Lambeth () is a district in

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger)

London Borough of Lambeth Lambeth () is a London borough in South London, England, which forms part of Inner London. Its name was recorded in 1062 as ''Lambehitha'' ("landing place for lambs") and in 1255 as ''Lambeth''. The geographical centre of London is at Frazi ...

. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...

, across the river from

Westminster Palace The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the ...

. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area experienced some slight growth in the medieval period as part of the manor of

Lambeth Palace Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament of the United King ...

. By the Victorian era, the area had seen significant development as London expanded, with dense industrial, commercial and residential buildings located adjacent to one another. By this point, there were distinct localities (like

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( , ) is an area of South London, within the London Borough of Lambeth. Named after a medieval manor called Fox Hall, it became well known for the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. From the Victorian period until the mid-20th century, Va ...

) appearing on the map, and a separate parish of

South Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

was created in 1861. The changes brought by

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

altered much of the fabric of Lambeth. Subsequent development in the late 20th and early 21st centuries has seen an increase in the number of high-rise buildings. The area is home to the

International Maritime Organization The International Maritime Organization (IMO; ; ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating maritime transport. The IMO was established following agreement at a ...

. Lambeth is home to one of the largest Portuguese-speaking communities in the UK, and Portuguese is the second most commonly spoken language in Lambeth after English.

History

Toponymy

The origins of the name of Lambeth come from its first record in 1062 as ''Lambehitha'', meaning 'landing place for lambs', and in 1255 as ''Lambeth''. In the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

, Lambeth is called "Lanchei", which is plausibly derived from Brittonic Lan meaning a river bank and Chei being Brittonic for a quay. The name refers to a harbour where lambs were either shipped from or to. It is formed from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

'lamb' and 'hythe'.

is recorded as ''Sutlamehethe'' in 1241 and North Lambeth is recorded in 1319 as ''North Lamhuth''.

Medieval

The manor of Lambeth is recorded as being under ownership of the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

from at least 1190. The Archbishops led the development of much of the manor, with Archbishop

Hubert Walter Hubert Walter ( – 13 July 1205) was an influential royal adviser in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries in the positions of Chief Justiciar of England, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lord Chancellor. As chancellor, Walter be ...

creating the residence of

in 1197. Lambeth and the palace were the site of two important 13th-century international treaties; the Treaty of Lambeth 1217 and the Treaty of Lambeth 1212.

Edward, the Black Prince Edward of Woodstock (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), known as the Black Prince, was the eldest son and heir apparent of King Edward III of England. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II of England, Richard II, succession to the Br ...

lived in Lambeth in the 14th century in an estate that incorporated the land not belonging to the Archbishops, which also included

Kennington Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between th ...

(the Black Prince road in Lambeth is named after him). As such, much of the freehold land of Lambeth to this day remains under Royal ownership as part of the estate of the

Duchy of Cornwall A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between "sovereign ...

. Lambeth was also the site of the principal medieval London residence of the

Dukes of Norfolk Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The premier non-royal peer, the Duke of Norfolk is additionally the premier duke and earl in the English peerage. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the t ...

, but by 1680 the large house had been sold and ended up as a pottery manufacturer, creating some of the first examples of English delftware in the country. The road names, Norfolk Place and Norfolk Row reflect the history and legacy of the house today.

River crossings

Lambeth Palace lies opposite the southern section of the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

on the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

. The two were historically linked by a horse ferry across the river. In fact, Lambeth could only be crossed by the left-bank by ferry or fords until 1750. Until the mid-18th century the north of Lambeth was marshland, crossed by a number of roads raised against floods. This marshland was also known as ''Lambeth Marshe''. It was drained in the 18th century but is remembered in the Lower Marsh street name. With the opening of

Westminster Bridge Westminster Bridge is a road-and-foot-traffic bridge crossing over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the west side and Lambeth on the east side. The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats ...

in 1750, followed by the

Blackfriars Bridge Blackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying the A201 road. The north end is in the City of London near the Inns of Court and Temple C ...

