Although Philip Astley never called his “Amphitheatre” – opened in 1770 on a site in Westminster Bridge Road where St Thomas’ Hospital now stands – a circus, it is now recognised as the first ever fixed-site circus and the birthplace of a British and European circus tradition that continues to this day.
Ticket for the circus
Today’s mix of circus acts – with clowns, acrobats, and more – can be traced back to the trick-riding displays, sword work displays, rope acts and tumbling successfully put on by Astley and his wife Patty Jones in Lambeth.
Astley’s became a much-loved London fixture, lasting over 120 years before being closed down in 1893`.
Circus story
A new exhibition, RINGSIDE! uses posters, documents and illustrations from Lambeth Archives’ rich collections to bring Astley’s back to life. It also features Astley’s local competitors – including Vauxhall Gardens, the Canterbury Hall and the Royal Circus – whose combined attractions made Lambeth an exciting entertainment destination for Vicorian Londoners.
Entertaining Londoners in Lambeth
Circus families
The exhibition features not only material from Lambeth Archives’ collection but also a wonderful selection of photographs and objects, curated by Charlie Holland, of some of the many circus families who lived in the borough and became globally famous in the late-Victorian and Edwardian eras: acts like the acrobatic Craggs, the juggler Paul Cinquevalli, the Mongador Brothers and the aerial Hanlon-Volta troupe.
Also featured are the later travelling circuses such as Sanger’s and Smart’s who would pitch on Clapham and Streatham Commons, to be followed in the 1980s by their “New Circus” successors performing physical theatre without animal acts: companies like Archaos, Circus Burlesque and Ra-Ra Zoo.
Word from the Cabinet
Cllr Donatus Anyanwu, Lambeth’s Cabinet Member for Stronger Communities, said: “This exhibition tells the story not only of how Lambeth is the birthplace of a long tradition of entertainment for the people, but also of the artists, and families of artists, who lived in Lambeth but exported their talent and became internationally famous performers.”
Exhibition details
- Open free from 3 March to 12 April
- Lambeth Archives, 16 Brixton Hill, SW2 1ET
- See website for opening times
Curators’ talks
- Saturday 15 March, 2.30 with Charlie Holland
- Thursday 27 March, 6.15 with Jon Newman, Lambeth Archives
