Campaign succeeds in winning protected status for venue heritage minister says is ‘of huge significance’ to LGBT community

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

One of the UK’s oldest and best known gay venues, the Royal Vauxhall Tavern (RVT) in south London, has been designated a listed building after a campaign whose supporters included Sir Ian McKellen, Paul O’Grady and Graham Norton.

The heritage minister, Tracey Crouch, on Wednesday announced the building would be given a Grade II listing. She said she was thrilled, adding: “The iconic cultural hub in the heart of London is of huge significance to the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] community.

“Not only of architectural interest, the venue has a longstanding historic role as a symbol of tolerance and alternative entertainment.”

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The pub, standing on the historic site of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens in Lambeth, is the first UK listing of a LGBT venue.

It has a long tradition of hosting alternative cabaret and drag acts. O’Grady, who regularly performed there as Lily Savage, said in his support for the listing: “I consider the venue to be my very own school of dramatic art.

“The RVT is now one of the few remaining venues to showcase new and old talent every week. It should be offered protection to withstand today’s developers. Without listing, the threat to its future is all too real. With listing, I know the community will rally round and ensure it remains an important venue for many decades to come.”

Amy Lamé, the co-founder and host of the pub’s long-running avant garde club night, Duckie, and chair of campaign group RVT future, said: “The listing is a fantastic milestone for our community and victory against the odds for our beloved pub.



“We look forward to continuing our work to ensure the RVT remains a vibrant space of LGBTQ community and culture for generations to come.”

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The campaign had an extra dimension in that so many well-known gay venues in London have closed in recent years, including Madame Jojo’s and the Candy Bar, both in Soho, the Black Cap in Camden, and the Joiners Arms and the George & Dragon on Hackney Road, east London.

Concerns were raised over the RVT’s future after it was sold last year to an Austrian property developer.

The listing follows a similar designation to the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement, the Stonewall Inn in New York. The Greenwich Village bar, where a police raid and subsequent street protests galvanised protest across the world in 1969, was made a New York City landmark in July.

The listing gives the RVT, built in 1860-62, considerable protection against any changes to use or look.

Roger Bowdler, the director of listing at Historic England, said: “The Royal Vauxhall Tavern is an enduring and important venue for the LGBT community. Built on the site of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, it carries on the tradition of alternative and bohemian entertainment which is bound up in this part of London’s history and identity.”