Notting Hill is a district of
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 Londo ...
, England, in the
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a
cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Food and drink
* Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo"
History
* Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953
Hotels and resorts
* Cosmopoli ...
and
multicultural
The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for " ethnic pluralism", with the two terms often used interchang ...
neighbourhood, hosting the annual
Notting Hill Carnival and
Portobello Road
Portobello Road is a street in the Notting Hill district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London. It runs almost the length of Notting Hill from south to north, roughly parallel with Ladbroke Grove. On Saturdays it is ...
Market. From around 1870, Notting Hill had an association with artists.
'Notting Hill and Bayswater', Old and New London: Volume 5 (1878), pp. 177-88.
For much of the 20th century, the large houses were subdivided into multi-occupancy rentals.
Caribbean immigrants were drawn to the area in the 1950s, partly because of the cheap rents, but were exploited by slum landlords like
Peter Rachman
Perec "Peter" Rachman (16 August 1919 – 29 November 1962) was a Polish-born landlord who operated in Notting Hill, London, England in the 1950s and early 1960s. He became notorious for his exploitation of his tenants, with the word "Rachmanism" ...
and also became the target of white
Teddy Boy
The Teddy Boys or Teds were a mainly British youth subculture of the mid 1950s to mid 1960s who were interested in rock and roll and R&B music, wearing clothes partly inspired by the styles worn by dandies in the Edwardian period, which S ...
s in the
1958 Notting Hill race riots
The Notting Hill race riots were a series of racially motivated riots that took place in Notting Hill, England, between 29 August and 5 September 1958.
Background
Following the end of the Second World War, as a result of the losses during the wa ...
.
In the early 21st century, after decades of
gentrification
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...
, Notting Hill had by then gained a reputation as an affluent and fashionable area, known for attractive
terraces of large
Victorian townhouses and high-end shopping and restaurants (particularly around
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 th ...
and Clarendon Cross). A ''
Daily Telegraph'' article in 2004 used the phrase "the
Notting Hill Set" to refer to a group of emerging
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
politicians, such as
David Cameron and
George Osborne
George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...
, who would become respectively Prime Minister and
Chancellor of the Exchequer and were once based in Notting Hill.
History
Notting Hill is in the ceremonial county of
Greater London although it was formerly a hamlet on rural land until the expansion of urban London during the 19th century. As late as 1870, even after the hamlet had become a London suburb, Notting Hill was still popularly referred to as being in Middlesex rather than in London.
Origin of the name
The origin of the name "Notting Hill" is uncertain though an early version appears in the
Patent Rolls
The patent rolls (Latin: ''Rotuli litterarum patentium'') are a series of administrative records compiled in the English, British and United Kingdom Chancery, running from 1201 to the present day.
Description
The patent rolls comprise a register ...
of 1356 as Knottynghull, while an 1878 text, Old and New London, reports that the name derives from a manor in Kensington called "Knotting-Bernes,", "Knutting-Barnes," or "Nutting-barns",
and goes on to quote from a court record during
Henry VIII's reign that "the manor called Notingbarons, alias Kensington, in the parish of Paddington, was held of the Abbot of Westminster." For years, it was thought to be a link with Canute, but it is now thought likely that the "Nott" section of the name is derived from the
Saxon personal name Cnotta, with the "ing" part generally accepted as coming from the Saxon for a group or settlement of people.
Potteries and Piggeries
![Walmer rd kiln](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Walmer_rd_kiln.jpg)
The area in the west around Pottery Lane was used in the early 19th century for making bricks and tiles out of the heavy clay dug in the area. The clay was shaped and fired in a series of brick and tile kilns. The only remaining 19th-century tile kiln in London is on Walmer Road. In the same area, pig farmers moved in after being forced out of the
Marble Arch
The Marble Arch is a 19th-century white marble-faced triumphal arch in London, England. The structure was designed by John Nash in 1827 to be the state entrance to the cour d'honneur of Buckingham Palace; it stood near the site of what is toda ...
area.
Avondale Park was created in 1892 out of a former area of pig
slurry called "the Ocean". This was part of a general clean-up of the area which had become known as the Potteries and Piggeries.