Vauxhall Bridge Vauxhall Bridge is a Grade II* listed steel and granite deck arch bridge in central London. It crosses the River Thames in a southeast–northwest direction between Vauxhall on the south bank and Pimlico on the north bank. Opened in 1906, it r ...

and Lambeth Bridge itself, a number of major thoroughfares were developed through Lambeth, such as Westminster Bridge Road, Kennington Road and Camberwell New Road. Until the 18th century Lambeth was sparsely populated and still rural in nature, being outside the boundaries of central London, although it had experienced growth in the form of taverns and entertainment venues, such as theatres and

Bear pit A bear pit is an enclosure historically used to display bears, typically for entertainment and especially bear-baiting. The pit area was normally surrounded by a high fence, above which the spectators would look down on the bears. The most trad ...

s (being outside inner city regulations). The subsequent growth in road and marine transport, along with the development of industry in the wake of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

brought great change to the area.

Early modern

The area grew with an ever-increasing population at this time, many of whom were poor. As a result, Lambeth opened a parish

workhouse In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as Scottish poorhouse, poorh ...

in 1726. A parliamentary report of 1777 noted it had 270 inmates. In 1835 the Lambeth Poor Law Parish was formed. Run by an elected board of trustees, it comprised the parish of St Mary, Lambeth, "including the district attached to the new churches of St John, Waterloo, Kennington, Brixton, Norwood". Following in the tradition of earlier delftware manufacturers, the

Royal Doulton Royal Doulton is an English ceramic and home accessories manufacturer that was founded in 1815. Operating originally in Vauxhall, London, and later moving to Lambeth, in 1882 it opened a factory in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, in the centre of Engl ...

Pottery company had their principal manufacturing site in Lambeth for several centuries. The Lambeth factory closed in 1956 and production was transferred to

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

. However the Doulton offices, located on Black Prince Road still remain as they are a listed building, which includes the original decorative tiling. Between 1801 and 1831 the population of Lambeth trebled and in ten years alone between 1831 and 1841 it increased from 87,856 in to 105,883. The railway first came to Lambeth in the 1840s, as construction began which extended the London and South Western Railway from its original station at

Nine Elms Nine Elms is an area of south-west London, England, within the London Borough of Wandsworth, with some parts (including the Nine Elms tube station, tube station) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. It lies on the River Thame ...

to the new terminus at London Waterloo via the newly constructed Nine Elms to Waterloo Viaduct. With the massive urban development of London in the 19th century and with the opening of the large Waterloo railway station in 1848 the locality around the station and Lower Marsh became known as Waterloo, becoming an area distinct from Lambeth itself. The Lambeth Ragged school was built in 1851 to help educate the children of destitute facilities, although the widening of the London and South Western Railway in 1904 saw the building reduced in size. Part of the school building still exists today and is occupied by the Beaconsfield Gallery. The Beaufoy Institute was also built in 1907 to provide technical education for the poor of the area, although this stopped being an educational institution at the end of the 20th century. Westminster Bridge and Lambeth Bridge 1897

Westminster Bridge and Lambeth Bridge 1897

Local government

The current district of Lambeth was part of the large ancient parish of Lambeth St Mary in the

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

hundred of

. It was an elongated north–south parish with a

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

frontage to the west. In the north it lay opposite the cities of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

and extended southwards to cover the contemporary districts of

West Dulwich West Dulwich ( ) is a neighbourhood in South London on the southern boundary of Brockwell Park, which straddles the London Borough of Lambeth and the London Borough of Southwark. Croxted Road and South Croxted Road mark the boundary between Sou ...

and

West Norwood West Norwood is a largely residential area of south London within the London Borough of Lambeth, located 5.4 miles (8.7 km) south south-east of Charing Cross. The centre of West Norwood sits in a bowl surrounded by hillsides on its east, ...

