Bayswater is an area within the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of cent ...

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North London ...

. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between

Kensington Gardens Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, are among the Royal Parks of London. The gardens are shared by the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and sit immediately to the west of Hyde P ...

to the south,

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

to the north-east, and Notting Hill to the west. Much of Bayswater was built in the 1800s, and consists of streets and

garden squares A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

lined with

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

terraces; some of which have been subdivided into flats. Other key developments include the Grade II listed 650-flat Hallfield Estate, designed by

Sir Denys Lasdun Sir Denys Louis Lasdun, CH, CBE, RA (8 September 1914, Kensington, London – 11 January 2001, Fulham, London) was an eminent English architect, the son of Nathan Lasdun (1879–1920) and Julie (''née'' Abrahams; 1884–1963). Probably his be ...

, and Queensway and

Westbourne Grove Westbourne Grove is a retail road running across Notting Hill, an area of west London. Its western end is in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and its eastern end is in the City of Westminster; it runs from Kensington Park Road in the ...

, its busiest high streets, with a mix of independent, boutique and chain retailers and restaurants. Bayswater is also one of London's most cosmopolitan areas: a diverse local population is augmented by a high concentration of hotels. In addition to the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, there are many other nationalities. Notable ethnic groups include

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...

Brazilians Brazilians ( pt, Brasileiros, ) are the citizens of Brazil. A Brazilian can also be a person born abroad to a Brazilian parent or legal guardian as well as a person who acquired Brazilian citizenship. Brazil is a multiethnic society, which me ...

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

, Irish,

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

, Malaysians and many others.

Etymology

The name Bayswater is derived from the 1380 placename "Bayards Watering Place", which in

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...

meant either a watering place for horses, or the watering place that belonged to the Bayard family.

Notable residents

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter and composer, best known as the frontman and primary lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual ...

Brett Anderson Brett Lewis Anderson (born 29 September 1967) is an English singer best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the band Suede. After Suede disbanded in 2003, he fronted The Tears with former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler in 2004-2 ...

Mike Atherton Michael Andrew Atherton (born 23 March 1968) is a broadcaster, journalist and a former England international first-class cricketer. A right-handed opening batsman for Lancashire and England, and occasional leg-break bowler, he achieved the ca ...

* J. M. Barrie, playwright and novelist, and his wife, Mary, lived at 100 Bayswater Road. *

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

* Richard Cobden, lived on

Westbourne Terrace Westbourne Terrace is a street in the Paddington district of the City of Westminster in west London. The street runs between Westbourne Bridge in the north and the junction of Westbourne Crescent and Sussex Gardens in the south and was develo ...

A. J. Cronin Archibald Joseph Cronin (19 July 1896 – 6 January 1981), known as A. J. Cronin, was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known novel is ''The Citadel'' (1937), about a Scottish doctor who serves in a Welsh mining village before achievi ...

* Umaru Dikko, former Nigerian minister of transportation *

Tim Dry Tim Dry (born 9 January 1952) is a mime artist, writer, photographic artist, musician and actor, best known for appearing in ''Return of the Jedi'' and the cult sci-fi/horror film ''Xtro''. Tim was a member of the duo Tik and Tok, that populari ...

has lived in Bayswater since the early 1980s. * Ade Edmondson *

Roger C. Field Roger C. Field (born 31 July 1945) is best known as the inventor of the Foldaxe folding electric guitar which won the Designers' Choice Award for the United States in 1980. He is also an inventor with over 100 patents, an industrial designer, ...

, inventor and designer whose first home was flat D, 15 Cleveland Square *

Alexander Fleming Sir Alexander Fleming (6 August 1881 – 11 March 1955) was a Scottish physician and microbiologist, best known for discovering the world's first broadly effective antibiotic substance, which he named penicillin. His discovery in 1928 of w ...

Mariella Frostrup Mariella Frostrup (born 12 November 1962) is a British journalist and presenter, known in British television and radio mainly for arts programmes. Early life Frostrup was born in Oslo, Norway, to Peter and Joan Frostrup, but moved with her fam ...

Ferdinand de Géramb Ferdinand de Géramb (14 January 1772 – 15 March 1848) was an Austrian or French supposed aristocrat, military officer, courtier, adventurer and later Trappist monk and religious author. He served as lieutenant-general in the Austrian army, ch ...

* Reginald Gray, Irish artist, lived with his wife Catherine at 105a Queensway from 1958 to 1963. *

J. B. Gunn John Battiscombe "J. B." Gunn (13 May 1928 – 2 December 2008), known as Ian or Iain, was a British physicist, who spent most of his career in the United States. He discovered the Gunn effect, which led to the invention of the Gunn diode, t ...

, physicist, lived with his mother, the Freudian psychoanalyst L. F. Gunn/Grey-Clarke, at 14 Durham Terrace, in the 1940s *

Francis Guthrie Francis Guthrie (born 22 January 1831 in London; d. 19 October 1899 in Claremont, Cape Town) was a South African mathematician and botanist who first posed the Four Colour Problem in 1852. He studied mathematics under Augustus De Morgan, and ...

