News

We are indebted to our friend, Brian Salter, expert on all things to do with Model Villages, who let us know that he was made aware of an episode of BBC’s The Repair Shop (Season 8, Episode 13) in which an Edgar Wilson Model Village House was (beautifully) repaired by Will.  It had come from a, now demolished, Model Village in Cleethorpes.  Luckily for us, a local family saved two of the houses and kept them in their garden.  Why Cleethorpes? We have no idea but very happy that the story of Edgar Wilson continues to suprise us.

Following Vauxhall Park’s lavender field being named as one of the UK’s most beautiful by Condé Nast’s The Traveller Magazine, My London has carried an article about the park.  You can read it here

(but no the lavender field is not replanted every year and, no, there wasn’t a lavender field on the site before the park was created) otherwise glad to spread the word about the park!

 

Representatives from FOVP were delighted to be invited to the unveiling. by renowned garden designer, Rachel de Thame, of the blue plaque to Fanny Wilkinson.  It is on the outside of the flat at 239 Shaftesbury Avenue were Fanny lived and worked from 1885-1896.  The Metropolitan Public Gardens Association, who Fanny designed over 75 open spaces for including Vauxhall Park and Myatts Field Park, led the campaign and we’re delighted to see it finally up!

FOVP Trustee Polly Freeman recently gave an on-line talk about the rich history of Vauxhall Park, Vauxhall’s Park for the People, hosted by the Tate South Lambeth Library.  Seventy people participated in the talk which included not only the history of how the park came into being but the surprising history behind many of the things that are in the park today.  The link to the talk can be found on the History Page of this website

We are delighted to welcome, John Roome as our new Chair.

We would like to thank our outgoing Chair, Charles Vyvyan for all of his hard work and dedication to the Park, leading us through the final stages of the improvement works in the Park.

John is a very active member of the FOVP and is most often to be seen, leading the volunteer gardening groups or running across the Park to a gym session.  He was previously involved with the Bankside Open Spaces Trust and brings a huge wealth of experience to his new role leading Vauxhall Park into the next chapter of its’ history.

We would also like to welcome Lyn Woodcraft as our new Treasurer and to thank Helena Lewis for her many years service as Treasurer.  Clare Church left the Committee at our recent AGM after many years of sitting on our Committee.  Clare was, for some years, Secretary of the FOVP – a role now taken on by Mandy Knight.

We thank all of our hard working Committee for their time and energy to keep Vauxhall Park blooming.

A BIG thank you to Idverde who have presented FOVP with an amazing collection of tools for our volunteer gardening group to use.  We look forward to digging, pruning, chopping, hoeing, troweling (and then recovering with a well deserved refreshment at Parco Cafe!).

Thank you to all the enthusiastic young planters who, led by Idverde and FOVP,  lent a hand to plant up the amazing new playground in Vauxhall Park.  They were lucky enough to get a sneak preview of the new play facilities and we think they were impressed.  

 

Following recent consultation, The Friends of Vauxhall Park are delighted to announce that the new sensory garden in the Park will be called The Fawcett Garden, in honour of Henry and Millicent Fawcett who are so important to the very existence of the Park.

Henry Fawcett and his wife Millicent Fawcett, the great Suffragist, lived in a house whose site was near to the current Tennis Courts.  It was Henry’s wish that the people of Vauxhall had access to a freely accessible open space for their enjoyment and to benefit their health.  Millicent, with Octavia Hill (Social Reformer and co-founder of the National Trust) together with many members of the local Community honoured this wish after Henry’s death, in 1884, which resulted in our wonderful Park (opened in 1890).  The Park is still benefitting the residents of Vauxhall today.  Millicent is well know for her work to increase women’s suffrage but Henry was also a remarkable figure of his era:   Henry was blind but this did not stop him being responsible for many notable reforms including making it easier for the poorest to save and have access to Life Insurance at a time before the Welfare State, introducing the Parcel Post and Postal Orders during his time as Postmaster General and becoming a well respected academic and economist. He is remembered on the Reformers Monument in North London.

The FOVP have been closely involved with the replanting and redesigning of this area: the plants have all been chosen for their ‘sensory’ qualities, the paths have been laid out to make access easy, particularly for wheelchair users and those who are less mobile.  There will be plenty of benches so not only can visitors linger to enjoy this special space but our older visitors are catered for.  This redesign is to especially honour Henry Fawcett who was blind but always appreciated the benefits of the natural environment.  We hope you will approve!

 

Vauxhall History have recently published an a history of Vauxhall Park’s lavender field, written by FOVP’s Polly Freeman.  Please  click here to read the article.

As part of the Masterplan works, the current plants, which have reached the end of their life, will be replaced by the same variety of Lavender (Grosso) which has grown so successfully in the park and yielded good quantities of oil for the oil sales.   However the field will have a new design to make harvesting the flowers easier and make access to the plants better so the plants are not trampled.  The FOVP have also commissioned a master stonemason to restore the human Sundial.  This will be at the centre of the new design and we look forward to its new position intriguing many more people in the years to come.

Our friends at Vauxhall History have recently published a fascinating article, with some wonderful illustrations, about the beginnings of Vauxhall Park.  Please click here to read the article