The Clink Prison Museum
A museum on Bankside built on the actual site of The Clink, an ecclesiastical prison dating to 1144 that gave the English language its slang word for jail.
- Museum
- Price: £ · Budget
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Did you know
The original prison was destroyed for good in 1780, when the Gordon Riots saw the Protestant Association break in, free every inmate, and burn it to the ground. It was never rebuilt, and today's museum sits on that same original site.
Local tip
This leans into the grim, immersive side of Southwark's history (torture, debtors, heresy trials) rather than a polished heritage presentation. Go in expecting a deliberately dark, atmospheric small museum, not a family-friendly one.
Finding it
- Address
- Clink Street, Borough Market, Bankside, The Borough, London Borough of Southwark, Greater London, England, SE1 9DG
- Nearest station
- London Bridge (Tube), 205 m away
Details change, so check with the place before you set off.
More places nearby
- The Anchor BanksideA riverside pub on the south bank near Southwark Cathedral, on a site that has held a tavern for over 800 years and once served as the tap room for the adjacent Anchor Brewery.
- Maria's Market CafeA traditional cafe under the arched roof of Borough Market, trading since 1961 and known for its bubble and squeak and full English breakfasts.
- Southwark CathedralA Gothic cathedral dating from between 1220 and 1420, described as London's first Gothic church, free to enter beside Borough Market with Shakespeare and John Harvard connections.
- CamilleA compact French bistro on Stoney Street from the Ducksoup team, serving a daily-changing blackboard menu of provincial French cooking with an emphasis on offal.