, almost reaching Crystal Palace. Lambeth became part of the

Metropolitan Police District The Metropolitan Police District (MPD) is the police area which is policed by the Metropolitan Police Service in London. It currently consists of the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, which excludes the City of ...

in 1829. It continued as a single parish for

Poor Law In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

purposes after the

Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 (4 & 5 Will. 4. c. 76) (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the British Whig Party, Whig government of Charles ...

and a single parish governed by a vestry after the introduction of the

Metropolitan Board of Works The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the upper tier of local government for London between 1856 and 1889, primarily responsible for upgrading infrastructure. It also had a parks and open spaces committee which set aside and opened up severa ...

in 1855. In 1889 it became part of the

County of London The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government A ...

and the parish and vestry were reformed in 1900 to become the

Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth Lambeth was a Civil parishes in England, civil parish and Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropolitan borough in south London, England. It was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. The parish was included in the area of respo ...

, governed by Lambeth Borough Council. In the reform of local government in 1965, the Streatham and Clapham areas that had formed part of the

Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth The Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth was a Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, Metropolitan borough under the London County Council, from 1900 to 1965. History The borough was formed from five civil parishes in England, civil parish ...

were combined with Lambeth to form the responsible area of local government under the

. The current mayor is Annie Gallop as of May 2021.

Modern

Lambeth Walk Lambeth Walk is a street in Lambeth, London, England, off Lambeth Road. It was at the heart of a working class residential area and there was a street market. The area was originally developed with wells and a recreation ground. Houses foll ...

and Lambeth High Street were the two principal commercial streets of Lambeth, but today are predominantly residential in nature. Lambeth Walk was site of a market for many years, which by 1938 had 159 shops, including 11 butchers. The street and surrounding roads, like most of Lambeth, were extensively damaged in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. This included the destruction of the Victorian Swimming Baths (built in 1897) in 1945, when a V2 Rocket hit the street, resulting in the deaths of 37 people. In 1948, when the first wave of immigrants of Afro-Caribbean descent arrived from Jamaica on the Windrush cruise ship, they were housed in several areas within Brixton, especially

Clapham Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Ea ...

. The Royal Pharmaceutical Society's headquarters were located in Lambeth High Street from 1976 until 2015. Today, the center of government in

has a strong Afro-Caribbean community. Other significant minorities include Africans, South Asians, and Chinese; they make up one third of Lambeth's population. The borough is a very densely populated area within London with a large young population. One third of its working age population are considered living in poverty. Lambeth ranks 8th out of 22 of the most deprived boroughs in London.

Governance

At the 2015 general election, the Labour candidate Kate Hoey was elected for Vauxhall. At the snap 2017 general election, Hoey was re-elected with an increased majority. The Liberal Democrat candidate George Turner finished the runner up in Vauxhall achieving a 5% swing in his favour. Hoey stood down at the 2019 General Election and was replaced with Labour MP

Florence Eshalomi Florence Dauta Eshalomi (''née'' Nosegbe; born 18 September 1980) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green, formerly Vauxhall, since 2019. A Member of the Labour and Co-operative pa ...

, who was the sitting London Assembly Member for Lambeth and Southwark. At the next election the boundaries changed to Vauxhall and Camberwell Green and Eshalomi was elected once again.

Buildings and churches

The church of St Mary-at-Lambeth is the oldest above ground structure in Lambeth, the oldest structure of any kind being the crypt of Lambeth Palace itself. The church has pre-Norman origins, being recorded as early as 1062 as a church built by Goda, sister of

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was King of England from 1042 until his death in 1066. He was the last reigning monarch of the House of Wessex. Edward was the son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. He succeede ...

. It was rebuilt in flint and stone between the years 1374 and 1377. The tower is the only original part still to survive, as much of the church was reconstructed by 1852. The church was de-consecrated in 1972 and since 1977 it has been the home of the

Garden Museum The Garden Museum (formerly known as the Museum of Garden History) in London is Britain's only museum of the art, history and design of gardens. The museum re-opened in 2017 after an 18-month redevelopment project. The building is largely the ...

is the home of the

and has been occupied as a residence by the Archbishops since the early 13th century. The oldest parts of the palace are Langton's Chapel and its crypt, both of which date back to the 13th century. Although they suffered greatly from damage in the

, they have seen been extensively repaired and restored. Morton's Tower, the main entrance to the palace, was built in 1490. The Great Hall, rebuilt over different centuries but primarily following damage during the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

, contains the vast collections of the Lambeth Palace Library. Later additions to the palace including the Blore Building, a newer private residence for the Archbishop, which was completed in 1833. The

Albert Embankment Albert Embankment is part of the river bank on the south side of the River Thames in Central London. It stretches approximately one mile (1.6 km) northward from Vauxhall Bridge to Westminster Bridge, and is located in the London Borough ...

, finished in 1869 and created by the engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette under the

, forms the boundary of Lambeth. The embankment includes land reclaimed from the river and various small timber and boatbuilding yards, and was intended to protect low-lying areas of Lambeth from flooding while also providing a new highway to bypass local congested streets. Unlike the

Thames Embankment The Thames Embankment was built as part of the London Main Drainage (1859-1875) by the Metropolitan Board of Works, a pioneering Victorian civil engineering project which housed intercept sewers, roads and underground railways and embanked the ...

on the opposite side of the river, the Albert Embankment does not incorporate major interceptor sewers. This allowed the southern section of the embankment (upstream from Lambeth Bridge) to include a pair of tunnels leading to a small slipway, named White Hart Draw Dock, whose origins can be traced back to the 14th century. Centuries later, Royal Doulton's pottery works used the docks to load clay and finished goods for transport to and from the

Port of London The Port of London is that part of the River Thames in England lying between Teddington Lock and the defined boundary (since 1968, a line drawn from Foulness Point in Essex via Gunfleet Old Lighthouse to Warden Point in Kent) with the North Se ...

. The refurbishment of White Hart Dock was carried out as part of a local art project in 2009, which included the addition of wooden sculptures and benches to the 1868 dock boundary wall. Located on the Albert Embankment is the purpose-built headquarters of the

(IMO). The IMO is a

specialised agency of the United Nations United Nations specialized agencies are autonomous organizations working with the United Nations and each other through the structure of the United Nations Economic and Social Council at the intergovernmental level, and through the Chief Executi ...

responsible for regulating

shipping Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

. The building was officially opened by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

on 17 May 1983. The architects of the building were Douglass Marriott, Worby & Robinson. The front of the building is dominated by a seven-metre high, ten-tonne bronze sculpture of the bow of a ship, with a lone seafarer maintaining a look-out from Lambeth to the Thames. From 1937 until 2007 the headquarters of the

London Fire Brigade The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the Fire department, fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 90), under the leadership of superintendent ...

were in Lambeth, on Albert Embankment. The headquarters building, constructed in an

art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style, was designed by architects of the

London City Council London City Council is the governing body of the city of London, Ontario, Canada. Composition London is divided into 14 wards, with residents in each ward electing one councillor. The mayor is elected citywide, who along with the councillors fo ...

and opened in 1937. Occupying a prominent position on the Thames it is, however, still an operating fire station, although future plans have been submitted which may see redevelopment of the listed building. A planning decision is expected by July 2023. The Lambeth Mission is a church of the united Methodist Anglican denomination, located on Lambeth Road. The original church was founded in 1739 but was entirely destroyed by a bomb in the

. A new church for the mission was constructed in 1950 and continues to function as an active church today. The

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northwest of central London and southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe. The ...

gallery is a public contemporary art gallery in Lambeth, which was established in 1995 and specialises in temporary exhibitions and art classes.

