The area derives its name from a watermill owned by Westminster Abbey that once stood at a site close to present day College Green.

[1] Norden's survey, taken during the reign of Elizabeth I in 1573, records the existence of such a mill although much of the area that comprises Millbank today, was referred to by Samuel Pepys and others as Tothill Fields.

Described as a place of plague pits and a "low, marshy locality" suitable for shooting snipe in the nearby "bogs and quagmires".

[1] After Cromwell's victory at the Battle of Worcester in September 1651, some 4,000 defeated Royalists were imprisoned at Tothill Fields prior to being sold as slaves to merchants trading with Africa and the West Indies.

[1] Baltic Wharf, a site just to the north of Vauxhall Bridge, was for much of the 19th century the location of a Henry Castle & Son, a ship breaking and timber merchant.

Numerous wooden ships of the line of the Royal Navy were dismantled at this location, their ornate figureheads often displayed on the gates and perimeter of the yard walls.

Millbank shares the name of the main road (A3212) along the north bank of the River Thames, extending northwards from Vauxhall Bridge to Abingdon Street, just south from Parliament Square.

The road was created as part of the Thames Embankment in the mid 19th century and lies above a large interceptor sewer.

No.4 is the location commonly used by broadcasters for producing coverage of the Westminster area, including the BBC,[5] Sky News[6] and ITV.

The 17 buildings, comprising one of London's earliest social housing schemes, are named after distinguished painters such as Turner, Gainsborough, Millais, etc.

Hide Tower is a 20-storey building (with an additional walk-up penthouse level) of 162 flats with a garden and a community hall.