Plaque

River Effra - Canterbury Square 1

Erection date: /7/2016

Inscription

The hidden River Effra is beneath your feet.

Site: River Effra pavement plaques - 6 (6 memorials)

SW9, Brixton Road, Canterbury Square

Photographed and numbered from north to south.

A nearby information board:
On your right is the old Roman road to the south coast (now the Brixton Road). Here, bridges once crossed the River Effra but today, the river flows beneath Canterbury Square on its way to the Thames at Vauxhall.
The village of Brixton did not exist until the end of the 18th century. The 1806 enclosure of the lands of the Manor of Lambeth (which belonged to the Archbishop of Canterbury) and the arrival of the railway in 1862 resulted in speculative house-building for commuters into central London.
A growing community needed shops. Nearby, Bon Marché on Brixton Road {building still there, the flat-iron between Ferndale Road and Stockwell Avenue} opened in 1877 and was the first purpose-built department store in the United Kingdom.
To your left is Canterbury Crescent, where you can still see the remnants of the old St John's School {the Tudor-style St John's Buildings, which you can see here}. It was built in 1853 at a cost of £1,600, on land donated by philanthropist Benedict Angell. Also in the Crescent were a stables for resting carriage horses, the Canterbury Arms public house and the dairy pictured above (London, Gloucestershire and North Hants Dairy}. The ornately styled mansion flats immediately to your left {the red brick Dover Mansions} were popular with music hall performers, and these artistes gave Brixton a bohemian flavour. In the 1920s, the pioneer sexologist Havelock Ellis lived here.
Discover Lambeth

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
River Effra - Canterbury Square 1

Subjects commemorated i

River Effra

At the Brockwell Lido plaque there is an information board which begins by ex...

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
River Effra - Canterbury Square 1

Also at this site i

River Effra - Canterbury Square 2

River Effra - Canterbury Square 2

The hidden River Effra is beneath your feet.

Read More

River Effra - Canterbury Square 3

River Effra - Canterbury Square 3

The hidden River Effra is beneath your feet.

Read More

River Effra - Canterbury Square 4

River Effra - Canterbury Square 4

The hidden River Effra is beneath your feet.

Read More

River Effra - Canterbury Square 5

River Effra - Canterbury Square 5

The hidden River Effra is beneath your feet.

Read More

River Effra - Canterbury Square 6

River Effra - Canterbury Square 6

The hidden River Effra is beneath your feet.

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Max Wall

Max Wall

SW9, Mowll Street, 38 - 40 Glenshaw Mansions

Max Wall, entertainer, 1908 - 1990, was born here. The Max Wall Society The Heritage Foundation

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
St James's Residences

St James's Residences

W1, Brewer Street, 23

St James's Residences stand in an area first known as Knaves Acre. The original 17th century houses and courts survived until demolition...

1 subject commemorated, 3 creators
Memorial Park at Guy's Hospital

Memorial Park at Guy's Hospital

SE1, Great Maze Pond, Guy's Hospital - Memorial Park

You can see that there used to be another plaque fixed to this wall. Let's hope it was a cheap temporary thing removed when this rather n...

4 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
John F Kennedy - Newington Green Road

John F Kennedy - Newington Green Road

N1, Newington Green Road, corner with Mildmay Avenue, John Kennedy Lodge

There seems to be a number of buildings in the Kennedy Estate. For example on the other side of Newington Green Road there is John Kenne...

1 subject commemorated
Verbruggen's House - 2

Verbruggen's House - 2

SE18, Plumstead Road

The plaque refers to the Verbruggens as brothers, when in fact they were father and son.

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator