Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth

London - Pax Britannica

Lambeth (/ˈlæmbəθ/ (listen)) 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 Frazier Street near Lambeth North tube station, though nearby Charing Cross on the other side of the Thames in the City of Westminster is traditionally considered the centre of London.

History

Lambeth was part of the large ancient parish of Lambeth St Mary, the site of the archepiscopal Lambeth Palace, in the hundred of Brixton in the county of Surrey.[5] It was an elongated north-south parish with 2 miles (3.2 km) of River Thames frontage opposite the cities of London and Westminster. Lambeth became part of the Metropolitan Police District in 1829. It remained a parish for Poor Law purposes after the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, and was governed by a vestry after the introduction of the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1855.

Borough origins

Until 1889, Surrey included the present-day London borough of Lambeth. When it drew the boundaries for the London boroughs, the government initially suggested that the Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth and the Metropolitan Borough of Southwark be merged into a new borough; the southern and eastern sections of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth (including Clapham, Streatham and Tooting) would form another. South Shields town clerk R.S. Young was commissioned to make final recommendations to the government on the shape of the future London boroughs, and he noted that the Wandsworth council opposed the partition of their borough. However, Wandsworth's suggestion to merge Lambeth with the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea was rejected by both councils involved. Young believed that residents of Clapham and Streatham would be more familiar with Brixton than with Wandsworth, and recommended a new borough formed from the Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth and six wards and portions of two others from the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth.

Geography

Lambeth is a long, thin borough, about 3 miles (4.8 km) wide and 7 miles (11 km) long. Brixton is its civic centre, and there are other town centres. The largest shopping areas are (in order of size) Streatham, Brixton, Vauxhall, Clapham and West Norwood. In the northern part of the borough are the central London districts of the South Bank, Vauxhall and Lambeth; in the south are the suburbs of Gipsy Hill, Streatham, West Dulwich and West Norwood. In between are the developed and inner-city districts of Brixton, Brixton Hill, Streatham Hill, Clapham, Clapham Park, Herne Hill, Stockwell, Tulse Hill and Kennington, each at different stages of gentrification with suburban and urban elements. Vauxhall and South Lambeth are central districts in the process of redevelopment with high-density business and residential property. Streatham lies between suburban London and inner-city Brixton, with the suburban and developed areas of Streatham, Streatham Hill and Streatham Vale.
The London Borough of Southwark lies to the east of the Borough of Lambeth. To the west is the London Borough of Wandsworth; to the south-west is the London Borough of Merton; and to the south is the London Borough of Croydon.

Parishes

Vauxhall

In 1900, the area known as Vauxhall was part of the ancient parish of Lambeth in Surrey, England. It also had specific ecclesiastical parish districts, such as St. Peter's and the newly established St. Anne's.

=Administrative Boundaries

Administratively, 1900 was a year of transition for Vauxhall. The ancient parish boundaries of Lambeth were tidied up, with some areas being transferred to other parishes like Camberwell. Following the London Government Act 1899, in 1900 the Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth was established, which incorporated the Vauxhall area, ending its status as a single "ancient parish" in a civic sense from that point onwards.

Key Developments and Features in 1900

• Churches and Parishes:
  • St. Peter's Church, Vauxhall, built in the 1860s, was an existing parish church that in 1900 turned its north aisle into a Lady Chapel.
  • The foundation stone for the present-day St. Anne's Catholic Church in Kennington Lane was laid in November 1900, opening in 1903.
  • For genealogical research, parish records for areas like Holy Trinity, Vauxhall Bridge Road, and various churches in the Vauxhall district of Liverpool, were actively being maintained around 1900.

Infrastructure

Construction of the current Vauxhall Bridge began in September 1898 and was expected to be completed in 1900, though it faced delays and officially opened in 1906.

Housing and Social Conditions

• The area near the river was characterized by poor quality housing ("slums") at the end of the 19th century.
• The Duchy of Cornwall began developing model housing on its Kennington estates (adjacent to Vauxhall) in the early 1900s as part of slum clearance and urban improvement efforts.

Industry

Vauxhall Iron Works, which began as a pump and marine engine manufacturer in 1857, was operating under that name in 1900. The company began manufacturing cars in 1903 and later became Vauxhall Motors.

In essence, 1900 was a dynamic year for Vauxhall, marked by administrative restructuring, new church construction, and ongoing urban development and industrial activity.

Landmarks

Along and around the South Bank, a tourist area has developed around the former Greater London Council headquarters of County Hall and the Southbank Centre and National Theatre. Also on the river is the London Eye and Shell Centre. Nearby is St Thomas' Hospital, Lambeth Palace and the Florence Nightingale Museum. Nearby is Brixton, home of Lambeth Town Hall and the Brixton Murals.

• Old Paradise Gardens

• Sunlight Laundry

Landmark church buildings Include

• St Mary Lambeth (now the Garden Museum)
• The four "Waterloo Churches" in the former Lambeth Parish:
• St Matthew, Brixton
• St Mark, Kennington
• St Luke, West Norwood
• St John, Waterloo
• St Oswald's Parish Church, Norbury
• Holy Trinity, Clapham
• St Leonard, Streatham
• Christ Church, Streatham Hill
• Christ Church (Church of England), Brixton Road, North Brixton
• All Saints' Church, West Dulwich (Church of England)
• Holy Trinity, Trinity Rise, Tulse Hill
• St John the Divine (Church of England), Vassall Road

Bridges and tunnels

• Waterloo Bridge, incorporating the NFT
• Hungerford Bridge and its two pedestrian spans, the Golden Jubilee Bridges
• Lambeth Bridge
• Westminster Bridge
• Vauxhall Bridge

Railway stations

• Brixton
• Gipsy Hill
• Herne Hill
• Loughborough Junction
• Streatham
• Streatham Common
• Streatham Hill
• Tulse Hill
• Vauxhall
• Waterloo
• Waterloo East
• West Norwood

Resident Kindred

• Lambeth Clique

---

---