CC was probably a WATER RAT. The plaque may acknowledge this fact.

Yes, it exists. It is a charity that helps members that have fallen in harder times.

A possible detour… still alongside KENNINGTON PARK ROAD

1780. Steeped in history and with a country-pub feeling. And pricey…

A few years ago, this was and edge busy Irish sport pub. The theatre, at the back, felt pretty incongruous.

YOUNG’S bought it in 2012, relaunched it and…failed. Then, overhauled again, looking huge,  including a garden, and 2 dining rooms occupy the theatre area. Now the theatre is on the first floor.

The white bear of Henry III was given to King Henry III of England by King Haakon IV of Norway in 1252. Its exact identity is not certain, but it was most likely a polar bear. Henry housed the bear at his Royal Menagerie in the Tower of London. It was exercised in the tower grounds and, following an order by the king in 1253, allowed to swim in the River Thames. The bear was a popular attraction in the city, and later monarchs also kept similar bears.

F. in 1854 as LAMBETH SCHOOL OF ART

National School in St. Mary the Less

St.Oswald place (Millers Lane), Vauxhall Gardens

A typical London garden-square of the type you see in the West End or in  Chelsea or Knightbridge, since the 17th to 18th centuries. In generals: No through traffic, gravelled o paved, and planted with trees, enclosed with railings, private to residents…

This was the earliest square to be devised South of the Thames, when fields, meadows and hedgerows formed the landscape… maybe the grounds of the BLACK PRINCE PALACE occupied this land (a royal palace here?. Well, you are in Kennington, it sounds something like “king’s town”…).

Bridges were built from the 18th c… Soon building leases would be granted from Parliament.

Here, the WHITE BEAR FIELD, was inherited by MARY CLEVER, in 1743. All still open pastures beside the high road. And MARY leased to to the landlord of the HORNS TAVERN (remember THOMAS ELLIS?), who from 1780 developed the area.

The main builders?: Messes SEARLES and PRINCE.

Two 1788 terraces flank the entrance from KEN.PARK RD. (PRINCES PLACE).

Thr first houses in the square date from 1789. PRINCES SQUARE (old name) had 40 houses according to 1799 HARWOOD MAP, More houses were b. In the periods 1815-24 and 44-53. The houses you see now have mostly refaced.

The PRINCE OF WALES PH dates from 1901.
What used to be a fashion place went into decline, and overcrowding: in 1881’s  

CENSUS appear 481 residents. In 3 of the houses you find up to 14 people!.

In fact, the council planned to demolish completely the area at the turn of the 19th c.  Now, one of these houses are worth up to £1 mil.

Nos.34-41 have the most interesting interiors, less refronting.
In 1937 the name was changed.

CC writes in his autobiography of a night when he was locked out of the family room and listened all night to the music in the newly opened White Hart pub, now The Tommyfield. Was his dad playing here?.

CC was sent to the cookshop next door to buy corned beef.

2010. Opened, after refurbishment, by THREE CHEERS PUB CO.

2014. Boutique bedrooms.

Great stink of London 1855>building of the new sewage system: the Embankments.

A method to divert the foul smells of sewage was elevating the odours from the sewers above the sensitive Victorian noses.

The men's public convenience, which had been built opposite in 1898, is now preserved as an arts venue and is likely to have been used by a young Charlie Chaplin.

Derelict for a time, then became an art gallery.

1889. Gothic Revival. Arch.SIDNEY RJ SMITH (TATE BRITAIN building), for JEMIMA DURNING SMITH, daughter of a well established LIVERPOOL family, and married JB SMITH, Manchester cotton merchant, LIBERAL, MP , Chairman of the Manc. CHA.OF COMMERCE, chairman of the ANTI-CORN LAW. They lived in ASCOT. Buried in KENSAL GREEN CEMET.

She founded as well the ASCOT-DURNING LIBRARY

One of her sisters married EDWIN LAWENCE, a BACONIAN enthusiast.

