Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, Vauxhall, c. 1850

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Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, showing the house and watergate entrance.

The Pleasure Gardens were a popular 'Theme Park' for London for two hundred years from the middle of the 17th century.

The collaboration of Jonathan Tyers, the owner and the painter William Hogarth contributed to its success following its reopening in June 1732, gaining it popularity with the aristocracy and royalty of the day.

Performances included fireworks displays, concerts, ballets and masquerades.

Covering 12 acres of tree lined walks and supper-boxes, before 1750 the only access was via the river.

It started to decline in popularity from the 1830s and opened for the last time in July 1859. The site was subsequently developed for housing, now marked by Tyers Street and Spring Gardens.