31 Facts About Brixton

Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England.

Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century as communications with central London improved.

Brixton is mainly residential, though includes Brixton Market and a substantial retail sector.

Name Brixton is thought to originate from Brixistane, meaning the stone of Brixi, a Saxon lord.

Brixton was connected to central London by rail on 25 August 1862 when Brixton and South Stockwell railway station was opened by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway on the line from Victoria.

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Brixton was transformed into a middle class suburb between the 1860s and 1890s and Brixton developed into a major shopping centre.

The now famous Brixton Market began in Atlantic Road and was moved to Station Road in the 1920s to ease traffic congestion.

Today, Brixton Road is the main shopping area, fusing into Brixton Market.

Brixton area was bombed during World War II, contributing to a severe housing crisis, which in turn led to urban decay.

In 1998 the area in front of the Tate Library in Brixton was renamed "Windrush Square" to mark the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the Windrush.

Brixton was the scene of riots in April 1981 at a time when Brixton underwent deep social and economic problems—high unemployment, high crime, poor housing, no amenities—in a predominantly African-Caribbean community.

Brixton was convicted of murder and given six concurrent life sentences.

In recent years, Brixton has hosted a regular farmers' market on Station Road, as well as Pop-up restaurants and pop-up shops.

Brixton was one of the first inner-city based 'Transition town' projects in the UK.

Brixton pound was first trialled at Transition Town Brixton's "Local Economy Day" on 19 June 2008.

The Brixton pound is a local currency that is available as an alternative to sterling.

The first trading day of the Brixton pound was on 18 September 2009 with 80 local businesses accepting the currency.

Brixton pound aims to boost the local economy and build a mutual support system amongst independent businesses by tying local shoppers to local shops and by encouraging local shops to source goods and services locally.

On 29 September 2011, the Brixton pound launched an electronic version of the currency where users can pay by text message.

Brixton Market is open every day, selling a range of African-Caribbean products and reflects other communities in the local area with Indian and Vietnamese supermarkets and South American butchers amongst the shops and stalls.

The Brixton Splash is an annual one-day street party held since 2006.

Brixton is home to a 1970s purpose-built skatepark, named Stockwell Skatepark.

Brixton has always been served by a number of long-running community pirate radio stations including Lightning and Vibes FM.

Christ Church on Brixton Road is an Art Nouveau and Byzantine-style Grade II*listed building built in 1902 by Beresford Pite, and St Paul's church on Ferndale Road was originally built in 1958 as a Seventh-day Adventist church by John Soper.

Corpus Christi Church in Brixton comes under the remit of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark.

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Abdul Haqq Baker, chairman of Brixton Mosque, told the BBC that Reid came to the mosque to learn about Islam but soon fell in with what he called "more extreme elements".

Brixton has been noted as one of the most significant origins of UK drill.

In 2001, Brian Paddick, then Police Commander for the London Borough of Lambeth, became subject of newspaper headlines due to the implementation of a pilot cannabis programme in Brixton, known as the "softly softly" approach, as well as his posts made on the Brixton-based Urban75 internet forum.

The pilot was ended December 2005 and was replaced by a so-called "no deal" policy on cannabis in Brixton following complaints about increasing numbers of dealers openly selling the drug.

In June 1998, gun crime in Brixton was reported on widely in connection with the linked murders of Avril Johnson and Michelle Carby, in Brixton and Stratford respectively.

Brixton was due to be a major interchange of the South Cross Route, part of the London Ringways plan, which was cancelled in the 1970s.