Lambeth, a parish and suburb of London, 1 3/4 m. S. W. of St. Paul's cathedral, on the S. side of the Thames, here crossed by the Waterloo, Charing Cross railway, Westminster, and Vauxhall bridges; pop. in 1871, 379,112. Lambeth palace, the town residence of the archbishop of Canterbury, is situated between Vauxhall and Westminster bridges, opposite the new houses of parliament. This property was acquired by the see in 1197, and has been improved by successive incumbents. The palace stands on a low site close to the river, surrounded by gardens 12 acres in extent. Its objects of interest are the Lollards' tower, founded about 1440; the banqueting hall;

Lambeth Palace.

the chapel, with a fine roof of carved oak; and the library. Among its many literary treasures and curiosities is a superb Arabic Koran, presented by the governor general of India through Claudius Buchanan in 1805, who calls it "the most valuable Koran of Asia." The library also contains the archiepiscopal registers of the see of Canterbury in regular succession from the year 1278, and the parliamentary surveys of ecclesiastical benefices in the time of the commonwealth, now used as legal evidence. The parish contains many churches, charitable institutions, and other public buildings, some of them elegant and ornamental. Near Vauxhall bridge is the terminus of the Southampton railway. There are many manufactories, and several places of amusement, among them Astley's amphitheatre. In September, 1867, a pan-Anglican synod was held in Lambeth palace, in which several American Protestant Episcopal bishops participated.