Time Walk
A Lane That Never Reached Its Square
This short Lambeth street was meant to open onto a garden square, but builders filled the middle in instead. Walking it today means passing 1880s terraces, a listed early-19th-century villa, and a corner café, all packed more tightly than the original plan intended.
Underneath the Victorian brick is older ground entirely: gardens and a nursery that stood here until the 1880s, and before that centuries as part of a manor held in turn by kings, a prince, and the monks of Canterbury Cathedral. The street's own name, like the wider district's, reaches back further still.
Name Origin
Faulke's Hall, Not Guy Fawkes
Vauxhall Grove is named after Vauxhall, the area in South Lambeth from which it takes its name. Vauxhall itself derives from Falkes de Breauté, head of King John's mercenaries, who owned a large house in the area known as Faulke's Hall, later Foxhall and eventually Vauxhall. A long-standing tradition held that the name instead came from Guy Fawkes, but the Victoria County History records that this tradition has been disproved.
From the 17th century onward the name Vauxhall was applied to ground that had previously formed part of the manor of Kennington. Vauxhall Grove, Vauxhall Street and Vauxhall Walk all carry the same derivation.
History
From a Prince's Manor to a Nursery Garden
Long before any street existed here, this ground belonged to a much larger manor. Until the close of the 13th century the area now known as Vauxhall seems to have formed part of South Lambeth Manor. In 1293 that manor, together with the manor of "la Sale Faukes," came into the hands of Edward I. In 1337 Edward III granted Vauxhall Manor to the Black Prince, and in 1362 the Black Prince in turn granted it to the Prior and Convent of Christ Church, Canterbury. After the Dissolution of the monasteries it passed to the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury, who held it until the Ecclesiastical Commissioners took over its administration in 1862.
A map of the manor drawn by Thomas Hill in 1681 shows it bounded on the west by the Thames and by a common sewer called Battersea ditch, which also marked the parish boundary with Battersea. Vauxhall Creek, also known as the River Effra, divided into two streams just west of where the Oval now stands before reaching the Thames.
By 1871 the street itself existed as a lane called "The Grove," lined with cottages and leading to gardens. It was developed as Vauxhall Grove in 1881, laid out within the boundaries of former gardens and a nursery, with new access created between the plots and onto Harleyford Road. The houses raised there in the 1880s share gault brick facades and Italian Gothic detailing, with lower windows and door arches embellished in Coade stone.
The layout, like that of neighbouring Bonnington Square, suggests the builders originally intended a traditional London square with perimeter housing around a central garden; instead the central ground was built upon, leaving an irregular, tightly packed arrangement of housing. Much of the street's modern infill replaces properties destroyed by enemy action during the Second World War. Vauxhall Grove was brought into the Vauxhall Conservation Area by an extension in November 1984.
Some of the Coade-stone decoration on Vauxhall Grove's 1880s houses is carved with vine leaves and grapes — possibly a nod to the nursery garden once grown here for wine vinegar.
"la Sale Faukes"Survey of London, Vol 26, General Introduction, on the manor granted to Edward I in 1293
Culture
A Corner Café Turned Community Hub
On the east side of the street stands the Bonnington Café, an 1880s building later turned over to community use.
Today
A Square That Never Was
Vauxhall Grove today still shows the shape of an idea that never quite finished. The north side carries 1880s terraces alongside the rear of St Anne's Settlement, with its historic gateways, and some 1980s flats; the south side adds 1880s houses whose stepped alignment in the south-west corner stands out in the street scene. At No. 32, Grove House, an early-19th-century double-fronted villa in yellow stock brick, is older than the terraces around it and carries a Grade II listing.
On the Map
Vauxhall Grove Then & Now
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it called Vauxhall Grove?
It is named after Vauxhall, the surrounding area. Vauxhall's own name goes back to Falkes de Breauté, a mercenary captain under King John whose house here was called Faulke's Hall, later Foxhall and eventually Vauxhall. A popular tradition linking the name to Guy Fawkes has been disproved.
What is Vauxhall Grove known for?
It is known for its 1880s terraced housing in gault brick with Coade-stone detailing, for the listed early-19th-century villa at No. 32, and for the Bonnington Café, a co-operative vegetarian restaurant and community centre on the east side of the street.
When was Vauxhall Grove built?
The street was recorded as a lane called "The Grove" by 1871 and was developed as Vauxhall Grove in 1881, laid out over former gardens and a nursery, with new access onto Harleyford Road.
What stood here before the street was built?
The ground had long been part of Vauxhall Manor, held in turn by Edward I, the Black Prince, and the Prior and Convent of Christ Church, Canterbury, before passing after the Dissolution to the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury. By the 1870s it was gardens and a nursery.