BERMONDSEY, a metropolitan borough of London, Eng land, bounded north and east by the Thames ; south-east by Dept ford, south-west by Camberwell, and west by Southwark. Pop. III,526. The name appears in Domesday, the suffix desig nating the former insular, marshy character of the district, while the prefix is generally taken to indicate the name of a Saxon over lord, Beormund. Bermondsey was in favour with the Norman kings as a place of residence, and there was a palace here, perhaps from pre-Normar. times. A Cluniac monastery was founded in 1082, and Bermondsey Cross became a favoured place of pilgrim age. The foundation was erected into an abbey in 1399, and Abbey Road recalls its site. It is a district of poor streets, inhab ited by a labouring population employed in leather, textile, metal, chemical, electrical and other works, and in the docks and the wharves bordering the river. The parish of Rotherhithe or Red riff has long been associated with a seafaring population. A tun nel connecting it with the opposite shore of the river was opened in June 1908. The neighbouring Thames tunnel was opened in 1843, but, as the tolls were insufficient to maintain it, was sold to the East London Railway company in 1865. The Herold insti tute, a branch of the Borough polytechnic, Southwark, gives instruction in the leather trade. Southwark park, in the centre of the borough, is 63ac. in extent. The borough council consists of a mayor, nine aldermen and S4 councillors. Since 1918 Ber mondsey sends two members to parliament, one for the Rother hithe and the other for the West Bermondsey division. Area I,5ooac.