Jemima and EDWIN founded and offered this one to the people of Kennington.

Voted, a few years ago, best pub in the Ken./Oval area.

With a wedge shaped interior, there is a function room upstairs, an arty ramshackle of mismatched furniture and paintings.

Morrisey and Steve Lamacq used to be regulars

The plaque says something incorrect: CC died in 1977. And we are not completely sure he lived in THIS house.

Here, CC lodged with a Sidney, and his father who, at that time was with girlfriend Louise, who was reluctant, and her son.

HANNAH was unable to support the family, and she was institutionalised in CANE HILL ASYLUM. In other occasions she had to take CC and brother Sydney to another Kennington landmark the old Lambeth Workhouse now the home of the Cinema Museum (see DIVERSION to CINEMA MUSEUM chapter).

CC recalls in his autobiography his Sunday excursions along the KENNINGTON ROAD, dressed in their best clothes.

1751. Built by the TURNPIKE TRUSTEES. 1 mile from WESTMINSTER BRIDGE ROAD.

It became the route used by  the PRINCE REGENT (King GIV) for his excursions to he popular resort of BRIGHTON. It thus became a very sought after place to live.

Now, the London to Brighton VETERAN CAR RUN and bike ride.

When it entered into decline a few music hall artists came to live here.

B. 1932|33. STANLEY DAVENPORT ADSHEAD and STANLEY CHURCHILL RAMSEY

“A barn-like church” (a Covent Garden expression). The shape of a small basilica, line a very early Christian Church. In fact built on foundations of a previously projected church, intended as a much grander and domed church, stopped dur the outbreak of WW1.

The door tympanum had an orientalising style. By sculptor ALFRED GERRARD (designer of the windows of the LT ST.JAMES’S PARK HQ, and ED. PAOLOZZI’s teacher. Some sculpture in roundels and capitals.

The FONT (Christ and two angels) is by DERRICK FRITH.

Kennington appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Chenintune. It is recorded as Kenintone in 1229 and Kenyngton in 1263. Mills (2001) believes the name to be Old English meaning "farmstead or estate associated with a man called Cēna". Another explanation is that it means "place of the King", or "town of the King".

Until ~1050 LAMBETH MANOR was divided in parts.
The central part KENNINGTON was granted to THEODORIC THE GOLDSMITH.

It finally reverted to the crown.

EDWARD III gave the manor of Kennington to his eldest son EDWARD OF WOODSTOCK,  the Black Prince in 1337, and the prince then built a large royal palace in the triangle formed by the modern streets: Kennington Lane, Sancroft Street and Cardigan Street, near to Kennington Cross.
First, a Hall, a Prince’s Chamber, and other chambers. In the following decades, a new Hall, a wardrobe, kitchens, bake house, pastry cook house.  The hall (and undercroft) in stone, was 88ft x 53ft. The Prince’s Chamber was pretty big (up to 3 storeys). 
This became a country residence… away from politics (?).
In 1377, according to John Stow, John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster came to Kennington to escape the fury of the people of London.
Geoffrey Chaucer was employed at Kennington as Clerk of Works in 1389. He was paid 2 shillings.
Kennington was the occasional residence of Henry IV and Henry VI. Henry VII was at Kennington before his coronation.
Catherine of Aragon stayed at Kennington Palace in 1501. In 1531, at the order of King Henry VIII, most of Kennington Palace was dismantled, and the materials were used in the construction of the Palace of Whitehall.

The old royal manor of Kennington. The DUCHY  OF  CORNWALL uses the arms based on those of RICHARD OF CORNWALL.

