#the clink

[chaptertwo-thepacnw]

[ringringhookaringring]

[offscreendeath]

[simonblackquill-rp-blog]

“The real Simon Blackquill would never RP fictional characters!” 

I spent seven years LARPing my edgy murderer self-insert OC, what in blazes do you expect from me? 

[shanita911]

@taylorswift @taylornation

The lights are so bright but they never blind me‪. 💗‬

❥ 8.8.15

❥ 1989 World Tour

❥ Seattle, WA

❥ CenturyLink Field

❥ Welcome To New York

I didn’t do this on purpose, but this video is 13 seconds long. 👀

[londiniumlundene]

Cross Bones Graveyard

The history of the site known as Cross Bones Graveyard, at the corner of Union Street and Redcross Way, is another of those London stories where the lines between truth and legend become blurred. It is known that in the 12th Century, the Bishop of Winchester was granted authority over the Liberty of the Clink, an area south of London Bridge and outside of the laws of the City of London. The Bishop gave licence and protection to activities of pleasure in the Liberty, including the brothels (known as stews) and the women who worked there, who gained the moniker of ‘Winchester Geese’.

This is where the story becomes murky. In his 1598 survey of London, John Stow mentions a ‘Single Woman’s churchyard’, an unconsecrated burial ground reserved for the prostitutes due to their “sinful” life. No record exists of where this burial ground actually was; there are other accounts that place it on Park Street, further north.

Cross Bones is known to have been assigned to St Saviour’s Parish in 1665, the year before the Great Plague – some accounts have the burial ground being used as a plague pit. It was over the following centuries that Cross Bones developed its reputation as the “outcasts’” graveyard, where those who could not afford, or be afforded, a full Christian burial.

By the early 19th Century, Cross Bones association with the ‘Single Woman’s churchyard’ was well-established, and the claim repeated by many historians. It was also around this time that concerns grew over the overcrowding in the graveyard – the plentiful supply of the dead also made it a haunt for body snatchers. In 1853, the site was closed; the Burial Board purchased a plot in the new Brookwood Cemetery, the terminus of the Necropolis Railway, to continue burials (or re-bury any exhumed corpses).

The land was sold in 1883, but this was declared void the following year as one Lord Brabazon argued that for burials to have been legally carried out by the clergy, the land must have been consecrated. St Saviour’s Parish, however, continued to lease the land for use as a timber yard, and even briefly as a fairground. In the late 20th Century, the land was used as an electricity substation during the extension of the Underground’s Jubilee Line. Archaeological excavations were carried out beforehand, leading to estimates that at least 40% of those buried there were children under the age of one, or foetuses. The adults buried there were mostly women over the age of 36.

In 1996, local writer John Constable claimed to have received a vision of one of the Winchester Geese, who revealed to him the history of Cross Bones. He was inspired to write the Southwark Mysteries, a ritual drama to honour the dead of Cross Bones. This led to the founding of the Friends of Cross Bones, who continue to hold vigils every 23rd of the month for the outcast dead. The gatherings focus on the shrine created around the old gates to the site, on which ribbons and other tokens are tied. In recent years, the group have obtained permission to create a memorial garden on part of the site, which is open to the public when the volunteer wardens are available.

[dpb-365]

48/365 - Bob

Had today off work, and spent it having lunch with Bob and Frank at ‘The Clink’ a restaurant inside HM Prison Brixton. It was a lovely meal, and certainly the best meal I’ve ever eaten with plastic cutlery. 

Those of you in London, I’d recommend giving it a try. 

[simonblackquill-rp-blog]

My cellmate will either die of caffeine withdrawal or caffeine poisoning. At the moment, I cannot tell which. He claims to have been poisoned years ago, and believes he will die from that, but frankly, that’s bullocks.