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Stockwell is a district located in South London, part of theLondon Borough of Lambeth, England. It is situated 2.4 miles (3.9 km) south ofCharing Cross.
The name Stockwell is likely to have originated from a local well, with "stoc" being Old English for a tree trunk or post. From the thirteenth to the start of the nineteenth century, Stockwell was a rural manor at the edge of London. It included market gardens andJohn Tradescant's botanical garden – commemorated in Tradescant Road, which was built over it in 1880, and in a memorial outside St Stephen's church. In the nineteenth century it developed as an elegant middle-class suburb. Residents included the artistArthur Rackham, who was born on South Lambeth Road in 1867, moving with his family to Albert Square when he was 15 years old. Another famed cultural figure who was born in Stockwell in October 1914, was theatre directorJoan Littlewood, who has been called the mother of modern theatre.
Its social and architectural fortunes in the twentieth century were more mixed. The area immediately around Stockwell tube station was extensively rebuilt following the Second World War, and the original domed tube station was replaced first in the 1920s, then again with the opening of theVictoria line in 1971.
The area also has muchsocial housing; the main estates are Lansdowne Green, Stockwell Park, Studley, Spurgeon, Mursell and Stockwell Gardens. However, many remnants of the area's nineteenth-century grandeur can be found in the side and back streets of Stockwell, notably in the Stockwell Park Conservation Area,[1] mostly built between 1825 and 1840 and centred on Stockwell Park Road,[2] Stockwell Park Crescent,[3] Durand Gardens, and Albert Square. The only twentieth-century building of significant architectural interest in the area isStockwell Bus Garage. Before the creation of theCounty of London in 1889, Stockwell was part ofSurrey.
In 1986,Kenneth Erskine, a serial killer dubbed the 'Stockwell Strangler', killed seven elderly victims, three of whom were from Stockwell.[4]
Stockwell[5] is a ward in the London Borough ofLambeth. It is currently represented by threeLabour councillors: Lucy Caldicott, Dr. Mahamed Hashi and Mohamed Jaser.[6] At parliamentary level it is in theVauxhall constituency, represented by Labour MPFlorence Eshalomi.
From 1979 to 1982, future Labour MP andNew Labour 'spin doctor'Peter Mandelson was a ward councillor.[7]
There are three schools in Stockwell ward[5] - St Stephen's,[8] Allen Edwards[9] andStockwell Primary School - and also a campus of Lambeth College.[10] In the Stockwell area (on Clapham Road) there is alsoPlatanos College,[11] a secondary school, Lansdowne School and numerous primary schools includingVan Gogh Primary.
In addition to Anglican and Catholic churches, Afro-Caribbean communities have influenced the expression of Christianity in the area, with a variety of congregations, some sharing churches with more long established Anglican and Catholic congregations. One of the many Afro-Caribbean churches is C.A.C. Stockwell.
Stockwell and neighbouring South Lambeth are home to one of the UK's biggestPortuguese communities, known as 'Little Portugal'. Most of the local Portuguese people originate fromMadeira andLisbon and have established many cafes, restaurants, bakeries, neighbourhood associations and delicatessens. Stockwell is also home to many people ofCaribbean andWest African origin. They are also well represented in the local population, and cafes, grocers, barbers' shops and salons run by people from these communities are scattered around Stockwell.
Notable former and current residents of Stockwell includeDavid Bowie,John Major,[12]Gary Raymond,Lilian Bayliss,Edward Thomas,Vincent van Gogh (briefly),[13]Violette Szabo,Joanna Lumley,Jerry Dammers,Hero Fiennes Tiffin,Roger Moore,Roots Manuva,Adam Buxton,Joe Cornish,[14]Nathaniel Clyne,Dot Rotten,Will Self, former Scottish Labour Party leaderJim Murphy, and footballerPaul Davis, who played for Arsenal.[15]
On 22 July 2005, following the21 July 2005 London bombings, Stockwell gained notoriety as the scene of the shooting by police of an innocentBrazilian electrician,Jean Charles de Menezes, on a tube train.
Stockwell tube station is served by theVictoria andNorthernLondon Underground lines.
To the south, the Victoria line terminates one stop away atBrixton. The Northern line terminates in the south atMorden, which provides Stockwell with a direct link toClapham andSouth Wimbledon.
To the north, the Victoria line runs throughCentral London towardsWalthamstow Central, stopping at several key stations includingVictoria,Oxford Circus,King's Cross St Pancras andTottenham Hale. The Northern Line carries passengers northwards towardsKennington andCamden Town. Most trains from Stockwell run throughthe City of London viaElephant & Castle,Bank andMoorgate. Some trains run on the Charing Cross Branch viaWaterloo,Charing Cross andTottenham Court Road. Beyond Camden Town, the Northern line links Stockwell directly toEdgware andHigh Barnet in north London.
Other nearby stations includeBrixton (Victoria line) orClapham North (Northern line) to the south of Stockwell, andVauxhall (Victoria line) orOval (Northern line) to the north.[16]
In 2017, there were 11.7 million entries and exits at Stockwell tube station.[17]
There is noNational Rail station in Stockwell, but several stations can be found in the locale:[16]
Several major roads pass through Stockwell, including:
The A23, A202, A203 and A3 are managed byTransport for London (TfL).[19]
Most other roads are residential.
Pollution around Stockwell has been a concern for local health professionals and authorities since the mid-2000s, largely owing to the number ofarterial routes in the neighbourhood.
A 2010 study found that, in Stockwell, 7 deaths each year could be attributed to exposure toparticulate matter (PM2.5), compared to 139 in theLondon Borough of Lambeth as a whole in the same year (2008).[20] Road traffic is a primary source of air pollution in Lambeth.[21]
In 2016, Clapham Road south of Stockwell was identified by the local authority as an area of concern when it came to tackling air quality in the Borough, as this section of road is "exceeding EU limits for the gasNitrogen Dioxide (NO2)."[22] Lambeth monitor air quality on Clapham Road in Stockwell usingdiffusion tubes.[23] Since the introduction of the Oval STN, the pollution in the adjacent part of Clapham Road has got worse.
London Buses routes2,50,88,155,196,333,345,P5,N2 andN155 serve Stockwell.[24]
SomeNational Express coaches pass through Stockwell, with some services towardsGatwick Airport,Worthing,Bognor Regis andEastbourne stopping in the area.[25]
Cycle Superhighway 7 (CS7) follows Clapham Road through Stockwell, largely oncycle lanes to segregate cyclists from other road traffic. The signedcycle route carries cyclists fromColliers Wood andTooting Bec in the south, through Stockwell, toOval,Elephant & Castle andthe City of London. The route runs non-stop from Stockwell to all its destinations, but the route is not entirely traffic-free.[26]
Just to the north of Stockwell,Cycle Superhighway 5 (CS5) terminates in a junction with CS7, linkingVictoria andMillbank to Stockwell using a cycle track, separating cyclists from other road traffic.[27]
Quietway 5 (Q5) runs on residential streets in the north of Stockwell, offering a slower but quieter signposted route direct toClapham orWaterloo.[28]
With two Cycle Superhighways in the locale, many junctions in the area are equipped withcycling infrastructure.Santander Cycles, abike-sharing system in London, operates in Stockwell.
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