20 Facts About Vauxhall

Vauxhall is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England.

Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created.

Vauxhall is adjacent to the River Thames, on the opposite side of the river to Pimlico.

Toponymy of Vauxhall is generally accepted to have originated in the late 13th century, from the name of Falkes de Breaute, the head of King John's mercenaries, who owned a large house in the area, which was referred to as Faulke's Hall, later Foxhall, and eventually Vauxhall.

Vauxhall was the south western terminus of the Civil War defences of London, thrown up by Londoners in 1642 to defend against Royalist incursions.

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Many of Vauxhall's streets were destroyed during the construction of the railway to London Waterloo via the Nine Elms to Waterloo Viaduct, by German bombing in World War II or ravaged through poor city planning.

Vauxhall is a popular residential area for members of parliament and civil servants due to its proximity to the Houses of Parliament and Whitehall; Kennington is within the area wired for the Commons' Division bell.

Much of the area in Vauxhall contains light industry, offices, and government buildings.

In recent years, Vauxhall's riverside has undergone major redevelopment with the construction of a number of modern residential and office blocks, most notably the distinctive SIS Building at Vauxhall Cross.

Vauxhall is home to a number of gay bars and nightclubs, such as Fire, The Eagle, and the Royal Vauxhall Tavern.

Vauxhall was originally the home of the more underground gay clubs with the arrival of Crash in the 1990s.

However, the market has become more and more lucrative with the arrival of more venues and more nights, and Vauxhall has been criticised as becoming increasingly commercial, diluting its once underground appeal.

The demise of other club venues in London, such as Turnmills, the Astoria and The Fridge, have led to the gay club scene to become more centralised in Vauxhall, turning it into an alternative destination from Soho for gay people to socialise.

Vauxhall has become colloquially known as "Voho" within the gay community, due to the emergence of Vauxhall as a gay village after Soho.

Entertainment in the Vauxhall area is not exclusively aimed at gay clientele; the oldest strip pub in London sitting at Vauxhall Walk has now closed to be replaced with The Tea House Theatre, a 1940s-themed tea room.

Vauxhall is home to Brunswick House, a listed Georgian mansion and former home to the Dukes of Brunswick.

Vauxhall has two 17-space Santander Cycles docking stations and Cycle Superhighway 7 runs through the area.

Vauxhall Cross is immediately to the southeast of Vauxhall Bridge, where six major roads converge, including the Albert Embankment, which exits the Cross to the north and is the southernmost point of entry into the London congestion charge area.

Vauxhall Cross was described as "one of the most unpleasant road junctions in South London" in Nikolaus Pevsner's architectural guide to London.

Vauxhall Park contains an area of miniature model houses as well as tennis courts, day care in the "one o'clock club", and children's playground.