmer was born in Newington in 1805.
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[edit] See also
- Stoke Newington, a quite separate place in north London.
