Newington is a district of Central London, just south of the River Thames, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It was an ancient parish and the site of the early administration of the county of Surrey. It was the location of the County of London Sessions House from 1917, in a building now occupied by the Inner London Crown Court.

History

Toponymy

The name means "new farmstead" to refer to a newer part of the manor of Walworth. It lay on the old Roman road from London to West Sussex, specifically directly to Chichester (also linking to London/Westminster much of Surrey including Kingston and Guildford) (this was one of the Stane Streets). The proximity to London meant stalls, stables and stores were by the late medieval period numerous. The first mention of Newington (or Neweton) occurs in the Testa de Nevill (a survey of feudal tenure officially known as the Book of Fees compiled 1198–1242) during the reign of Henry III, wherein it is stated that the queen's goldsmith holds of the king one acre of land in Neweton, by the service of rendering a gallon of honey. In 1313 it is mentioned again in the Archbishop of Canterbury's Register as Newington juxta London.

Newington is a ward within the London Borough of Southwark and the Parliamentary seat of Bermondsey and Old Southwark. It is represented by Councillors Eleanor Kerslake and Alice Macdonald of the Labour Party and James Coldwell, Independent.

Ecclesiastical parish

The ancient parish, dedicated to St Mary, was in the Diocese of Winchester until 1877, then the Diocese of Rochester until 1905, since when it is in the Diocese of Southwark. From 1826, as the population of Newington increased, ten new parishes were formed:

  • Holy Trinity, Newington in 1826
  • St Peter, Walworth in 1826
  • St Paul, Newington in 1857
  • St John, Walworth in 1860
  • All Saints, Newington in 1866
  • St Matthew, Newington in 1868
  • St Mark, Walworth in 1870
  • St Stephen, Walworth Common in 1871
  • All Souls, Grosvenor Park in 1871
  • St Andrew, Newington in 1877

Small parts of the above augmented other parishes, later:

  • St Agnes, Kennington Park in 1874 with parts of St Mary, Lambeth
  • St Mark, Camberwell in 1880 with parts of St Giles, Camberwell

Politics

thumb|A map showing the Newington wards of Southwark Metropolitan Borough as they appeared in 1916.

Under the Metropolis Management Act 1855 any parish that exceeded 2,000 ratepayers was to be divided into wards; as such the incorporated vestry of St Mary Newington was divided into four wards (electing vestrymen): No. 1 or St Mary's (18), No. 2 or Trinity (18), No. 3 or St Paul's (15) and No. 4 or St Peter's (21).

In 1894 as its population had increased the incorporated vestry was re-divided into five wards (electing vestrymen): St Mary's (15), St Paul's (12), St Peter's (15), St John's (18) and Trinity (12).

In May 2019, Coldwell resigned from Labour in opposition to the then leader Jeremy Corbyn and the parties stance on Brexit. He now sits as an Independent.

People

  • Charles Babbage the promoter of the first computing machine was born in Walworth Road
  • Michael Faraday was born in Newington Butts, in 1791
  • William Jowett, a 19th-century missionary and author, was born in Newington in 1787,
  • Samuel Palmer, artist, born in Surrey Square in 1805
  • Tom Smith (1823–1869) the creator of the Christmas cracker
  • William Swainson, ornithologist and natural history artist (1789–1855)
  • William Walker, was born in Newington, in 1869.

Geography

Nearest places:

  • Walworth
  • Kennington
  • Bermondsey
  • Vauxhall

Nearest tube stations:

  • Kennington
  • Borough
  • Elephant & Castle
  • Lambeth North
  • London Bridge

Nearest railway stations:

  • London Bridge
  • Elephant & Castle
  • Waterloo
  • Blackfriars

References

  • Newington, Southwark — Hidden London
  • Walworth, Newington and Elephant & Castle suburban development