SOUTH LAMBETH (Including Vauxhall and Stockwell)
You will remember that in the earlier part of this story we referred to three manors being mentioned in the Doomsday Book. Of the first of these - viz., that of the Church of Lanchei, now North Lambeth - we have spoken in detail.
The manor of South Lambeth, including what is now Stockwell and Vauxhall, was given by Harold to the monks of Waltham Abbey - a place for which he had a great affection, and where tradition says he is buried.
After the Conquest the manor was granted to the King's half-brother Odo, Bishop of Baieux. It was granted by King John to the Redvers family, in whose possession it remained for many years.
Vauxhall is not mentioned in the Doomsday Book. It appears to have obtained its name from Falkes de Breauté, who married Margaret Redvers in 1216. From his name came Fawkes Hall - eventually Vauxhall. This is a much more probable derivation than the traditional one which ascribes it to Guy Fawkes, the hero of the Gunpowder Plot. Stockwell is not mentioned as a separate manor until 1299, when a manor court is spoken of as being held every three weeks. One historian has suggested the following derivation of the name:- stoc-wood. well-a spring, in the near neighbourhood.
The name occurs early in the tenth century when William de Redvers is said to have given land in this district to the son of John de Stockwell.
Perhaps the most fascinating chapter in the history of Vauxhall is that which deals with the famous Vauxhall Gardens, a fashionable resort during the eighteenth and part of the nineteenth century.
In the reign of Charles II the estate of Vauxhall had passed into the hands of Sir Samuel Morland, who built a large concert room, the inside all of looking glass, and improved the gardens.
Spring Gardens at Charing Cross had been preeminently the resort of the fashionable world, but after the Restoration, buildings were begun there, and the popularity of the gardens soon was transferred to Vauxhall.
The chief access was by water, and admission was by silver tickets. The exact date of the opening is unknown, but the two diarists of the period, Evelyn and Pepys, mention their visits to the Gardens:- Evelyn. 2nd July, 1661. - " Visited the New Spring Garden at Lambeth - a pretty contained plantation."
Pepys. 28th May, 1667. - " Went by water to Fox Hall and there walked in Spring Gardens. A great deal of company; the weather and gardens pleasant and cheap going thither: for a man may go to spend what he will, or nothing at all; all is one."
In Queen Anne's time, Addison, in the Spectator, gives a delightful description of a visit paid by Sir Roger de Coverley to the Gardens.
The knight and his party "took boat" at Temple Stairs, and chose to be rowed by a one-legged waterman. "For," said Sir Roger, "I never make use of anybody to row me, that has not lost either a leg or an arm. I would rather abate him a few strokes of his oar, than not employ an honest man that has been wounded in the Queen's service."
Arrived at the gardens they enjoyed "the fragrancy of the walks and bowers, and the choirs of birds that sang upon the trees", and concluded their walk with a glass of Burton ale and a slice of beef; the remains of which were carried to the waterman that had but one leg.
In 1732 the house and gardens came into the possession of Jonathan Tyers, who endeavoured to increase the attractiveness of the place, and opened it with an advertisement of a "ridotte al fresco" an entertainment of music in the open air.
Hogarth, the famous artist, who was then living in Lambeth Terrace, suggested to him bellishment of the gardens with paintings", and accordingly pictures and statues by famous men became a feature.
The gardens are described by one writer as a scene of enchantment - long colonnades with arched gothic roofs, groves lighted by fairy lamps, little supper boxes, where parties of people could make merry, fountains, a rotunda for the performance of ballets and tight rope wonders, and many other delights. The average number of the company used to be about 1,000, but on very special occasions as many as 11,000 were present.
On June 7th, 1732, we read that Frederick, Prince of Wales honoured the gardens and an illustrious company were present wearing dominos and masks. The price of admission was one guinea, and 100 foot guards were posted round to keep out undesirable visitors. Much of the music was composed by Dr. Arne, a well-known ballad writer, and Henry Bishop, the writer of the music of "Home Sweet Home."
Although the gardens were pre-eminently the resort of the wealthy, the citizens of London often used to resort there with their wives and daughters, and many were the complaints made at the expensive nature of the food provided. The wafer-like thinness of the slices of ham provoked the remark at every mouthful "There goes threepence", and thus a "Vauxhall slice" has almost passed into a proverb.
Perhaps you may be interested in the following items, taken from the refreshment tariff of 1817:-
"A plate containing two infant chickens and a small quantity of ham” II/-
A single lettuce 1/6
6 cheese cakes or biscuits 4/6
Wax lights 2/-
How popular the Gardens became may be gathered from the frequent references to them in contemporary literature. Oliver Goldsmith, Sheridan, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Dr. Johnson and Boswell were frequent visitors.
Horace Walpole in a letter to a friend describes how with Lady Charlotte Petersham and others he went to spend an evening at Vauxhall.
He says, “After some time we assembled in our booth, where we minced seven chickens into a china dish, which Lady Caroline stewed over a lamp with three pats of butter, and a flagon of water, stirring, rattling and laughing, and we were every moment expecting to have the dish fly about our ears. She had bought Betty, the fruit girl, with hampers and strawberries and cherries, and made her wait upon us, and then sup by us at a little table”.
In Thackeray's novels " Pendennis" and " Vanity Fair” there are amusing accounts of revelries in the Gardens, and John Forster in his "Life of Dickens" tells how he and Charles Dickens went to see the performance of a battle picture, ”The Battle of Waterloo", and how they were delighted to see pass before them "in a bright white overcoat, the great Duke himself ", hugely enjoying the cheering and homage of the crowd.
