Note 9 — Chapter I · ToC

It may be mentioned, as throwing some light on the above, that the Bankside had acquired an evil reputation through the brothels and other iniquities tolerated in that quarter, and more or less recognised in the Acts of Parliament for their regulation. The north side of a church was in the Middle Ages usually appropriated to women, as inferior to the south, which was reserved for the opposite sex. The north side of the churchyard was used for the burial of ordinary people, a fact which explains St. Swithun's humility in choosing it for his own resting-place.