It was while on one of my many walks that I discovered Vauxhall Park and, by extension, this model village.
There are only about six homes and three smaller buildings, but it is quite a nice thing to discover.
With the other work going on in the park I assumed that this was a new installation, as the buildings looked freshly painted and maintained. It wasn't until I did some research, for this blog post, that I discovered their remarkable history. Enjoy.
In 2018, the houses were given a 'Suffragette' makeover, using a purple, green and white colour scheme. These colours were chosen as the model village now resides on the Fawcett Garden, which is named for Millicent Garrett Fawcett.
A small heart-shaped plaque states:
Friends of Vauxhall Park
These model houses were made for Vauxhall Park
In 1949 by Edgar Wilson of Norwood.
He made other sets of houses but only these
And a set in Melbourne, Australia, remain.
These houses were restored in 2001
By local resident and friend of Vauxhall Park,
Mr Nobby Clark.
They were unveiled in June 2001
By local MP for Vauxhall Ms Kate Hoey.
Edgar Wilson made three of these villages.
One village, at Finsbury Park, was vandalised and fell into disrepair, with nothing of the village remaining today.
The village at Brockwell Park decayed due to a lack of care and, I believe, just a few shells of the original buildings remain.
Following World War II, Edgar Wilson had been so touched by food parcels, sent from Australia, that he wrote to them and asked if they would like a model Tudor village for their city. They accepted and so the third village was crated and shipped to Melbourne, Australia, where it was installed in Fitzroy Gardens. It is still there to this day.
Nice story
ReplyDeleteThank you.
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