The A to Z of the Vauxhall Tavern
P is for Pleasure Gardens

Vauxhall, 1809

Spring Gardens, the patch of green behind the Vauxhall Tavern, is all that remains of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, which opened in 1661. These gardens provided all sorts of entertainment from drinking and eating to music, fireworks and balloon rides.

The Gardens were also notoriously frequented by prostitutes and men of loose morals. When the respectable heroine of Frances Burney’s Evelina (1778) makes the mistake of walking through the Gardens, she is accosted by a large party of riotous gentlemen who assume she is for hire.

In 1771 Tobias Smollett described Vauxhall as "filled with crowds of noisy people, sucking up the nocturnal rheums of an aguish climate; and through these gay scenes, a few lamps glimmer like so many farthing candles." He continued: "I no sooner entered, than I was dazzled and confounded with the variety of beauties that rushed all at once upon my eye, the place crowded with the gayest company. Among the vocal performers I had the happiness to hear the celebrated Mrs. -----, whose voice was so loud and so shrill, that it made my head ake through excess of pleasure.

"I despise their want of taste and decorum but when they crowd together, listening to a song, which one half of them cannot possibly hear, how can I help supposing they are actually possessed by a spirit, more absurd and pernicious than any thing we meet with in the precincts of Bedlam?"

Blogadoon notes: Boswell described the Vauxhall music as "not too refined for the general ear" and, despite one punter's complaint that the venue needed "more nightingales and fewer strumpets", contemporary engravings show huge crowds avidly enjoying the loud histrionics of over-dressed entertainers.

One such performer was Madame Saqui whose "appearance was rather masculine, her legs worthy of a circus strong man. Dressed in tinsel, spangles and plumes, it was rumoured that she earned around one hundred guineas per week."

In his book "Travels" (1795), Karl Moritz, a German contemporary of Blake, mentions his delight at the Vauxhall gardens and the music, although he thought the women "over-bold".

A number of brothels became well established in the surrounding streets, including one called "Slut’s Hole".

Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens opened for the last time on the night of Monday, 25 July, 1859, but their spirit lives on today at the Vauxhall Tavern.

Thanks to Ian for inspiring today's entry.