Winchester Palace

(1525–1571). The large mansion house on the west side of Southwark High Street is Suffolk House, beyond which, by the river and to the west (left) of St Saviour's Church, is Winchester House]] Southwark in the county of Surrey was formerly the largest manor in the Diocese of Winchester and the Bishop of Winchester was a major landowner in the area. He was a great power in the land, and traditionally served as the king's royal treasurer, performing the function of the modern Chancellor of the Exchequer. He thus frequently needed to attend the king both at his court in Westminster, at the Tower of London and also was required to attend Parliament with other bishops and major abbots. The city…

Associated with the palace was the Liberty of the Clink which also lay on the south bank of the River Thames, an area free from the jurisdiction of the City of London. It therefore became an area where activities which were suppressed in the City could flourish openly. Thus gaming houses, bowling alleys, theatres and brothels abounded. It took its name from the notorious Clink prison which lay within the Liberty and gave rise to the slang expression "in the clink" (i.e. in prison). The Bishops of Winchester received rents from the numerous brothels, leading to the local prostitutes being known as "Winchester geese".