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This article outlines the results of two phases of excavation at 12-18 Albert Embankment, Lambeth. The site was partially excavated in 1988 by the Museum of London's Department of Greater London Archaeology. However, areas around the edge and north of the site were not examined and excavation of the remainder of the site was undertaken in 2000 by the Museum of London Archaeology Service. The excavations demonstrated the rapid and relentless pattern of change that took place in Thameside Lambeth from the mid-18th to the mid-19th centuries. An area of market gardens and semi-rural settlement became a densely occupied urban slum. The archaeological sequence and the associated finds showed how these changes had actually occurred. Period 1 represented the geological horizon; subsequently the site was cultivated (period 2). This activity ceased c 1745 and in period 3 the site became built up. Associated with the construction of Buildings 1 and 2 was Open Area 3 that contained a substantial dump of pothouse waste. Dated to 1745-70, this assemblage included tin-glazed ware, stoneware and London area post-medieval redware. Both kiln furniture and vessels (including wasters) were found. The kiln furniture included forms used for both tin-glazed and redwares, suggesting that both wares may have been manufactured at the same pothouse. Furthermore, the assemblage included the first examples of 18th century redware kiln furniture. It is suggested that this assemblage derived from either the pothouse at Norfolk House or that at Vauxhall, the only local pothouses known to be making both stoneware and tin-glazed ware between 1745 and 1770. The excavation suggests that London area post-medieval redwares may also have been manufactured at either of these Lambeth pothouses. This is the first evidence for the manufacture of 18th century redwares in Lambeth. From the early 19th century the use of the site intensified (period 4): sixteen cesspits were recorded. In period 5 these cesspits were backfilled as one event, during the period 1851-60, as a result of the arrival of piped sewage disposal in the area. The large backfill assemblages are discussed here, giving an insight into the status and lifestyle of mid-Victorian Lambeth's residents.