19th-century development
The area remained rural until London's westward expansion reached
Bayswater in the early 19th century. The Ladbroke family was Notting Hill's main landowner, and from the 1820s
James Weller Ladbroke began to develop the Ladbroke Estate. Working with the architect and surveyor
Thomas Allason
Thomas Allason (1790–1852) was an English architect, surveyor and landscaper, noted in particular for his work at Connaught Square and the Ladbroke Estate in Kensington.
Early life
Allason was born in London, England, in 1790. He studie ...
, Ladbroke began to lay out streets and houses, with a view to turning the area into a fashionable suburb of the capital (although the development did not get seriously under way until the 1840s). Many of these streets bear the Ladbroke name, including
Ladbroke Grove
Ladbroke Grove () is an area and a road in West London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, passing through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue.
It is also a name given ...
, the area's main north–south axis, and
Ladbroke Square, London's largest private
garden square
A garden square is a type of communal garden in an urban area wholly or substantially surrounded by buildings; commonly, it continues to be applied to public and private parks formed after such a garden becomes accessible to the public at large. T ...
.
The original idea was to call the district
Kensington Park, and other roads (notably
Kensington Park Road
Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the 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 by Kensington Gardens ...
and
Kensington Park Gardens
Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the 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 by Kensington Gar ...
) are reminders of this. The local telephone
prefix 7727 (originally 727) is based on the
old telephone exchange name of PARk.
![Allason plan 1823](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Allason_plan_1823.jpg)
Ladbroke left the actual business of developing his land to the firm of
City
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
solicitors, Smith, Bayley (known as Bayley and Janson after 1836), who worked with Allason to develop the property. In 1823 Allason completed a plan for the layout of the main portion of the estate. This marks the genesis of his most enduring idea – the creation of large private communal gardens, originally known as "pleasure grounds", or "paddocks", enclosed by terraces and/or crescents of houses.
Instead of houses being set around a garden square, separated from it by a road, Allason's houses would have direct access to a secluded communal garden in the rear, to which people on the street did not have access and generally could not see. To this day these
communal garden squares continue to provide the area with much of its attraction for the wealthiest householders.
![Environs of London Davies map 1841](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Environs_of_London_Davies_map_1841.jpg)
In 1837 the
Hippodrome
The hippodrome ( el, ἱππόδρομος) was an ancient Greek stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The name is derived from the Greek words ''hippos'' (ἵππος; "horse") and ''dromos'' (δρόμος; "course"). The term is used i ...
racecourse was laid out. The racecourse ran around the hill, and bystanders were expected to watch from the summit of the hill. However, the venture was not a success, in part due to a public right of way which traversed the course, and in part due to the heavy clay of the neighbourhood which caused it to become waterlogged. The Hippodrome closed in 1841, after which development resumed and houses were built on the site. The crescent-shaped roads that circumvent the hill, such as
Blenheim Crescent,
Elgin Crescent
Elgin Crescent is a street in Notting Hill, London, England.
It runs west from Portobello Road, crosses Ladbroke Grove and at its south-western end joins Clarendon Road. The section between Portobello Road and Kensington Park Road is formed o ...
, Stanley Crescent, Cornwall Crescent and Landsdowne Crescent, were built over the circular racecourse tracks. At the summit of hill stands the elegant
St John's church, built in 1845 in the early English style, and which formed the centrepiece of the Ladbroke Estate development.
The Notting Hill houses were large, but they did not immediately succeed in enticing the very richest Londoners, who tended to live closer to the centre of London in
Mayfair
Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...
or
Belgravia
Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dang ...
. The houses appealed to the upper middle class, who could live there in Belgravia style at lower prices. In the opening chapter of
John Galsworthy's ''
Forsyte Saga
''The Forsyte Saga'', first published under that title in 1922, is a series of three novels and two interludes published between 1906 and 1921 by the English author John Galsworthy, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature. They chronicle the vi ...
