<p><b>Bankside</b> is a district of <a href="/pages/w/104209366281077">London</a>, England, and part of the <a href="/pages/w/143489545667016">London Borough of Southwark</a>. Bankside is located on the southern bank of the <a href="/pages/w/107685822587432">River Thames</a>, east of <a href="/pages/w/112173415460877">Charing Cross</a>, running from a little west of <a href="/pages/w/104081916296261">Blackfriars Bridge</a> to just a short distance before <a href="/pages/w/103115513061992">London Bridge</a> at St Mary Overie Dock to the east. It is part of a <a href="/pages/w/106072056100097">business improvement district</a> known as <b>Better Bankside</b>.</p><h2>History</h2><h3>Toponymy</h3><p>The name is recorded in 1554 as <i>the Banke syde</i> and means 'street along the bank of the Thames'. It is formed from <a href="/pages/w/108350829189953">Middle English</a> 'banke' and 'side'.</p><h3>Urban development</h3><p>Bankside is the riverside of the former liberties of the <a href="/pages/w/141067065919780">Clink</a> and <a href="/pages/w/111911172203819">Paris Garden</a>. In the Elizabethan period, because of its location outside the jurisdiction of the <a href="/pages/w/105861892778596">City of London</a>, the area of the Clink and Paris Garden were outside of the <a href="/pages/w/105861892778596">City of London</a>'s authority and so became occupied by the bear baiting pits and playhouses, including the <a href="/pages/w/114040081939667">Rose</a>, the <a href="/pages/w/140763485950606">Hope Theatre</a>, the <a href="/pages/w/139836079376836">Swan</a> and the <a href="/pages/w/106118802752077">Globe Theatre</a> of which a replica was constructed in the late 1990s. It has experienced regeneration in recent decades, becoming a significant tourist destination, and forms a business improvement district. The skyline of Bankside is dominated by the former <a href="/pages/w/110283112355392">Bankside Power Station</a>, which now houses the <a href="/pages/w/103093513063670">Tate Modern</a>.</p>