, whose observations led to the

Four color theorem In mathematics, the four color theorem, or the four color map theorem, states that no more than four colors are required to color the regions of any map so that no two adjacent regions have the same color. ''Adjacent'' means that two regions sh ...

Alice Hart-Davis Alice Hart-Davis (born 1963) is a British people, British journalist, author and founder of thetweakmentsguide.com. Early life Born in Builth Wells, the daughter of the biographer and journalist Duff Hart-Davis, and a granddaughter of publisher ...

* Paul Johnson *

Dylan Jones Dylan John Jones OBE (born 1960) is an English journalist and author. He served as editor of the UK version of men's fashion and lifestyle magazine '' GQ'' from 1999 to 2021. He has held senior roles with several other publications, including ...

* Jonathan King * Keira Knightley *

Guglielmo Marconi Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquis of Marconi (; 25 April 187420 July 1937) was an Italians, Italian inventor and electrical engineering, electrical engineer, known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based Wireless telegrap ...

, the pioneer of wireless communication, lived at 71 Hereford Road between 1896 and 1897 with his mother upon arrival in England (marked by a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

). * Rik Mayall * Stella McCartney *

Queen Noor of Jordan Noor Al-Hussein ( ar, نور الحسين; born Lisa Najeeb Halaby; August 23, 1951) is an American-born Jordanian philanthropist and activist who is the fourth wife and widow of King Hussein of Jordan. She was Queen of Jordan from their marriag ...

* Dermot O'Leary *

Irfan Orga İrfan Orga (October 31, 1908 – November 29, 1970) was a Turkish fighter pilot, staff officer, and author, writing in English. He published books on many areas of Turkish life, cookery, and history, as well as a life of Atatürk, and a unive ...

, exile and writer, lived at 29, 35 and 21 Inverness Terrace from 1942 until the mid-fifties, publishing his memoirs ''Portrait of a Turkish Family'' in 1950. * Nick Ross * Ilyich Ramírez Sánchez, terrorist known as

Carlos the Jackal Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (; born 12 October 1949), also known as Carlos the Jackal ( es, link=no, Carlos el Chacal) or simply Carlos, is a Venezuelan convicted of terrorist crimes, and currently serving a life sentence in France for the 1975 murder ...

* Jennifer Saunders *

Paul Simonon Paul Gustave Simonon (; born 15 December 1955) is an English musician and artist best known as the bassist for the Clash. More recent work includes his involvement in the supergroup the Good, the Bad & the Queen and playing on the Gorillaz alb ...

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

occupied a basement flat at 28A

Leinster Square Leinster Square () and Prince's Square are mirroring garden squares in Bayswater on the cusp of Westbourne and Notting Hill. One street overlaps (is shared by) the two squares. It is within the large additions of 1965 to the City of Westminst ...

in the late seventies during the formative years of

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police ...

Trudie Styler Trudie Styler (born 6 January 1954) is an English actress and film producer. Early life and family Styler was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, the daughter of Pauline and Harry Styler, a farmer and factory worker. When Styler was two years ...

, now his wife, lived in a basement flat two doors down. *

Georgina Castle Smith Georgina Castle Smith (née Georgina Meyrick, pseudonym Brenda, 9 May 1845 – 27 December 1933) was a popular, productive English writer of didactic children's books. Some of her books highlighted the social needs of "street arabs" (homeless chi ...

(pseudonym Brenda), children's writer born and bred in Bayswater * Luigi Sturzo, Catholic priest and politician, and one of the fathers of Christian democracy and a founder of the

Italian People's Party (1919) The Italian People's Party ( it, Partito Popolare Italiano, PPI), also translated as Italian Popular Party, was a Christian-democratic political party in Italy inspired by Catholic social teaching. It was active in the 1920s, but fell apart b ...

* John Tenniel, artist and cartoonist, was born at 22 Gloucester Place, New Road, Bayswater on 28 February 1820. * Jeremy Thorpe * Kwasi Kwarteng

Local politics

The Bayswater area elects a total of six councillors to

Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors. The council is currently composed of 31 Labour Party members and 23 Cons ...

: three from the eponymous Bayswater ward, and three from Lancaster Gate ward. Following the 2022 Westminster City Council elections, five members belong to the Labour Party, and one to the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, with Bayswater being fully represented by Labour, and Lancaster Gate being split between the two parties. Lancaster Gate can be considered as a marginal ward.

Education

Nearest places

* Notting Hill * St John's Wood * Knightsbridge *

Little Venice Little Venice is a district in West London, England, around the junction of the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, the Regent's Canal, and the entrance to Paddington Basin. The junction forms a triangular shape basin. Many of the buildi ...

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

Nearest tube stations

The stations within the district are

Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

and Queensway. Other nearby stations include Paddington ( Bakerloo, Circle and District lines and Circle and Hammersmith & City lines),

Royal Oak The Royal Oak is the English oak tree within which the future King Charles II of England hid to escape the Roundheads following the Battle of Worcester in 1651. The tree was in Boscobel Wood, which was part of the park of Boscobel House. C ...