'' novels, he housed the Nicholas Forsytes "in Ladbroke Grove, a spacious abode and a great bargain". In 1862
Thomas Hardy left Dorchester for London to work with architect
Arthur Blomfield; during this period he lived in Westbourne Park Villas. He immersed himself in the city's literary and cultural life, studying art, visiting the
National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
, attending the theatre and writing prose and poetry. His first published story, "How I Built Myself a House", appeared in ''
Chamber's Journal
''Chambers's Edinburgh Journal'' was a weekly 16-page magazine started by William Chambers (publisher), William Chambers in 1832. The first edition was dated 4 February 1832, and priced at Penny (British pre-decimal coin), one penny. Topics incl ...
'' in 1865. Here he wrote his first―but never published―novel, ''The Poor Man and the Lady'', in 1867, and the poem "A Young Man's Exhortation," from which
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...
took an epigraph for his own novel ''
The Comedians''.
Arthur Machen
Arthur Machen (; 3 March 1863 – 15 December 1947) was the pen-name of Arthur Llewellyn Jones, a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His ...
(1863–1947), the author of many supernatural and fantastic fictions, lived at 23
Clarendon Road, Notting Hill Gate, in the 1880s; he writes of his life here in his memoirs ''Far Off Things'' (1922) and ''Things Near and Far'' (1923). His mystical work ''
The Hill of Dreams
''The Hill of Dreams'' is a semi-autobiographical novel by the Welsh writer Arthur Machen.
Plot summary
The novel recounts the life of a young man, Lucian Taylor, focusing on his dreamy childhood in rural Wales, in a town based on Caerleon. The ...
'' (1907, though written ten years earlier) has scenes set in Notting Hill; it is here that the protagonist Lucian Taylor encounters the beautiful bronze-haired prostitute who will later connive at his death.
Early to mid-20th century
![PinehurstCourt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/PinehurstCourt.jpg)
The reputation of the district altered over the course of the 20th century. As middle-class households ceased to employ servants, the large Notting Hill houses lost their market and were increasingly split into multiple occupation. During
the Blitz
The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'.
The Germa ...
a number of buildings were damaged or destroyed by the
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
, including
All Saints' Church
All Saints Church, or All Saints' Church or variations on the name may refer to:
Albania
*All Saints' Church, Himarë
Australia
* All Saints Church, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
* All Saints Anglican Church, Henley Brook, Western Aust ...
, which was hit in 1940 and again in 1944. In the postwar period the name Notting Hill evoked a down-at-heel area of cheap lodgings, epitomised by the racketeering landlord
Peter Rachman
Perec "Peter" Rachman (16 August 1919 – 29 November 1962) was a Polish-born landlord who operated in Notting Hill, London, England in the 1950s and early 1960s. He became notorious for his exploitation of his tenants, with the word "Rachmanism" ...
and the murders committed by
John Christie in 10 Rillington Place, since demolished. The area to the north east, Golborne, was particularly known for being, in the words of
Charles Booth, "one of the worst areas in London". Southam Street in Kensal Green had 2,400 people living in 140 nine-roomed houses in 1923, and the slum children from this street were documented in the 1950s photographs of
Roger Mayne
Roger Mayne (5 May 1929 – 7 June 2014) was an English photographer, best known for his documentation of the children of Southam Street, London.
Life and work
Born in Cambridge, Mayne studied Chemistry at Balliol College, Oxford University. Her ...
.
In late August and early September 1958, the
Notting Hill race riots
The Notting Hill race riots were a series of racially motivated riots that took place in Notting Hill, England, between 29 August and 5 September 1958.
Background
Following the end of the Second World War, as a result of the losses during the wa ...
occurred. The series of disturbances are thought to have started on 30 August when a gang of white youths attacked a Swedish woman,
Majbritt Morrison
Majbritt Morrison (born 1933) is known for being the victim of an assault that sparked off the 1958 Notting Hill race riots which escalated from there, and as the author of the best-seller ''Jungle West 11''.
Background
She was born in Sweden. In ...
