Stockwell is an inner city area in the South West of London in the London Borough of Lambeth. It's located between Brixton, Clapham, Vauxhall and Kennington. From the thirteenth to the start of the nineteenth century, Stockwell was a rural manor at the edge of London. In the nineteenth century it developed as an elegant middle class suburb, although its social and architectural fortunes in the twentieth century were more mixed.
The area immediately around Stockwell tube station was extensively rebuilt following the Second World War, and its appearance remains somewhat dispiriting. The area also has much social housing, some of it of doubtful quality. However, many remnants of the area's nineteenth century grandeur can be found in the side and back streets of Stockwell, notably in the mid-nineteenth century Stockwell Park Conservation Area (round Stockwell Park Rd and Crescent) and in the area's own Albert Square.
Stockwell and neighbouring South Lambeth are home to the UK's biggest Portuguese communities, most originating in Madeira. They have established many cafes, restaurants, bakeries, neighbourhood associations and delicatessens. People of Caribbean and of west African origin are also well represented locally.
Stockwell war memorial and shelter
Famous former and current residents of Stockwell include Lilian Baylis, Edward Thomas, Vincent Van Gogh (briefly!), French Resistance heroine Violette Szabo, Joanna Lumley, Jerry Dammers and Will Self.
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