Morley College Morley College is a specialist adult education and further education college in London, England. The college has three main campuses, one in Waterloo on the South Bank, and two in West London namely in North Kensington and in Chelsea, the ...

is an

adult education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained educating activities in order to gain new knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralph G. ''The Pr ...

college, founded in the 1880s, that occupies sites on either side of the boundary between the London boroughs of

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

and Lambeth.

Literary Lambeth

From 1790 to 1800, William Blake lived in North Lambeth, London, at 13 Hercules Buildings, Hercules Road. In his epic '' Milton: A Poem in Two Books'', the poet

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'' was written in blank verse and included 12 books, written in a time of immense religious flux and politic ...

leaves Heaven and travels to Lambeth, in the form of a falling comet, and enters Blake's foot. This allows Blake to treat the ordinary world as perceived by the five senses as a sandal formed of "precious stones and gold" that he can now wear. Blake ties the sandal and, guided by Los, walks with it into the City of Art, inspired by the spirit of poetic creativity. The poem was written between 1804 and 1810. '' Liza of Lambeth'', the first novel by

W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

, is about the life and loves of a young factory worker living in Lambeth near Westminster Bridge Road. ''Thyrza'', a novel by

George Gissing George Robert Gissing ( ; 22 November 1857 – 28 December 1903) was an English novelist, who published 23 novels between 1880 and 1903. In the 1890s he was considered one of the three greatest novelists in England, and by the 1940s he had been ...

first published in 1887, is set in late Victorian Lambeth, particularly Newport Street, Lambeth Walk and Walnut Tree Walk. The novel was intended by Gissing to "contain the very spirit of London working-class life". The story tells of Walter Egremont, an

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

-trained idealist who gives lectures on literature to workers, some of them from his father's Lambeth factory.

Geography

Parks and open spaces

Lambeth has several areas of public parks and gardens. This includes Old Paradise Gardens, which is a park occupying a former burial ground on Lambeth High Street and Old Paradise Street. A watch-house for holding the 'drunk and disorderly' existed on the site, from 1825 until 1930 and is today marked by a memorial stone. Lambeth Walk Open Space is a small public park to the east of Lambeth on Fitzalan Walk and includes several open spaces and play areas. Pedlars' Park is another small public park in Lambeth, which was created in 1968 on the site of the former St. Saviour's Salamanca Street School. Archbishop's Park is open to the public and borders the edge of Lambeth Palace and the neighbouring area of Waterloo and the hospital of St Thomas.

Transport

The nearest

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

stations are Waterloo,

and Lambeth North. London Waterloo is also a

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, a group representing passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the passenger services previously provided by ...

station as is Waterloo East which is located in-between both Waterloo and Southwark stations.

Vauxhall station Vauxhall (, ) is a National Rail, London Underground and London Buses interchange station in south London. It is at the Vauxhall#Vauxhall Cross, Vauxhall Cross road junction opposite the southern approach to Vauxhall Bridge over the River Tha ...

is also nearby in Vauxhall, situated more towards the South Lambeth area near

as is

Oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas of mathematics (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.), it is given a more precise definition, which may inc ...

station nearby. The South West Main Line runs through Lambeth on the Nine Elms to Waterloo Viaduct. The principal road through the area is Lambeth Road (the A3203).

adjoins Lambeth Road. The current Lambeth Bridge opened on 19 July 1932. It replaced an earlier

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

which itself was built between 1862 and 1928, but was eventually closed and demolished following the

1928 Thames flood The 1928 Thames flood was a disastrous flood of the River Thames that affected much of riverside London on 7 January 1928, as well as places further downriver. Fourteen people died and thousands were made homeless when floodwaters poured over t ...

Notable people

References

External links

1895 Ordnance Survey Large Scale Town Plan of South Lambeth
london-se1.co.uk
– local news website

– Lambeth history resource * Digital Public Library of America
Works related to Lambeth
various dates {{Authority control Districts of the London Borough of Lambeth Areas of London Districts of London on the River Thames History of the London Borough of Lambeth Burial sites of the House of Valois-Saint-Remy