Interconnecting bridges between Waterloo and Waterloo East stations

Waterloo Road is the main road in the Waterloo district of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England straddling the

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

and

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 ...

. It runs between

Westminster Bridge Road Westminster Bridge Road is a road in London, England. It runs on an east–west axis and passes through the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark. Between 1740 and 1746, the Commissioners of Westminster Bridge bought land from the Archbishop of ...

close to St George's Circus at the south-east end and

Waterloo Bridge Waterloo Bridge () is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London, between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges. Its name commemorates the victory of the British, Dutch and Prussians at the ...

across the

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, se ...

towards London's West End district at the north-west end. At the northern end near the river are the

Queen Elizabeth Hall The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by Benjamin Britten. The ...

and the

Hayward Gallery The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London, England and part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings (the Roy ...

to the west, the

National Film Theatre BFI Southbank (from 1951 to 2007, known as the National Film Theatre) is the leading repertory cinema in the UK, specialising in seasons of classic, independent and non-English language films. It is operated by the British Film Institute. Hist ...

below the road, and the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

to the east. In earlier times, this was the location of

Cuper's Gardens Cuper's Gardens were 17–18th century pleasure gardens (or tea gardens) on the south side of the River Thames in Lambeth, London. The gardens looked over to Somerset House near Waterloo Bridge, and were centered on what is now the north end of ...

Just to the south in the middle of a large

roundabout A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford En ...

with underground walkways is the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

(BFI)

London IMAX The BFI IMAX is an IMAX cinema in the South Bank district of London, just north of Waterloo station. It is owned and operated by the British Film Institute. From 2012 until 2022, it had been operated by Odeon Cinemas. The cinema is located in t ...

Cinema. Nearby to the east is the James Clerk Maxwell Building of

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, named in honour of the physicist

James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and scientist responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism and ligh ...

(1831–1879), who was a professor at the college from 1860. A little further to the south is St John's Waterloo church, designed by Francis Octavius Bedford and built in 1824 to celebrate the victory of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. The church was firebombed in 1940 and much of the interior was destroyed. It was restored and reopened in 1951, serving as the parish church for the

Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: ...

on the

South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial district in central London, next to the River Thames opposite the City of Westminster. It forms a narrow strip of riverside land within the London Borough of Lambeth (where it adjoins Alber ...

nearby.

Continuing south, to the west is

Waterloo station Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station of t ...

. To the east is the

Union Jack Club The Union Jack Club is an Armed Forces Club in central London, England, for enlisted members and veterans of the British Armed Services and their families. Located near London Waterloo railway station, the club has over 260 rooms for accommodatio ...

in Sandell Street and, further on, the well-known and historic

Old Vic Theatre The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, nonprofit organization, not-for-profit producing house, producing theatre in Waterloo, London, Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Th ...

to the south of the corner with The Cut. Also located even further south in Waterloo Road on the west side is the headquarters of the

London Ambulance Service The London Ambulance Service NHS Trust (LAS) is an NHS trust responsible for operating ambulances and answering and responding to urgent and emergency medical situations within the London region of England. The service responds to 999 phone cal ...

. On the opposite side is 157 Partnership House, former headquarters of

USPG United Society Partners in the Gospel (USPG) is a United Kingdom-based charitable organization (registered charity no. 234518). It was first incorporated under Royal Charter in 1701 as the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Part ...

CMS CMS may refer to: Computing * Call management system * CMS-2 (programming language), used by the United States Navy * Code Morphing Software, a technology used by Transmeta * Collection management system for a museum collection * Color manag ...

and other church mission/community-based organisations. Now boarded up and ready for redevelopment. The road is designated as the A301, which continues across Waterloo Bridge.

Adjoining roads

Baylis Road Baylis Road is a thoroughfare in Lambeth, London SE postcode area, SE1, England running between Westminster Bridge Road to the South-West and Waterloo Road, London, Waterloo Road to the North-East. At its northern end Baylis Road continues Nor ...

* The Cut * Stamford Street *

* York Road * St George's Circus

References

External links

Survey of London entry (1951)Waterloo Quarter Business Alliance
– official Business Improvement District website {{GB A road zone 3 Streets in the London Borough of Lambeth Streets in the London Borough of Southwark