, who was married to a West Indian man (Raymond Morrison), following a previous incident in Latimer Road tube station. Later that night a mob of 300 to 400 white people, including many "
Teddy Boy
The Teddy Boys or Teds were a mainly British youth subculture of the mid 1950s to mid 1960s who were interested in rock and roll and R&B music, wearing clothes partly inspired by the styles worn by dandies in the Edwardian period, which S ...
s", were seen on Bramley Road attacking the houses of West Indian residents. The disturbances,
racially-motivated rioting and attacks continued every night until they petered out by 5 September.
The dire housing conditions in Notting Hill led
Bruce Kenrick to found the
Notting Hill Housing Trust in 1963, helping to drive through new housing legislation in the 1960s and found the national housing organisation
Shelter
Shelter is a small building giving temporary protection from bad weather or danger.
Shelter may also refer to:
Places
* Port Shelter, Hong Kong
* Shelter Bay (disambiguation), various locations
* Shelter Cove (disambiguation), various locatio ...
in 1966. Nos 1–9 Colville Gardens, now known as
Pinehurst Court, had become so run down by 1969 that its owner, Robert Gubay of Cledro Developments, described conditions in the buildings as "truly terrible".
The slums were cleared during redevelopment in the 1960s and 1970s when the
Westway Flyover and
Trellick Tower
Trellick Tower is a Grade II* listed tower block on the Cheltenham Estate in North Kensington, London. Opened in 1972, it had been commissioned by the Greater London Council and designed in the Brutalist style by architect Ernő Goldfinger. ...
were built. It is now home to a vibrant community, mainly Mediterranean Spanish and Moroccan, together with Portuguese.
Late 20th-century gentrification
By the 1980s, single-occupation houses began to return to favour with families who could afford to occupy them, and because of the open spaces and stylish architecture Notting Hill is today one of London's most desirable areas.
Several parts of Notting Hill are characterised by handsome stucco-fronted pillar-porched houses, often with private gardens, notably around Pembridge Place and Dawson Place and streets radiating from the southern part of Ladbroke Grove, many of which lead onto substantial communal gardens. There are grand terraces, such as Kensington Park Gardens, and large villas as in Pembridge Square and around Holland Park. There is also new construction of modern houses tucked away on backland sites.
![Notting hill colorful houses](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Notting_hill_colorful_houses.jpg)
Since at least 2000, independent shops in Portobello such as Culture Shack have lost out to multinational standardised chains such as
Starbucks. In 2009, Lipka's Arcade, a large indoor antiques market, was replaced by the high-street chain
AllSaints. Reflecting the increasing demise of one of the most culturally vibrant parts of
central London, the 2011 Census showed that in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in which Notting Hill is situated, the number of Black or Black British and White Irish residents, two of the traditionally largest ethnic minority groups in Notting Hill, declined by 46 and 28 percent respectively in ten years.
The district adjoins two large public parks,
Holland Park and
Kensington Gardens, with
Hyde Park
Hyde Park may refer to:
Places
England
* Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London
* Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds
* Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield
* Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester
Austra ...
within to the east. The gentrification has encompassed some streets that were among the 1980s' most decrepit, including the now expensive retail sections of Westbourne Grove and Ledbury Road, as well as Portobello Road's emergence as a top London tourist attraction and Chamberlayne Road as a local shopping street with its boutique independent shops. Notting Hill has a high concentration of restaurants, including the two Michelin-rated
The Ledbury and Core by
Clare Smyth
Clare Smyth (born 1978) is a Northern Irish chef. She is the Chef Patron of three Michelin starred Core by Clare Smyth which opened in 2017. Previously she was Chef Patron at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay from 2012 to 2016, won the Chef of the Yea ...
.
Geography
The hill from which Notting Hill takes its name is still clearly visible, with its summit in the middle of
Ladbroke Grove
Ladbroke Grove () is an area and a road in West London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, passing through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue.
It is also a name given ...
, at the junction with
Kensington Park Gardens
Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the 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 by Kensington Gar ...
.
Notting Hill has no official boundaries, so definitions of which areas fall under Notting Hill vary. The postcode "W11", centred on the former site of the Post Office in
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 th ...
