Vauxhall Gardens: A History

Abstract

This chapter discusses the history of Vauxhall Gardens in the book, Vauxhall Gardens: A History (2011). Written by David Coke and Alan Borg, Vauxhall Gardens tells the story of the eponymous pleasure gardens, built by Jonathan Tyers as a showplace of art and civilisation. The book itself contains new research as well as contemporary prints and paintings of the Vauxhall Gardens, inviting the reader to take a stroll in the gardens as many others have done years before. Indeed, the chapter shows how Tyers's Vauxhall was democratic, open to anyone who could pay the shilling entrance fee, and once inside there were no private enclosures. Tradesmen and apprentices thus rubbed shoulders with dukes and princes. In addition, the chapter explores Vauxhall's architecture and the works of art it was known to house, as well as the exhibitions and spectacles it had once showcased.