Vauxhall Facts For Kids

Vauxhall sits on the south side of the River Thames, directly across the water from Pimlico. The River Thames is the big river that runs through London, so being next to it gives Vauxhall a wide riverside front.

It is only about 1.3 miles (2.1 km) south of Charing Cross, a central point in London, and close to Lambeth North tube station. Around Vauxhall are the areas of Lambeth to the north, Kennington to the southeast, and Nine Elms, South Lambeth, and Stockwell to the south. This makes Vauxhall well connected to many parts of the city.

Vauxhall began as part of the manor of South Lambeth centuries ago. Different landowners, including medieval families, held the area long before London grew large. For a long time it belonged to the county of Surrey, but in 1889 it became officially part of London.

In the 1800s and early 1900s Vauxhall mixed homes and factories. The opening of Vauxhall Bridge in 1816 and new railway lines changed streets and brought more people and jobs. After World War II, many old buildings were replaced with social housing. Later, the riverside was redeveloped and new apartment and office buildings, like St George Wharf, rose in the late 1900s and 2000s.

Vauxhall is one of London’s most ethnically diverse areas. About half of the people identify as White and about half come from a wide mix of other ethnic backgrounds. A strong Portuguese community, with links to the island of Madeira, is well known around South Lambeth Road where many Portuguese restaurants and shops are found.

People in Vauxhall follow different religions or none at all. Around 39% of residents identified as Christian in the 2021 census, and about 9% identified as Muslim. This mix of people makes the neighbourhood lively, with many languages, foods, and festivals.

Much of Vauxhall is a place for work: there are light industries, offices and some government buildings. Because Vauxhall is close to central London and rents were once cheaper than nearby areas, many companies set up here. That means people come to Vauxhall for lots of different jobs, from office work to small factories and services.

The riverside has been rebuilt with modern homes and office blocks. The tall new building, St George Wharf Tower, finished in 2014, shows how the area has changed. Nearby is the headquarters of MI6, Britain’s foreign intelligence service; it works quietly to help keep the country safe.

Near Vauxhall Bridge you can spot the buildings of MI6, which were built around 1989–1992 and have appeared in several James Bond films. The area has a mix of very new and very old places that people notice.

South of the bridge is the St George Wharf complex with its apartments and shops. Another special building is Brunswick House, a Georgian mansion from 1758 that was restored and now houses an architectural salvage business, a restaurant and a place for events. Close by, St Peter's Church is used as a community and arts space, and Vauxhall City Farm sits next to it, where children can meet animals.

At the southeast end of Vauxhall Bridge is Vauxhall Cross, a busy spot where six major roads meet. One of those roads is the Albert Embankment, which goes north from the Cross and marks the southern edge of the London congestion charge area. Because so many roads come together here, it used to be seen as a noisy and confusing junction.

Between 2002 and 2004 the space was redesigned to make it safer and easier to use. The changes helped connect the bus interchange with the nearby railway and tube stations, so people can move between buses and trains more smoothly.

A big part of the redesign from 2002–2004 was built to help people use the area. Traffic lanes were changed, crossings for walkers and cyclists were improved, and walkways beneath the railway viaduct were fixed up. The project also built the Vauxhall Cross bus station, finished in December 2004, so many buses could stop in one place.

The bus station has an undulating steel canopy and ribbed steel walls. The canopy includes photoelectric cells (solar panels) that make electricity from sunlight to help power the station. There have been plans to turn the site into shops, offices and hotels, with a large redevelopment proposed and public talks in 2016, but the project has been delayed and has not yet been completed.

Vauxhall is in the London Borough of Lambeth, so local decisions are made by Lambeth Council and the councillors who sit on it. People who live in Vauxhall vote in local elections to choose councillors; for example, part of the Vauxhall ward elected three councillors in 2022. Councillors meet to decide about things close to home — parks, bins and recycling, local libraries, schools, and plans for new buildings — and they listen when residents bring up problems or ideas.

For national government, Vauxhall is part of the new Vauxhall and Camberwell Green constituency. The area elects a Member of Parliament (MP) who goes to Westminster to speak for local people and help with bigger issues. Florence Eshalomi has been the MP for the area since 2019 and represents the Labour and Co-operative party.