, near the junction with Denbigh Road, is the one most closely associated with Notting Hill. It covers the central part of Notting Hill, and is situated between the A402 (Holland Park Avenue) to the south and the Westway to the north. The postcode immediately to the north, "W10", covers North Kensington and "Part" Kensal Green. Notting Hill also covers part of the W2 postcode to the east, which is located in between Westbourne Park and
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 an area known as Westbourne Green and the NW10 postcode which covers parts of the
Kensal area in the northern section of Notting Hill.
that is considered part of Notting Hill. The Westbourne part of Notting Hill is governed by the City of Westminster Council and the Kensal area part
London Borough of Brent and part
Kensington and Chelsea. The famous
Kensal Green cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederick ...
is in Kensington and Chelsea. The local historian Florence Gladstone, in her much reprinted work "Notting Hill in Bygone Days" defines Notting Hill as the whole of that part of Kensington which is north of the road known as Notting Hill Gate.
North Kensington
North Kensington is an area of west London. It is north of Notting Hill and south of Kensal Green and in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The names North Kensington and Ladbroke Grove describe the same area.
North Kensington is wh ...
is considered the major neighbourhood of Notting Hill, but
Kensal Green,
Latimer Road Latimer may refer to:
Places England
* Latimer, Buckinghamshire, a village
** Latimer and Ley Hill, a civil parish that until 2013 was just called "Latimer"
* Latimer, Leicester, an electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leices ...
and Westbourne Park are also part of Notting Hill;
though
estate agents
An estate agent is a person or business that arranges the selling, renting, or management of properties and other buildings. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a letting or management agent. Estate agents are mainly engaged i ...
differentiate
North Kensington
North Kensington is an area of west London. It is north of Notting Hill and south of Kensal Green and in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The names North Kensington and Ladbroke Grove describe the same area.
North Kensington is wh ...
and Notting Hill as distinct areas with
Westbourne considered part of Notting Hill and Kensal considered part of North Kensington. Locally the areas of
Portobello
Portobello, Porto Bello, Porto Belo, Portabello, or Portabella may refer to:
Places Brazil
* Porto Belo
Ireland
* Portobello, Dublin
* Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin formerly ''Portobello Barracks''
New Zealand
* Portobello, New Zealand, on Ot ...
,
North Kensington
North Kensington is an area of west London. It is north of Notting Hill and south of Kensal Green and in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The names North Kensington and Ladbroke Grove describe the same area.
North Kensington is wh ...
,
Kensal are referred to as Ladbroke Grove, the main thoroughfare and tube station at the heart of Notting Hill. That part of the
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea roughly encompassed by the electoral wards of Saint Charles, Golborne, Notting Barns, Colville, Norland, and Pembridge, which is bounded on the north by Harrow Road and on the south by
Notting Hill Gate
Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares of Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically the street was a location for toll gates, from which it derives its modern name.
Location
At Ossington Street/Ke ...
and
Holland Park Avenue
Holland Park Avenue is a street located in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in west central London. The street runs from Notting Hill Gate in the east to the Holland Park Roundabout in the west, forms a part of the old west road c ...
, includes all areas known as Notting Hill, including Notting Barns, the centre of the Notting Hill race riot.
David Cameron, former leader of 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 ...
, is known as part of the "Notting Hill Set", though he states he lives in North Kensington.
![Notting Haill Gate shops (2021) Kensaington Park Road](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Notting_Haill_Gate_shops_%282021%29_Kensaington_Park_Road.jpg)
There are five tube stations in the area:
Ladbroke Grove
Ladbroke Grove () is an area and a road in West London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, passing through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue.
It is also a name given ...
,
Westbourne Park,
Latimer Road Latimer may refer to:
Places England
* Latimer, Buckinghamshire, a village
** Latimer and Ley Hill, a civil parish that until 2013 was just called "Latimer"
* Latimer, Leicester, an electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leices ...
,
Notting Hill Gate
Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares of Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically the street was a location for toll gates, from which it derives its modern name.
Location
At Ossington Street/Ke ...
and
Kensal Green. Notting Hill is part of the parliamentary constituency of
Kensington, represented by Conservative
Felicity Buchan
Felicity Christiana Buchan (born 1970) is a British politician serving as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Housing and Homelessness since October 2022. She served as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from Sep ...
since the 2019 general election.
