SOUTHWARK CATHEDRAL

 What we know as the Capital city, London, is actually more than one city. There is, of course, the City of London - which is the world's smallest capital city, being only 1 square mile - the City of  Westminster, and the city of Southwark.

 There has been a church on this site since AD 606. There may well have been a church here even earlier. Southwark Cathedral is the oldest cathedral church building in London, and archaeological evidence shows there was Roman pagan worship here well before that.

Significantly, Southwark stands at the oldest crossing point of the tidal Thames at what was the only entrance to the City of London across the river for many centuries. It is not only a place of worship but also of hospitality to every kind of person: princes and paupers, prelates and prostitutes, poets, playwrights, prisoners and patients have all found refuge here.
At one time, recreations such as gambling and prostitution were strictly forbidden in the City of London, so people would cross south of the river to Southwark, where such things were commonplace.