Bonnington Square is a square in Vauxhall, south London, which was built in the 1870s. It became famous in the 1980s when all the houses in it, vacant and awaiting demolition, were squatted, and the community formed continues to the present day.
Bonnington Square is a square in Vauxhall, south London, which was built in the 1870s. It became famous in the 1980s when all the houses in it, vacant and awaiting demolition, were squatted, and the community formed continues to the present day.
Bonnington Square was constructed in the 1870s in order to house railway workers. [1] By the late 1970s, Bonnington Square was compulsorily purchased by the Greater London Council (GLC) for the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA), which intended to demolish it in order to build a new school. [1] A Turkish shopkeeper in one of the buildings managed to prevent the demolition through legal means during the period in which all the houses' occupants were departing, and shortly afterward squatters began moving into the vacated buildings. [2]
In the 1980s, the square was almost completely occupied. The squatters established a volunteer-run vegetarian cafė, a community garden on part of the square that had been bombed during the Second World War, a bar, a nightclub and a wholefoods shop. [3] The squatters subsequently formed a housing cooperative and successfully negotiated with ILEA for the right to lease the buildings. [4] The café and garden continue into the present. [3]
The residents of the square undertook a project in 1990 to change the garden into a "Pleasure Garden" (named in homage to the nearby Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens), and in the process formed the Bonnington Square Garden Association. [5] The garden occupies the space left by seven buildings bombed out in World War II. [6] In 1998, the housing cooperative was permitted by the London Borough of Lambeth to purchase the buildings. [1]
The garden includes many tropical plants, including palm trees. [7]
In June 2018, two performances of Twelfth Night by Flute Theatre were held in the gardens in a production directed by actress Kelly Hunter. [8]
Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there were one billion slum residents and squatters globally. Squatting occurs worldwide and tends to occur when people find empty buildings or land to occupy for housing. It has a long history, broken down by country below.
Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between the Lambeth and St George's parishes of those boroughs respectively. It is located 1.4 miles (2.3 km) south of Charing Cross in Inner London and is identified as a local centre in the London Plan. It was a royal manor in the parish of St Mary, Lambeth in the county of Surrey and was the administrative centre of the parish from 1853. Proximity to central London was key to the development of the area as a residential suburb and it was incorporated into the metropolitan area of London in 1855.
Stockwell is a district located in South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. It is situated 2.4 miles (3.9 km) south of Charing Cross.
Vauxhall is an area of Central London, within the London Borough of Lambeth. Named after a medieval manor called Fox Hall, it became well known for the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens.
Kennington Park is a public park in Kennington, south London and lies between Kennington Park Road and St. Agnes Place. It was opened in 1854 on the site of what had been Kennington Common, where the Chartists gathered for their biggest "monster rally" on 10 April 1848. Soon after this demonstration the common was enclosed and, sponsored by the royal family, made into a public park.
The SIS Building, also called the MI6 Building, at Vauxhall Cross houses the headquarters of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), also known as Military Intelligence, Section 6 (MI6), the United Kingdom's foreign intelligence agency. It is located at 85 Albert Embankment in Vauxhall, London, on the bank of the River Thames beside Vauxhall Bridge. The building has been the headquarters of the SIS since 1994.
The Garden Museum in London is Britain's only museum of the art, history and design of gardens. The museum re-opened in 2017 after an 18-month redevelopment project.
Nine Elms is an area of south-west London, England, within the London Borough of Wandsworth. It lies on the River Thames, with Battersea to the west, South Lambeth to the south and Vauxhall to the east. Across the Thames is Pimlico.
Lambeth Walk is a street in Lambeth, London, England, off Lambeth Road. It was at the heart of a working-class residential area and there was a street market.
St Agnes Place was a squatted street in Kennington, south London, which resisted eviction orders for more than 30 years. When a number of derelict houses were scheduled for demolition to extend Kennington Park in 1969, squatters occupied the properties and a High Court injunction prevented the demolition. The street was run by a housing cooperative until 2005, when Lambeth London Borough Council obtained an eviction order. Demolition was completed in 2007.
C-Squat is a former squat house located at 155 Avenue C in the Alphabet City neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City that has been home to musicians, artists, and activists, among others. After a fire, it was taken into city ownership in 1978 and squatters moved in 1989. The building was restored in 2002 and since then it has been legally owned by the occupants. Its ground-floor storefront now houses the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space.
In England and Wales, squatting – taking possession of land or an empty house the squatter does not own – is a criminal or civil offence, depending on circumstances. People squat for a variety of reasons which include needing a home, protest, poverty, and recreation. Many squats are residential; some are also opened as social centres. Land may be occupied by New Age travellers or treesitters.
Vauxhall City Farm is a city farm located in Vauxhall in the London Borough of Lambeth. The farm is run as a charity focusing on education, youth work, animal care and horticulture and is a centre for Riding for the Disabled Association.
Sky Gardens Nine Elms is a residential and retail tower in Nine Elms, within the borough of Lambeth, London. The scheme has been designed by architects Careyjones Chapmantolcher (CJCT) and developed by Fraser Property Development UK. Its construction was part of a wider regeneration of the Nine Elms area of London. The building is 120 metres (390 ft) in height.
121 Centre was a squatted self-managed social centre on Railton Road in Brixton, south London from 1981 until 1999. As an anarchist social centre, the venue hosted a bookshop, cafe, infoshop, library, meeting space, office space, printing facility, and rehearsal space. Organisations using the space included Food Not Bombs, Anarchist Black Cross prisoner aid chapters, an anarcho-feminist magazine, a squatters aid organisation, and an anarchist queer group. Regular events at 121 Centre included punk concerts, a women's cafe night, and a monthly queer night. The centre kept a low profile and was one of the longest-lasting squats in London.
Umbrella House is a former squat and a Housing Development Fund Corporation in New York City's East Village, at 21-23 Avenue C. The squat, formed in 1988, was known for its political engagement and high level of collective organization among its members. In 2010, the building officially became a housing cooperative.
Squatting in Australia usually refers to a person who is not the owner, taking possession of land or an empty house. In 19th century Australian history, a squatter was a settler who occupied a large tract of Aboriginal land in order to graze livestock. At first this was done illegally, later under licence from the Crown.
A squatters union, settlers association, or claimant club, is an organization of homesteaders or squatters established to protect their interests and property rights. They have been formed in the Australia, England, Poland and the United States.
Oval Mansions are eight separate blocks of tenement housing in Kennington, south London. The blocks stand between the Oval cricket ground and the Oval Gasholders. After being occupied by 100 squatters from 1983 until 2000, the buildings were sold off by Lambeth Council in the early 2000s.
Villa Road is a street in Angell Town in the Borough of Lambeth, south London. Rows of terraced houses, built on both sides of the street in the Victorian era, were scheduled to be demolished in the late 1960s as part of a development plan. From 1973 onwards, houses were squatted and an alternative community was established, containing anarchists, British Black Panthers, feminists, Marxists, primal screamers and single mothers. Lambeth Council applied for possession orders for most of the buildings on the street in June 1976 and the squatters built barricades to resist eviction. After prolonged negotiations the council decided to legalize the occupation in 1978, but only after demolishing the southern side of the street. In 2006, the former squatters were profiled in the documentary film "Property is Theft" as part of the BBC series Lefties.
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