But in spite of the many attractions, fireworks, balloon ascents, wild beast shows, special singers, etc., the popularity of the gardens gradually waned; they became shabby and disreputable and in 1857 everything was sold by auction.
St. Peter's Church now stands on what was once almost the centre of the gardens, and according to Mr. Warwick Wroth in London Pleasure Gardens of the Eighteenth Century, Goding Street represents the western boundary, St. Oswald's Place the eastern, Leopold Street the northern, and Upper Kennington Lane, the southern.
Tyers Terrace, Glasshouse Street, Jonathan Street, and Italian Walk are present-day reminders of vanished glories.
Another interesting historical feature which has disappeared completely to-day is the house and grounds of Sir Noel Caroon, Dutch Ambassador in the reigns of Elizabeth and James the First. The grounds were extensive and included the land now occupied by Kennington Oval, Vauxhall Park, South Lambeth Road, and Beaufoy's Distilleries.
Sir Noel was a very worthy charitable man, who built and endowed some almshouses in Lambeth. He died in 1623, and was buried in Lambeth Church, where for many years his helmet, sword and spear were exhibited. Unfortunately they have disappeared now.
The house with gardens "and orchard thereunto belonging" was granted to Clarendon by Charles II in 1666. It was later used as a refuge for the Fleet prisoners after the Great Fire. By 1809 the house was in ruins, and a year later Messrs. Beaufoy & Co., compelled to remove from Cuper's Gardens by the building of Waterloo Bridge, established their premises on the site. These buildings which cover an area of more than eight acres, are most perfectly and scientifically equipped and are the scene of one of the most important industries of South Lambeth. Vauxhall Park, opened in 1890, is ground which was once part of the Caroon estate.
In the earlier part of the nineteenth century a few large houses stood here, and in one of them lived Henry Fawcett, the blind Postmaster General. His statue in terra cotta by George Tinworth stands in the Park and on the pedestal are medallion oblongs expressing Sympathy, Courage, Truth and Justice. You will appreciate the appropriateness of these when you read in a later chapter the story of his life.
Lawn Lane, which is parallel with the Park, was bordered in former days by the River Effra.
This river is now, like the Fleet, a sewer, in an iron tube, but it was once quite an important little stream. Tradition even says that Queen Elizabeth in her royal barge sailed up the Effra to visit Sir Noel Caroon.
Shall we try to reconstruct the course of this river which was so conspicuous a landmark in old Lambeth?
According to one well-known authority, the river rose in the Norwood Hills, almost at the spot where the King's Oak used to stand to mark the junction of four boroughs, Lambeth, Camberwell, Penge and Croydon. (Here the interesting ceremony of "beating the bounds" used to take place).
It then passed through Dulwich with many turns and twists, but in a generally south westerly direction, until it reached what is now the Brixton Road. There is an interesting print which shows the stream flowing in front of the old Palace Regent Hotel in Dulwich Road.
The river made a sharp turn where St. Mark's Church now stands, passed round the eastern side of Kennington Oval, then by the side of Vauxhall Park, along South Lambeth Road to Vauxhall Cross, finding its outlet into the Thames at the foot of Vauxhall Bridge.
Its total length was about five and three-quarter miles, but there were many branches, and the marshy character of the ground rendered its course vague and erratic.
When the river was converted into a sewer, the excavated earth and rubbish was used as a foundation for the grand stand of the famous Kennington Oval.
Now let us return to the historical associations of South Lambeth. Not far from Caroon House were the famous gardens of the Tradescants, father and son, whose tombs we saw in the churchyard of St. Mary's. The father was a great botanist and was gardener to Charles I.
His garden in Lambeth was well-stocked with plants; he planted the first mulberry tree in England, and also introduced plums from Turkey and apricots from Algiers.
There is a story that in order to obtain the last named fruit, the export of which was forbidden, Tradescant became a slave on board an Algerian pirate ship. When he had obtained slips of the tree, he made good his escape, and the tree was planted in Lambeth. The story is rather suggestive of an Arabian Nights' entertainment, and its veracity may be doubted, yet the fact remains that the Tradescants were pioneers in the introduction of foreign trees and shrubs into this country.
Tradescant junior, in addition to sharing his father's love of plants, became an enthusiastic collector of curiosities, such as crystals, shells, rare birds and animals.
In the catalogue of his collection he mentions among other things:- "Some kindes of birds, their egges, beaks, feathers, clawes and spurres" : "a griffin's beak, two feathers of the phoenix tayle, and the claw of the bird rock who is able to truss an elephant"; a dodar from the island of Mauritius; it is not able to fly being so big".
The contents of this museum were left by will to Elias Ashmole, who increased the collection by the addition of books and medals, and then in 1682 presented them to Oxford University, where the Ashmolean Museum to-day bears witness of his gift.
Some enthusiastic Lambethians are of the opinion that the treasures would be more appropriately housed within the borough itself.
One other interesting association demands our attention before we leave this part of the borough.
St. Andrew's Church has the distinction of being the second oldest church in the borough. It dates from 1767, and was built as a Chapel of Ease to St. Mary's at Lambeth, because the Church dignitaries, chief among whom was Archbishop Secker felt that the scattered population of the borough needed another place of worship in addition to the parish church of Lambeth.