Lambeth
From Free net encyclopedia
Lambeth is a place in the London Borough of Lambeth, although the area is now more commonly known as Waterloo, after the railway station whose viaduct separates the former centre of the village from the River Thames. Lambeth is the site of St Thomas' Hospital, the London Eye, the Royal National Theatre, the Royal Festival Hall, County Hall as well as Waterloo station.
The ancient settlement of Lambeth Marsh was immediately opposite the Palace of Westminster. The Archbishop of Canterbury has had his official residence at Lambeth Palace since the 15th century. The village was home to boatmen serving the City of London and Westminster.
The riverside village had an extensive parish, which stretched for six miles south, including the manors of Kennington and Vauxhall. The parish, and the subsequent Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth (1899–1965), included the later settlements at Brixton and Norwood.
The parish church of St Mary Lambeth is next door to Lambeth Palace. It still has a medieval tower, but was mostly rebuilt in the Victorian era (to a design by Philip Charles Hardwick). It narrowly escaped demolition in the 1970s and is now the Museum of Garden History. The churchyard contains the tomb of the famous plant collector John Tradescant.
With the rapid growth in population across the parish in the early 19th century, four "daughter" churches were constructed between 1822 and 1825, named after the four evangelists – St Mark's Kennington, St Matthew's Brixton, St Luke's West Norwood and St John's in Waterloo Road.
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Individuals associated with Lambeth
William Blake religious visionary, poet and artist