London’s Alleys: Bear Gardens, SE1

This is an alley in Bankside that’s charmingly cobbled, but has a bloody history.As an alley, its path can be traced back to Tudor times, when the riverside was lined with pubs and wharves, and there was an alley leading from The Barge inn to Park Street behind.
Although unnamed initially, by 1799, it’s showing up on maps as Bear Garden, and that’s not because of a fragrant garden, but a brutal form of entertainment that took place on the southern corner of the alley, the Bear