Armas: sable. 15 bezants (gold roundels, originally Byzantine gold coins)

Supporters: 2 Cornish Clough (birds)

Motto: Houmont/Homout, meaning courage

Edward The Black Prince (born June 15, 1330, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, Eng.—died June 8, 1376, Westminster, near London) was the son and heir apparent of Edward III of England and one of the outstanding commanders during the Hundred Years’ War, winning his major victory at the Battle of Poitiers(1356). His sobriquet, said to have come from his wearing black armour, has no contemporary justification and is found first in Richard Grafton’sChronicle of England (1568).

The buildings you see now were built were built at the turn of the 20th century and In the 1930s.

During WW1 the DCE set out to improve the area, and a group of architects was mustered: STANLEY DAVENPORT, ADSHEAD, STANLEY CHURCHILL RAMSAY, JD COLERIDGE. New streets were laid out: COURTENAY, CARDIGAN, DENNY and tried to create a perfect urban experience, in a NEO-GEORGIAN STYLE.

The Duchy of Cornwall continued to redevelop its estate in the district and employed architect LOUIS DE SOISSONS to design a number of buildings still in a Neo-Georgian style.

The buildings here are mostly subject to preservation orders.

The houses have mostly weathered well. Yellow brick, quaint touches like Regency porches, parapets hiding the tiled roofs, sash or casement windows, curved bars to windows and porticoes. It is as if you were in a small spa town landed amid the South London bustle

EDWARD, future KING EDWARD VIII) was the PW/DC during the interwar years. His tastes anticipated those of the longest serving ever PW/DC, now King Charles. His favourite architect is QUINLAN TERRY

The D/C is a title only bestowed to the eldest son of the monarch, only, male heirs. No women can apply! ( the 2013 Succession to the Crown Act does not affect).

The holder cannot sell assets for his personal benefit, and has limited rights and income. The Duchy Council advise him. He is exempt of paying corporations tax. Since 1993 voluntarily pays income tax.

The current holder, so the LORD OF THE MANOR OF KENNINGTON, is WILLIAM,PRINCE OF WALES. King Charles, past P/W, D/C is now DUKE OF LANCASTER, another royal duchy,in this case held by the monarch in a personal capacity.

Duchy Originals Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of the KING’S CHARITABLE FUND was set up as a company by the then Prince of Wales in 1990, and is one of the largest organic food brands in the UK. Duchy Originals focuses on good food, good farming and good causes in a 'virtuous circle'. The Duchy Organics range is sold exclusively through Waitrose. Each year, the royalties from the range are donated to PWCF and distributed to not-for-profit organisations through grants programmes. In 2019, Duchy Originals donated £3.4 million to PWCF.

1853. Built here, on the site of a pond, to replace older (1807) vestry buildings, in CHURCH STREET. Arch. Messrs.WILTSHIRE and PARRIS.

The parish Vestry became the TOWN HALL for the METROPOLITAN BOROUGH OF LAMBETH, from 1900.
Kennington ceased to be the administrative centre for the Metropolitan Borough in 1908, as this building was not large enough for the Council to properly carry out its functions and a new town hall was built in Brixton. 

The Old Town Hall was the registered office of the Countryside Alliance until September 2015.

HQ of WAIFS & STRAYS - CHILDRENKS SOCIETY

They were used as mortuary for victims of the GREAT PLAGUE 1665.

A taylor and a turner had premises here, before demolition, at the end of the 19th c. 

Its origins lie in the creation in 1794 of the Friendly Society of Licensed Victuallers which was established to educate the children of publicans affected by long term illness, incapacity, or poverty. The original school  (KENNINGTON HOUSE and adjacent houses) was demolished in 1835 and the current neo-classical building was erected the following year after a design by H & E Rose.
In 1921 the school moved to Slough, when the area became industrialised and the school lost its “wholesome and airy environment “. 
Now, since 1989,  the LICENSED TRADE CHARITY runs the LICENSED VICTUALLERS SCHOOL (an independent one, 4-18 years, where the parents who work in the Lincensed trade receive a 20% discount), in ASCOT. 
Imperial Court became the HQ of the Navy, Army, and Air Forces Institutes, or ‘NAAFI’ which was formed by the Govt. (CHRCHILL was WAR SECRETARY) to provide catering  goods, services and recreational activities for the British Armed Forces and their families posted overseas. Clubs, bars, cafés, restaurants, shops, supermarkets, launderettes…canteens on board of ships. Officers were supposed to use messes.

