{{short description|Square in Vauxhall, south London, built in 1890s, squatted in 1980s}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} thumb|Bonnington Square '''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.
== History ==
Bonnington Square was constructed in the 1870s in order to house railway workers.<ref name="lgo">{{cite web |url=https://londongardenstrust.org/conservation/inventory/site-record/?ID=LAM006 |title=Bonnington Square |publisher=London Gardens Online |date=1 October 2009 |access-date=31 March 2013 |archive-date=13 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130613200418/http://www.londongardensonline.org.uk/gardens-online-record.asp?ID=LAM006 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref name="lgo" /> 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.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/7847556/A-taste-of-Italy-in-Vauxhall.html |title=A taste of Italy in Vauxhall |first=Annie |last=Bell |date=24 June 2010 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |accessdate=31 March 2013}}</ref>
==Squatted== 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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Dee |first=E.T.C. |date=2016-01-01 |title=Squatted Social Centers in London |url=https://www.berghahnjournals.com/view/journals/contention/4/1-2/cont040109.xml |journal=Contention |volume=4 |issue=1 |doi= 10.3167/cont.2016.040109|issn=2572-7184|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The squatters subsequently formed a housing cooperative and successfully negotiated with ILEA for the right to lease the buildings.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bonningtonsquaregarden.org.uk/bonnington-square-london-self-help-housing/ |title=Bonnington Square – London – Self Help Housing |publisher=Bonnington Square Garden Association |date=23 November 2010 |accessdate=31 March 2013}}</ref> The café and garden continue into the present.<ref name=":0" />
==The Pleasure Garden== thumb|right|Inside the garden 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.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/jun/08/shopping.gardens |title=Pleasure garden |first=Dan |last=Pearson |newspaper=The Observer |date=8 June 2008 |accessdate=31 March 2013}}</ref> The garden occupies the space left by seven buildings bombed out in World War II.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chesher |first=Jack |date=2021-04-15 |title=The Fascinating Story Of Vauxhall's Secret Jungle Neighbourhood |url=https://livinglondonhistory.com/the-fascinating-story-of-vauxhalls-secret-jungle-neighbourhood/ |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=Living London History |language=en-US}}</ref> In 1998, the housing cooperative was permitted by the London Borough of Lambeth to purchase the buildings.<ref name="lgo" />
The garden includes many tropical plants, including palm trees.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-28 |title=Secret Gardens: Bonnington Square Garden, Vauxhall |url=https://stormflowersgarden.com/blogs/secret-gardens/secret-gardens-bonnington-square-garden?srsltid=AfmBOoouaOHKVKCwGPt-7gefLfO0vOvFd7h7pai1-6xLlxmMlp6RHVET |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=Storm Flowers Garden |language=en}}</ref>
In June 2018, two performances of ''Twelfth Night'' by Flute Theatre were held in the gardens in a production directed by actress Kelly Hunter.<ref>[http://www.flutetheatre.co.uk/12th-night/ Production of ''Twelfth Night''] on the Flute Theatre website</ref>
==See also== *Oval Mansions, another famous squat in Lambeth *Harleyford Road Community Garden, accessible from Bonnington Square
== References == {{reflist}} {{Coord|51.4843|-0.12|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title}}
== External links == {{Commons category|Bonnington Square, Vauxhall}} {{Commons category|Bonnington Square Pleasure Garden}} * [https://www.bonningtonsquaregarden.org.uk/ Bonnington Square Garden Association] * [https://bonningtoncentre.org/ Bonnington Centre and Café] * [https://vimeo.com/36595608 "Bonnington Square" on Vimeo], a 20-minute documentary about the history of the square's squatting * [https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/video/2010/jul/06/sustainable-squatting-bonnington-square Sustainable squatting in Bonnington Square], a 10-minute documentary on the squats by ''The Guardian''
{{SquatE&W}}
Category:Squares in the London Borough of Lambeth Category:Legalized squats Category:Squats in the United Kingdom Category:1870s establishments in the United Kingdom