(In Westbourne) and Lancaster Gate (To the east).

Places of interest

* St Sophia's Cathedral *

The Mitre, Bayswater The Mitre is a Grade II listed public house at 24 Craven Terrace, Lancaster Gate, Bayswater, City of Westminster. It was built in the mid-19th century. It has traditional wooden bar furniture with original etched glass and mosaic floors. A ...

* Whiteleys Shopping Centre ''under reconstruction''

References in fiction

* In

John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. ...

's '' The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'', Liz is a member of the Bayswater South Branch of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

. * In le Carré's ''

Smiley's People ''Smiley's People'' is a spy novel by British writer John le Carré, published in 1979. Featuring British master-spy George Smiley, it is the third and final novel of the " Karla Trilogy", following ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' and ''The Hono ...

'', the retired Estonian general turned British spy, Vladimir, lives in a dingy flat on Westbourne Grove. * Many of the characters in

Samuel Selvon Samuel Selvon (20 May 1923 – 16 April 1994)"Samuel Selvon"
Encyclopædia Brit ...

's novel ''

The Lonely Londoners ''The Lonely Londoners'' is a 1956 novel by Trinidadian author Samuel Selvon. Its publication was one of the first to focus on poor, working-class black people following the enactment of the British Nationality Act 1948 alongside George Lamming's ...

'' live in Bayswater. * The

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

film ''

Frenzy ''Frenzy'' is a 1972 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is the penultimate feature film of his extensive career. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer was based on the 1966 novel ''Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Squar ...

'' was filmed in the area. * In

Martin Amis Martin Louis Amis (born 25 August 1949) is a British novelist, essayist, memoirist, and screenwriter. He is best known for his novels ''Money'' (1984) and ''London Fields'' (1989). He received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his memoir '' ...

's ''Success'', the two main characters live together in a flat in Bayswater, which he calls 'the district of transients.' * In

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

's ''

The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious ...

'', Lady Bracknell indicates that the perambulator (carrying Jack, as a baby) was found "standing by itself in a remote corner of Bayswater". * In

Saki Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), better known by the pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and cultur ...

's short story "Cross Currents" (1909), Vanessa Pennington lives on a "Bayswater back street" but would have preferred "smarter surroundings." * In Evelyn Waugh's novel '' Brideshead Revisited'', Charles Ryder's father lives in Bayswater. * Whiteleys is frequently seen in film, e.g. ''

Love Actually ''Love Actually'' is a 2003 Christmas romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. It features an ensemble cast, composed predominantly of British actors, many of whom had worked with Curtis in previous film and television proje ...

'', '' Closer'', and was referred to in '' My Fair Lady'' as Eliza Doolittle is sent "to Whiteleys to be attired" in ''Pygmalion''. It also has

Princess Productions Princess Productions was a London-based television production company, formed by Henrietta Conrad and Sebastian Scott, which produced broadcast shows and pilots for all the major British broadcasters across a variety of genres, mainly specialisi ...

' studios on the top floor. * Scenes in ''

Alfie Alfie may refer to: Theatre and film * ''Alfie'' (play), a 1963 play by Bill Naughton * ''Alfie'' (1966 film), a film based on the play starring Michael Caine * ''Alfie'' (2004 film), a remake of the 1966 film * ''Alfie'' (2013 film), an Indi ...

'' (1966) were filmed around Chepstow Road. * The main character in Iris Murdoch's novel ''

A Word Child ''A Word Child'' is the 17th novel by Iris Murdoch. First published in 1975 by Chatto and Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by J ...

'', Hilary Burde, has a "flatlet" near Bayswater Tube Station. * Scenes in '' The Black Windmill'' refer to, and were filmed around, the area. * In the Italian comics series '' Dylan Dog'' the main character lives in Craven Road. * Nick Jenkins meets Uncle Giles for tea at the Ufford Hotel, "riding at anchor on the sluggish Bayswater tide", in ''

The Acceptance World ''The Acceptance World'' is the third book of Anthony Powell's twelve novel sequence, ''A Dance to the Music of Time''. Nick Jenkins continues the narration of his life and encounters with friends and acquaintances in London, between 1931 and 1 ...

'' (1955), volume three of '' A Dance to the Music of Time'' by Anthony Powell. * Linda Stratmann's novel ''The Poisonous Seed'' is set almost entirely in Victorian Bayswater. * In

Lauren Willig Lauren Willig is a ''New York Times'' bestselling author of historical novels. She is best known for her "Pink Carnation" series, which follows a collection of Napoleonic-Era British spies, similar to the Scarlet Pimpernel, as they fight for Br ...

's Pink Carnation Series, her character Eloise Kelly lives in Bayswater while writing her doctoral thesis. *In Herbert Jenkins' novel, ''Patricia Brent, Spinster'', Patricia lives at Gavin House, a boarding house in Bayswater. *

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

released a bonus track named "Bayswater Ain't a Bad Place to Be" on their "Be Quick or Be Dead" single.

References

https://tfl.gov.uk/maps/track/tube

External links

* {{Authority control Areas of London Districts of the City of Westminster Places formerly in Middlesex