In 1980 the building became Grade II listed and in 1992 the NAAFI moved out and the inevitable happened: it became flats.

Back to the original route of the tour!. 
After Milverton Street, a right turn, cross over Kennington Road, into Windmill Row, over  into Courtenay Street, go round Courtenay Square…

CHAPLIN attended school in Sancroft Street (building gone) while living in 287 Kennington Road

A diversion of the official route, alongside Sancroft Street, Newburn Street, Black Prince Road and Lambeth Walk

Part of the L . DE SOISSONS’s 1930s redevelopment. Typical Inter wars walk up flat blocks.

There is no central heating nor insulation, so cold and expensive to heat flats. And very cramped and not suited for modern families. Bathrooms with no basin.Stairways, a source of crime.

But it became a close-knit community, with whole extended families living in different flats.

HUNT THOMPSON ASSOC. feasibility study for modernisation, giving tenants a say. Better acces, older people, maisonettes created, new open balconies.

This building was erected in 1914 by HRH Edward Prince of Wales to provide accommodation for old tenants of the Duchy of Cornwall.

1907. Edwardian red brick and terracotta. Arch. POWELL. 1930s extension.

Founding stone laid down by MILDRED SCOTT BEAUFOY, wife of the chair of governors.

H. BEAUFOY, distiller and vinegar manufacturer built the RAGGED SCHOOL in NEWPORT ST. it later became, here, a technical school.

Taken over by Lambeth Council. Later sold to a BUDDHIST group.

During WW2 a munitions factory operated here staffed by women.

Some of the decorative elements on this building are probably by the nearby firm of Doulton. From its beginning John Doulton (1793 – 1873) was on the board of trustees for the Ragged School and there were still Doultons on the board when the school moved. "Research has suggested that {this building} was a test site for 'Cockrill-Doulton Patent Tiles'...".

- minor features and bays around the doorway

- festoons of flowers between cartouches

- moulded tiles with a leafy design

- ARTS & CRAFTS lettering

- Cartouches on gables

SCULPTURE  by SAMUEL NIXON (moved from the previous building):

- standing teacher in classical robes pointing  to some lesson in her book, held by a child, and older child hand on heart

- shirft wearing  young kid

- ragged shirt and trousers, are the clothing worn by the older kid. Both barefoot 

- flaming torch

See the heraldic symbol of the family, a symmetrical tree in full leaf.

Lambeth Council’s first 4 tenement blocks of council housing were built on Princes Road (now Black Prince Road) in 1927, replacing a workhouse. Two of the blocks were demolished after WW2 (we would have guessed bomb damage, but see below) and the site turned into open space, leaving just these handsome gates. The 2 remaining blocks are Sullivan House and Deacon House - either side of the gates.

2017: Via Facebook Edmund Bird and Steve Lane informed us that the blocks were not damaged during the war at all. It was in the 70s that Lambeth Council demolished Severne House and Gregory House on Black Prince Road “to reduce housing densities”, apparently with no intention of redevelopment - unusual behaviour.

Alongside Kennington Road

Diversion from here, towards THE CINEMA MUSEUM, ELEPHANT & CASTLE, and WALWORTH.
See next chapter

It reverted recently to its original name from 1825, owned by CRAFT BEER PUBS, BREWEDOG

This is an old-school boozer, which once overlooked the grounds of the infamous asylum for the insane, the ROYAL HOSPITAL OF ST.MARY OF BETHLEM  (shorted Bethlem Hospital, and corrupted when pronounced as BEDLAM).

