Vauxhall
| Vauxhall | |
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| Ceremonial county | |
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| England | |
| Sovereign state | |
| SW8 | |
| Postcode district | SE1, SE11 |
| Police | |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | |
| Vauxhall | |
| London Assembly | Lambeth and Southwark |
| European Parliament | London |
| List of places: |
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Vauxhall is an inner city area of South London in the
It has also given its name to the Vauxhall Parliamentary Constituency, which also includes large swathes of Brixton and Clapham
Since
History
There is no mention of Vauxhall in the 1086 Domesday Book. The area formed part of the
extensive Manor of
The land was flat and marshy with parts poorly drained by ditches, and only started to be developed in the mid 18th century. Prior to this it provided market garden produce for the nearby City of London.
It is generally accepted that the
The area only became generally known by this name when the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens
opened as a public attraction. Initially most visitors would have approached by river, but crowds of Londoners of all classes
came to know the area after the construction of
Vauxhall, Russian railway stations and Pushkin
There are competing theories as to why the Russian word for a major railway station
is вокза́л (vokzal), which coincides with the canonical
It has long been suggested that a Russian delegation visited the area to inspect the construction of the
A more likely explanation is that the first Russian railway, constructed in
In 1838 a music and entertainment pavilion was constructed at the railway terminus. This pavilion was called the Vokzal in homage to the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens in London. The name soon came to be applied to the station itself, which was the gateway that most visitors used to enter the gardens. It later came to mean any substantial railway station building (a different Russian word, stantsiya, is used for minor stations).
The word "voksal" (воксал) had been known in Russian language in the meaning of "amusement park" long before the 1840s and may
be found, e.g., in the poetry of
Englishman
Today
Though now a major transport hub within minutes of central London, Vauxhall was neglected for many years. Many of its streets were destroyed during German bombing in World War II or ravaged through poor city planning. To many Londoners, Vauxhall is merely a bleak place of transit.
Much of the area in Vauxhall contains light industry, offices and government buildings. Many companies and organisations were
attracted in the past by Vauxhall's central location and comparatively cheap rent compared to
Housing and population
Many Vauxhall residents live in
There is a significant Portuguese community; many Portuguese restaurants and bars are located in South Lambeth Road and the surrounding area.
The late 1990s/early 2000s explosion in London property prices has led to a boom in riverside construction and property
re-developments, such as the large St George Wharf development by
The impact of new construction and the rise in land values has created a dramatic change in Vauxhall's demographics.
Noted residents
Owing to its position close to the Houses of Parliament, many famous politicians have their London homes in the Vauxhall/Kennington area. Famous residents include:
- Kenneth Clarke
- Geoff Hoon
- Ed Balls
- Yvette Cooper
Alistair Darling Jack Straw Charles Kennedy John Major Chelsea Clinton - Dan MacMillan
Lee Ryan
Community facilities
Vauxhall Park [1] contains an area of miniature model houses (also in Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne) as well as tennis courts, one o'clock club and children's playground. It is open daily for recreation and has an "open day" once a year.
St Peter's Church in Kennington Lane [2] was designed by John Loughborough Pearson who was also the architect of the Rochester, Bristol, Peterborough, Lincoln, Truro (Cornwall) and Brisbane (Australia) Cathedrals. Today the church is a community centre and arts venue as well as a church. Next to the St Peter's is Vauxhall City Farm.
Vauxhall Cross
Vauxhall Cross dominates the Vauxhall riverside. It is immediately to the south-east of
Vauxhall Cross is the site of the central headquarters of the
The James Bond film
In fact, the Piccadilly Line does not go south of the river at all; only the Victoria Line passes anywhere nearby, and the secret entrance to the station shown as on the east side of Westminster Bridge is not accurate either.
Vauxhall Cross was described as "one of the most unpleasant road junctions in South London", in Nikolaus Pevsner's architectural guide to London. Through 2002 to 2004 the Cross underwent a gradual redesign to accommodate a bus interchange linked to the Vauxhall mainline railway and tube stations, both of which are located to the south-eastern end of the cross. Work has involved design changes to traffic lanes, improved pedestrian and cycle crossings, refurbishment of walkways beneath the mainline railway viaduct, and the construction of a bus station, completed in December 2004 featuring an undulating steel-frame canopy and ribbed steel walls. An interesting feature of the canopy is a series of photoelectric cells generating electricity to offset the energy used by the bus station.
Gay Village
Vauxhall is home to an ever-increasing number of gay bars and nightclubs, such as Factory, Crash, Area, Orange (Fire), Megawoof, Barcode, The Hoist, South Central and the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, as well as other venues often holding special events for gay clubbers, such as Hidden, Club Colosseum and Renaissance Rooms. The aforementioned Royal Vauxhall Tavern dates back to at least the late 1800s, and was for many years a traditional English music hall and cabaret venue. In recent years the building has come under constant threat of buyout and demolition from property developers, as it stands alone on a prime piece of grassland adjacent to Vauxhall railway station. However, the pub was bought in 2004 by sympathetic owners who have announced, "business as usual".
Vauxhall was originally the home of the more underground gay clubs with the arrival of Crash in the 1990s. Over the years,
more clubs and gay businesses have followed Crash's lead by opening up in the railway arches underneath the main line out of
Waterloo Station. The burgeoning club scene and the lure of the more trendy railway
arches have made Vauxhall a prime destination for businesses to open up in, including London's only exclusively gay gym (Paris
Gym), another branch of Chariots (gay sauna) and Barcode (sister bar venue of the same name in
Vauxhall has also become colloquially known as "Voho" (a consolidation of the names Vauxhall and Soho) within the gay
community, due to the emergence of Vauxhall as a gay village after Soho, London's other main gay village in
British musician
Transport and locale
Nearest places
Battersea - Nine Elms
Kennington Oval Pimlico - Stockwell
- Camberwell
Walworth - Newington
Nearest tube stations
See also
References
- Vauxhall Pleasures. Published November 2006 in hidden europe magazine Issue 11, pp. 30-34. ISSN 1860-6318. (Article explores the pleasure gardens and Vauxhall's Russian connections)
- Vauxhall Gardens Revisit'd Michael Carter (Short essay which, like the preceding reference, provides useful further reading on this topic)
External links
- The Vauxhall Society
- Vauxhall, Kennington and the Oval — community website
- Vauxhall Gardens 1661–1859 — history of the Pleasure Gardens including lists of performers, etc.
- Vauxhall Bus Terminal — a critique
- blitzandblight.com — St George Wharf
- Vauxhall gay scene information
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| Districts |
Brixton · Clapham · Crystal
Palace · Gipsy Hill · Herne Hill ·
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| Parks and open spaces in Lambeth | ||
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Main districts of the |
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Acton • Barking
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