Toponymy The 'banke' was reclaimed by the
Bishop of Winchester who owned the manor of the
Clink of which this is part. There is a map plan in the
Duchy of Lancaster archive showing 'the way to the banke'. The name is recorded in 1554 as
the Banke syde and means 'street along the bank of the Thames'. In 1860
Southwark Street was created to connect the Blackfriars and London bridge crossings here and that can be regarded as the area's informal southern perimeter.
Urban development Bankside is the riverside of the former
liberties of the
Clink and
Paris Garden. In the Elizabethan period, because it was outside the
City of London and its authority, the area of the Clink and Paris Garden became occupied by the
bear baiting pits and playhouses, including the
Rose, the
Hope Theatre, the
Swan and the
Globe Theatre of which a replica was constructed in the late 1990s. The history of the area is traced in a study that traces the earliest known history of a particular building on Bankside until the present day. It has experienced regeneration in recent decades, becoming a significant tourist destination, and forms a business improvement district. The skyline of Bankside is dominated by the former
Bankside Power Station, which now houses the
Tate Modern. A major new development in the area is the Bankside 1/2/3 complex on Southwark Street. Together, these three buildings house about 5,000 employees. Bankside 1, also known as the Blue Fin Building, was built for and partially occupied by
IPC Media, while Bankside 2 and 3 are occupied by
The Omnicom Group Ltd. The architect for the buildings was
Allies and Morrison. ==Governance==