And was frequented by a young Charlie Chaplin, sent in by his mum to fetch his music-hall-performing pop from the bar. It used to be around this pub where CC watched 'the elite of vaudeville' on Sundays

Want to know more?. GOOGLE this: “the curious origin of english words”

It was where CC saw his father for the last time

After 21 years in service as the headquarters of SIS, Century House was described as "irredeemably insecure" in a 1985 National Audit Office (NAO) report with several security concerns raised. Chief among those concerns was that the building was made largely of glass, and had a petrol station at its base.^[2]The Secret Intelligence Service moved its headquarters to Vauxhall Cross in 1994^[3] and the Century House building was refurbished and converted into the residential Perspective Building, designed by Assael Architecture in 2001.^[4]

You can extend your ride or walk, still alongside Kennington Road…

The first TSB opened in 1810. Within a few years others had been f. over the country, with the aim of encouraging regular weekly savings by the poor. Y the provision of a safe place pf deposit and the payment of interest.
1818. The first meeting of the committee to discuss the formation in Lambeth, under the chairmanship of Rector Wordsworth. In the second meeting the decision was taken to open the BANK in the Parish School common room, for 2 hours twice weekly. The Directors would attend to receive money. Mr. EVERILL, schoolmaster, appo.Secretary. In 1827 an accountant (actuary) app.

It moved to 80 HERCULES ROAD when L&SWRway was extended to Waterloo. And finally here 1902 thanks to a new railway extension. Op. by ARCHBISHOP DAVIDSON, Chairman.

1916.After an amalgamation, the LONDON SAINGS BANK was formed. 

After merger, London TSB, and later merged with SE TSB..

Became part of a larger TSB org

Here and in ACRE LANE,  BRIXTON, still in operation in 1985

1790s. On Archbishop of Canterbury estate.

Stock brick.

Window wide with a bowed front. Deep stuccoed reveal under lintel.

Gauged brick arches.

55. Cornice head and plain fanlight under round brick arch with impost blocks.

57. Round architrave on narrow pilasters in stucco panel. Cast iron balconies.

Sash windows replaced. 

In memory of the American President and his EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. By Reverend CHRISTIAN NEWMAN HALL, a NON-CONFORMIST active in social causes, who supported the CHARTISTS (“COME TO JESUS”, 1848).

London Remembers: “The pastor Christopher Newman Hall had lectured and written extensively in support of Abraham Lincoln {murdered in 1865} and the abolition of slavery during the American Civil War. The Lincoln Tower was opened on 4 July 1876, the centenary of American independence. The foundation stone had been laid two years earlier, on 9 July 1874, by the American ambassador, His Excellency General Schenk. The two main rooms in the tower were named the Washington and the Wilberforce. ..."

Originally, a CONGREGATIONALIST church, built to replace the Surrey Chapel (Blackfriars Road), a very popular venue (religious, educational, charity). Here, a grand project: chapel, lecture hall, school.

The Victorian Christ Church was bombed during World War II, and only the adjoining Lincoln Memorial Tower remains. The original foundation stone of Newman Hall's Christ Church was salvaged after the war, and has been placed at the foot of the nearby Tower on Westminster Bridge Road.Rebuilt 1960.

Now, associated  with OASIS TRUST (f.1985, 4 continents, 11 countries).  
Here, in “WATERLOO”: Primary & Secondary School, adult education, food bank, library, cafe, youth projects, city farm

The home of PHILIP ASTLEY, a riding instructor and horse trainer, acknowledged as the CREATOR of modern circus.

ASTLEY’S AMPHITHEATRE was in 225 WESTMISNTER BRIDGE ROAD (now part of the ST.THOMAS’ HOSPITAL precinct).

Bis first circus was in an open field behind ST.JOHN’S Church WATERLOO ROAD (see plaque at the Western end of ROUPELL ST.)

“Mr.Blake Engraver, Hercules Buildings, Westminster Bridge”.

