Vauxhall Park is a

Green Flag Award The Green Flag Award is an international accreditation given to publicly accessible parks and open spaces, managed under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, a UK Government department, by Keep Britain Tidy, ...

-winning municipal park in

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...

, South London, run by

Lambeth Council Lambeth London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Lambeth in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, and one of the 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. The council meets at Lambeth Town Hall ...

. It occupies an 8.5-acre site, and was created at a cost of around £45,000, following a public campaign led by the suffragist

Millicent Fawcett Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett (née Garrett; 11 June 1847 – 5 August 1929) was an English politician, writer and feminist. She campaigned for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, women's suffrage by Law reform, legal change and in 1897– ...

, the social reformer Octavia Hill and members of the Kyrle Society. The land was purchased from a local developer under the Vauxhall Park Act 1888. and the houses of Lawn Terrace demolished accordingly. The new park was formally opened in 1890 by the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

History

It was the wish of the blind MP Henry Fawcett that the park be created, and his former garden is one part of the park. The design of the park was the work of

Fanny Wilkinson Fanny Wilkinson (1855–1951) was a British landscape designer. She was the first professional female landscape designer in Britain, and responsible for the design and the layout of more than 75 public gardens across London in the late 19th centu ...

, the first professional female landscape designer in Britain. A statue of Fawcett by the artist

George Tinworth George Tinworth (5 November 1843 – 11 September 1913) was an English ceramic artist who worked for the Doulton factory at Lambeth from 1867 until his death.'George Tinworth', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ir ...

was erected in the park in 1903, but was removed by Lambeth Council in 1959 and has since been replaced by a plaque. Octavia Hill, a staunch believer that all people ought to have access to nature and open spaces, and the

Commons Preservation Society The Open Spaces Society is a campaign group that works to protect public rights of way and open spaces in the United Kingdom, such as common land and village greens. It is Britain's oldest national conservation body and a registered charity. Foun ...

successfully campaigned against development in the park in the late 19th century.

Features

One of Edgar Wilson's model villages is located in the park (others are located in

Brockwell Park Brockwell Park is a 50.8 hectare (125.53 acres) park located south of Brixton, in Herne Hill and Tulse Hill in south London. It is bordered by the roads Brixton Water Lane, Norwood Road, Tulse Hill and Dulwich Road. The park commands views of th ...

and

Fitzroy Gardens The Fitzroy Gardens are 26 hectares (64 acres) located on the southeastern edge of the Melbourne central business district in East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The gardens are bounded by Clarendon Street, Albert Street, Lansdowne Street, and ...

in Melbourne). The model village was restored and re-opened by the then MP

Kate Hoey Catharine Letitia Hoey, Baroness Hoey (born 21 June 1946), better known as Kate Hoey, is a Northern Irish politician and life peer who served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Home Affairs from 1998 to 1999 and Minister for Sport from 1999 t ...

in 2001. The park is famous for its

lavender ''Lavandula'' (common name lavender) is a genus of 47 known species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is native to the Old World and is found in Cape Verde and the Canary Islands, and from Europe across to northern and easte ...

garden, located on the former bowling green, and annual lavender harvest. Lambeth Council undertook a major renovation of the park in 2020.

Facilities

The facilities in the park include a children's playground, a One O’Clock Club, a nursery, a multi-use games area, two tennis courts, chess tables, a park café, and two fenced dog areas. There is an active Friends of Vauxhall Park, established in 1999.

References

External links

Official website: Friends of Vauxhall Park
{{coord, 51.4830, N, 0.1220, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Lambeth 1890 establishments in England