Areas of Notting Hill
Ladbroke Grove
Ladbroke Grove is a road running down the west side of Notting Hill, stretching up to
Kensal Green, straddling the W10 and W11
postal districts, and also the name of the immediate area surrounding the road.
Ladbroke Grove tube station
Ladbroke Grove is a London Underground station on the Circle line (London Underground), Circle and Hammersmith & City line, Hammersmith & City lines, between Latimer Road tube station, Latimer Road and Westbourne Park tube station, Westbourne P ...
is on the road where it is crossed by the
Westway.
Notting Hill Gate
A
turnpike
Turnpike often refers to:
* A type of gate, another word for a turnstile
* In the United States, a toll road
Turnpike may also refer to:
Roads United Kingdom
* A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powers ...
gate was constructed at the foot of the hill on the main road from London to Uxbridge, now
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and ...
, Bayswater Road and Holland Park Avenue along this part of its route. The point at which the turnpike gate stood was known as Notting Hill Gate. The gate was there to stop people passing along the road without paying. The proceeds were applied towards the maintenance of this important road. The gate was removed in the 19th century and the high road was widened and straightened in the 1960s, involving the demolition of many buildings, the linking of two separate tube stations and the construction of two tower blocks.
Portobello Road
![Portobello Road, Notting Hill](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Portobello_Road%2C_Notting_Hill.jpg)
Portobello Road runs almost the entire length of Notting Hill from north to south. It runs parallel to Ladbroke Grove. It contains
Portobello Road Market
Portobello Road is a street in the Notting Hill district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London. It runs almost the length of Notting Hill from south to north, roughly parallel with Ladbroke Grove. On Saturdays it is ...
, one of London's best known markets, containing an
antique section and second-hand, fruit and veg and clothing stalls. The road was originally a lane leading to Portobello Farm in the north of Notting Hill.
Westbourne Grove
Westbourne Grove is a retail road running across Notting Hill from Kensington Park Road in the west to Queensway in the east, crossing over Portobello Road. It was noted as "fashionable" and "up-and-coming" from the 1990s since then it has attracted many designer label outlets as well as independent and chain retailers.
The
Notting Hill Carnival passes along the central part of Westbourne Grove.
Westbourne Green
Westbourne Green is the area in between Westbourne Park Station and Royal Oak Station and is made up of mainly residential roads with Westbourne Park Road running through the entire area to the east of Notting Hill. This area houses 2 very popular drinking establishments, 'The Cow' and 'The Westbourne' situated central to Westbourne Green. The Westbourne Green section of Notting Hill comes under Westminster City Council.
The
Notting Hill Carnival also passes through Westbourne Green up Chepstow Road and turns right onto Westbourne Grove.
Kensal Green
Kensal Green is in the north of Notting Hill. It is the area north of the respective iron bridges on
Ladbroke Grove
Ladbroke Grove () is an area and a road in West London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, passing through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue.
It is also a name given ...
and
Golborne Road. Parts of this area fall under the London Borough of Brent. It has been earmarked for regeneration around the proposed crossrail station next to Sainsbury's.
The area is served by
Kensal Green station
Kensal Green is a railway station served by London Underground Bakerloo line and London Overground trains. It is located in College Road, London NW10 close to the junction with Harrow Road. It is about 0.5 mile (750m) route distance from the ol ...
(Underground and Overground)
North Kensington
![Notting Hill](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Notting_Hill.001_-_London.JPG)
North Kensington is the key neighbourhood of Notting Hill. It is where most of the violence of the
race riots
An ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more contending ethnic groups. While the source of the conflict may be political, social, economic or religious, the individuals in conflict must expressly fight for their ethnic group's positi ...
occurred, where the
Notting Hill Carnival started and where most of the scenes in the film, Notting Hill were shot.
The area's main transport hub,
Ladbroke Grove tube station
Ladbroke Grove is a London Underground station on the Circle line (London Underground), Circle and Hammersmith & City line, Hammersmith & City lines, between Latimer Road tube station, Latimer Road and Westbourne Park tube station, Westbourne P ...
