Brixton and Herne Hill in 50 Buildings

Brixton is the heart of the London Borough of Lambeth but also holds a special place for many across Britain as the ''home'' of the Windrush Generation with the Town Hall and the Black Cultural Archives opposite each other around a monument-filled Windrush Square. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries merchants built grand villas in the rural village of Brixton and along the road to Herne Hill, newly connected by bridges across the Thames. Railways and trams allowed London''s industrial and urban sprawl to replace the wealthy with workers on their daily commute, the villas being subdivided into boarding and lodging houses. Brixton became the Oxford Street of South London with department stores like Bon Marche, now Morleys, and Quin and Axtens drawing in the crowds and Electric Avenue lighting up the shops (the first market street ever to be lit with electric lamps in 1888). Brockwell Park between Brixton and Herne Hill provided a green space for the area. There was a cinema and theatre boom in Brixton creating a late-night economy which thrives today with such venues as the Ritzy cinema, the Electric Ballroom and the O2 Academy. Post war decline culminated in riots decades later but Brixton and Herne Hill thrive today, the millennials attracted by their continued diversity despite gentrification.

Brixton and Herne Hill in 50 Buildings explores the history of this fascinating area of south-west London through a selection of its most interesting buildings and structures, showing the changes that have taken place over the years. The book will appeal to all those who live in Brixton and Herne Hill or who have an interest in the area.