Historic England awards an Everyday Heritage grant to The Bridge At Waterloo at St John’s Waterloo to highlight, remember and memorialise the heritage of Cardboard City.
Approaching St John’s Waterloo‘s (SJW) bicentennial celebration in late 2024, SJW and The Bridge At Waterloo (TBAW) are embarking on a heritage project which will remember and memorialise Cardboard City and the related ephemeral and neglected heritage of homeless people in the area. This is being funded by Historic England’s Everyday Heritage grant programme, celebrating working class histories.
‘The Lost City of Cardboard’ initiative will be spearheaded by artists and project leaders who have experienced homelessness, and it will engage directly with individuals who resided in Cardboard City, those who provided support to its inhabitants, and local residents with recollections of or an interest in shedding light on this heritage. Additionally, the project will involve participants of TBAW’s programmes and the devoted churchyard garden volunteers.
Waterloo has a significant historical connection to London’s homeless community, one that is currently under threat of being erased. At the heart of this story is Cardboard City, a national touchpoint between the 1980/1990s. It refers to a community of people experiencing homelessness who lived in the underground tunnels between Waterloo Station and the South Bank. It became known as ‘Cardboard City’ due to the number of shelters (often called bashes) constructed down there. It was inhabited by hundreds of people over the course of around 20 years. Alongside, in the crypt of St John’s Waterloo, was the North Lambeth Day Centre which offered daytime support.
The physical history of Cardboard City has all but vanished, and the area is poised for yet another extensive redevelopment. The memory of Cardboard City is fading from the collective consciousness of Londoners, and younger generations remain unaware of its existence. Most significantly, those whose lives are entwined with this history are rapidly passing away, placing us at considerable risk of losing their accounts of this pivotal chapter in our local heritage.
Following discussions with people who have experienced homelessness and consulting our local community, we put together a project which will run over the course of the next twelve months into early 2025.
Through initial discussions, it is evident we will be collectively gathering accounts of love, support, and solidarity prevalent in both Cardboard City and the North Lambeth Day Centre. Simultaneously, we anticipate narratives that will shed light on the fear, distress, and profound destitution that characterised life in the underpasses. These stories are swiftly vanishing, as more residents pass away, underscoring the urgency of creating an archive as part of this project. This imperativeness has been emphasised by those already in contact with us, who have been instrumental in shaping this collaborative proposal.
Co-creation is at the heart of this project. ‘The Lost City of Carboard’ will be directed by Bekki Perriman (an art therapist and artist whose work focuses on homelessness and mental health) and David Tovey (an artist, educator, and activist with experiences of homelessness, also Co-Director of Arts and Homelessness International). They will be supported by journalist Samir Jeraj who has written on housing, homelessness and Carboard City, and the team at SJW and TBAW.
As a team, we will work with and be led by individuals with lived experiences of homelessness, especially those who have memories of Cardboard City and Waterloo. We will start by connecting with more individuals who lived in Cardboard City or had some association with it. This initial step is very sensitive due to the subject matter, the passage of time, and the health of former residents. Soon after, we will carry out more in depth research and documentation of narratives, individuals, and objects linked to Cardboard City, accomplished through a series of open workshops and private interviews, with the objective of safeguarding both the stories and their narrators. We will also seek the input and suggestions of those interviewed regarding the most suitable accessible formats for recording and sharing their stories.
The final phase will revolve around the development and presentation of public-facing elements. Preliminary consultations with prospective participants and local residents encourage us to consider creating a digital archive of interviews and a book, a gardening project, and organising an exhibition in the Old Crypt. Given that collaborative creation is at the core of this initiative, we are intentionally maintaining flexibility in our intended outputs.
This project does not intend to romanticise Cardboard City or aspire to be the only source of information but rather aims to develop a way for its former residents and others who had a connection with the Bullring to preserve its historical importance through their own contributions.
GETTING INVOLVED
In the coming months, we will be reaching out to people to be involved with this project. If you have a related story or memory to share or are interested in being involved, please contact us at artisticdirector@stjohnswaterloo.org.
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For further press information, please contact Euchar Gravina at artisticdirector@stjohnswaterloo.org
About St John’s Waterloo
St John’s, the church on the IMAX roundabout at Waterloo, is a historic 1824 Grade II* church that reopened in October 2022 after a major restoration by Eric Parry Architects. It is one of the most inclusive churches in London and provides the best new performance, event and meeting spaces on the South Bank, fulfilling its commitment to be here for everyone.
St John’s produces a year-round programme of arts and culture, including the annual Waterloo Festival, and is co-home to the academy-orchestra Southbank Sinfonia. In the past year, it welcomed renowned international musicians, including Angela Hewitt, Steven Osborne and Doric String Quartet, as well as played host to professional and amateur orchestras. In partnership with prominent human rights organisations and through visual arts and literature, St John’s is also actively engaged with social justice, addressing issues such as press freedom, censorship, homelessness and climate change.
Beyond the arts, St John’s runs the award-winning churchyard garden and a variety of community projects for people experiencing homelessness and isolation as well as local community members for whom life’s challenges are now even more acute.
