Beating Lambeth's Bounds (part 2)

Beating Lambeth's Bounds (part 2)

Part 1 followed the former Lambeth civil parish’s boundary from the Thames to the Three Stags pub. On part 2 we will follow the boundary from Kennington to the Three Stags, along a Roman Road, and passing the ruins of a parish church, the site of a battle between street gangs and the NYPD, a mysterious building with only a front door and blind windows, and a place where messages were passed to and from Royal Navy ships in the English Channel.

Beating the Bounds is an ancient custom that was originally devised for local officials to inspect the parish boundary and the various markers thereof, and to fix the boundaries in minds of poor parishioners by having boys whacking the boundary with willow sticks as the party proceeded. And by beating or bumping a boy at each boundary marker. Tracing Lambeth parish's boundary is problematic due to centuries of redevelopment, but we can follow it as closely as possible within today's street pattern in a vain search for surviving evidence of the border and as an excuse to see what we find in places that a guided tour might not otherwise visit and hear what was there in the past. For the avoidance of doubt, we will not – unlike the vestrymen of old – be climbing over walls and fences or processing through houses that straddle the boundary.

Willow wands not provided.

Your guide: Geoff Fairbairn, walkinglambeth@gmail.com