Painter, printmaker, poet, visionartist

The least-used station in Zone 1.

The line's name is a portmanteau of its original name, the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway. A journalist for the London Evening News used the term "Bakerloo" in a newspaper column shortly after the line opened in 1906. The name caught on and by 1908 it was being used on maps. In July 1906, the official name was changed to match the nickname. 
The Bakerloo line, for example, was reportedly born out of a 'desire of a few businessmen in Westminster to get to and from Lords Cricket ground' more quickly, according to Tube History. The idea was that the introduction of the Bakerloo line in 1906 would allow them to see the last few hours of play without having to leave work earlier.

Laid out on occasion of the opening of the first WESTMINSTER BRIDGE, on land -LAMBETH MARSH- belonging to the ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY and the CITY OF LONDON.

Easy to miss, no obvious clues to its past and function.

In 1850 London was bursting. The popular doubled in 50 years. There was simply no space to bury the bodies of deceased. Cremation was still taboo.

The LONDON NECROPOLIS RAILWAY was f. with the idea of transporting dead bodies and accompanying mourners out to SURREY by rail for funerals and burials (

A 23 mile (40 minute) trip to BROOKWOOD CEMETERY, during which the living enjoyesd what was intended to be a “comforting “ view of Green whizzing past RICHMOND PATK and HAMPTON COURT, and so everyone in the party (but one) would have a return ticket back to London… 

The first stations was built where LEAKE STREAT is, but it was transferred here when WATERLOO STA. expanded.

Not everyone was happy. The initiative was received by some with shock and disgust, at the thinking that carriages carrying dead bodies would come at a later time in contact with living commuters… This was solved by the company having its own train stock.

And as the typical concern in Victorian times was that there would be a mix of social classes,  carriages  were separated in termes of social class. And, as well, in terms of religion:  NON-CONFORMISTS had a reserved space.

This railway operated until 1941. It used to run nearly every day, carrying 2.000 bodies a year, at its peak. During that time 203.000peoole were buried in BRIOOWOOD CEMETERY.

In 1904 the RAILWAY MAGAZINE said: “the most peaceful station in the Kingdom”, “the station of the dead”, “a sad station”, “the saddest”, “treading its platforms meant an occasion of grief and pain”.

The grade II listed London Necropolis Railway offices in Westminster Bridge Road are on the market with planning permission for conversion to luxury flats.

Guinness, Thai food, a secret garden…

Ch.Ch had watched his father perform here, and had performed in it himself.

The Canterbury Music Hall was established in 1852 by Charles Morton on the site of a former skittlealley adjacent to the Canterbury Tavern at 143 Westminster Bridge Road, Lambeth. It was one of the first purpose-built music halls in London, and "probably the largest and grandest concert-room ever attached to a public house"
It was reb. In 1890 (FRANK MATCHAM), as a 3.000 seat theatre.It became a cinema. Blitz. Finally demolished in 1955.

There are actually a few pubs (maybe 10 or so) across the UK with “artichoke” in its name, but it’s definitely rare. Camel & Artichoke started life as just “the Artichoke” in the late 18th-century (maybe something to do with the route taken by market traders with vegetables like the then-exotic artichoke). At some point, and no one knows why, the London pub became the “Elusive Camel”. Then in 2006 these two names were merged. Case closed.

The Leake Street Tunnel - also known as the "Graffiti Tunnel" - - underwent its remarkable transformation in May 2008 when Banksy chose it as the location for the "Cans" festival that saw street artists - headed by Banksy himself - descend into the twilight world of the tunnel, and in a few days, the dark, grimy brick work had been transformed into a profusion of colour.

The building was completed in 1893, the fourth Lambeth public library to open, and was partly funded by Mr John Noble. Closed in 1967 and replaced by a smaller building in Lower Marsh, it remain empty until the early 1970s, becoming a community centre run by the Waterloo Action Group.

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