Time Walk
A Row That Changed Its Name
This Kennington street once answered to a grander name. Walking it today, what stands out is a run of late Victorian terraces and, among them, a plain brick chapel with three round-headed windows facing the pavement.
Beneath the terraces lies an older layout: by 1785 this was already a row of houses, known then as Mansion House Row. That earlier name is the key to the one it carries now.
Name Origin
From Mansion House Row to Cottington Street
The street was formerly known as Mansion House Row. That name had faded by the time it took its present one, Cottington Street.
The new name is thought to honour Francis Cottington, 1st Baron Cottington, a 17th-century diplomat and politician who leased land near the street. The sources used here do not confirm the link beyond this probable explanation.
History
Houses, Then a Chapel
Houses came first. By 1785, groups of them already lined Mansion House Row, as recorded in Hodskinson and Middleton's survey of Kennington Manor. Nearly a century later, the street gained its most distinctive building, Vauxhall Baptist Church, built in 1883.
Culture
A Plain Chapel on a Quiet Street
The Survey of London was unsparing in its judgement of the building, calling it "an uninteresting stock brick building with red brick dressings" with "three large round-headed windows overlooking the street."
"an uninteresting stock brick building with red brick dressings"Survey of London, Vol 26, Kennington
The 2012 conservation area statement notes a related building nearby, the Centenary Hall, a Sunday School in the "school board" style dated 1883, alongside the street's late 19th-century terrace housing.
People
A Foundation Stone and Its Layer
Sir William McArthur, Alderman and M.P., came to the street on 9 July 1883 to lay the foundation stone of Vauxhall Baptist Church.
Further back, the street's name is thought to recall Francis Cottington, 1st Baron Cottington, a 17th-century diplomat and politician said to have leased land near here, though the connection is given as probable rather than certain.
Today
A Street Still Carrying Its Row
Only the north end of Cottington Street is included within Lambeth's Kennington conservation area. The street that began life as Mansion House Row still carries that older layer beneath its Victorian brick.
On the Map
Cottington Street Then & Now
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it called Cottington Street?
The street was formerly called Mansion House Row. Its current name is thought, probably, to honour Francis Cottington, 1st Baron Cottington, a 17th-century diplomat who leased land nearby, though the sources used here do not confirm this definitively.
What is Cottington Street known for?
It is known for Vauxhall Baptist Church, built in 1883 with its foundation stone laid by Sir William McArthur, M.P., and for its late 19th-century terrace housing, part of which lies within Lambeth's Kennington conservation area.
When was Cottington Street first laid out?
The street existed by 1785, when it appeared as Mansion House Row in Hodskinson and Middleton's survey of Kennington Manor, already lined with groups of houses.