, was called Notting Hill from its opening in 1864 until 1919. The name was changed then to avoid confusion with the new
Notting Hill Gate station
Notting Hill Gate is a London Underground station near Notting Hill, London, located on the street called Notting Hill Gate. On the Central line, it is between Holland Park to the west and Queensway to the east. On the District line and Circl ...
. Ladbroke Grove is the area's main thoroughfare.
Estate agents now call the
super-rich area to the south Notting Hill when referring to Notting Hill Gate and
Holland Park.
North Kensington was once well known for its slum housing. However, North Kensington retains high levels of poverty and unemployment and a high-proportion of social housing for rent. In this area,
Grenfell Tower
Grenfell Tower is a derelict 24-storey residential tower block in North Kensington in London, England. The tower was completed in 1974 as part of the first phase of the Lancaster West Estate. The tower was named after Grenfell Road, which ran to ...
is also found, which burnt down in 2017.
Waves of immigration to the area have occurred for at least a century, including, but certainly not limited to, people of Irish, Jewish, Caribbean, Spanish, and Moroccan extraction. This constant renewal of the population makes the area one of the most cosmopolitan in the world.
Carnival
![Notting Hill Carnival 2002 large](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Notting_Hill_Carnival_2002_large.jpg)
Notting Hill Carnival is an annual
Caribbean carnival
Caribbean Carnival is the term used in the English speaking world for a series of events, held annually throughout almost the whole year in many Caribbean islands and worldwide.
The Caribbean's carnivals have several common themes, all originati ...
event in August, over two days (Sunday and the following
bank holiday). It has continuously taken place since 1965. It is led by members of the Caribbean population, many of whom have lived in the area since the 1950s. The carnival has attracted up to 1.5million people in the past, putting it among the largest street festivals in Europe.
It attracted press attention in 1976 for clashes with the police, which occurred in 1976 at the conclusion of the Notting Hill Carnival after police arrested a pickpocket and a group of black youths came to his defence. The disturbance escalated and more than 100 police officers were injured. Two notable participants in this riot were
Joe Strummer
John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British singer, musician and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, ...
and
Paul Simonon, who later formed the seminal London
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
band
The Clash
The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...
. Their song "
White Riot
"White Riot" is a song by English punk rock band the Clash, released as the band's first single in March 1977 and also included on their self-titled debut album.
Versions
There are two versions of the song: the single version (also appeari ...
" was inspired by their participation in this event. Further incidents continued for a few years, but receded for several decades, until 2008 when approximately 500 youths clashed with police on the Monday.
As the event grew, concerns about the size of the event prompted
Ken Livingstone to set up a Carnival Review Group to look into "formulating guidelines to safeguard the future of the Carnival". An interim report by the review resulted in a change to the route in 2002. When the full report was published in 2004, it was recommended that
Hyde Park
Hyde Park may refer to:
Places
England
* Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London
* Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds
* Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield
* Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester
Austra ...
be used as a "savannah"; though this move has attracted some concern that the Hyde Park event may overshadow the original street carnival.
In 2003 Carnival was run by a
limited company
In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by ...
, the Notting Hill Carnival Trust Ltd. A report by the London Development Agency on the 2002 Carnival estimated that the event contributes around £93million to the
London and UK economy.
Cultural references
Notting Hill provides the setting for novels by
G.K. Chesterton
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English writer, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox". Of his writing style, ''Time'' observed: "Wh ...
(''
The Napoleon of Notting Hill
''The Napoleon of Notting Hill'' is a novel written by G. K. Chesterton in 1904, set in a nearly unchanged London in 1984.
Although the novel is set in the future, it is, in effect, set in an alternative reality of Chesterton's own period, wit ...
''), Colin MacInnes (''
Absolute Beginners''),
Michael Moorcock
Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has work ...
(the Jerry Cornelius quartet),
R. C. Sherriff
Robert Cedric Sherriff, FSA, FRSL (6 June 1896 – 13 November 1975) was an English writer best known for his play '' Journey's End'', which was based on his experiences as an army officer in the First World War. He wrote several plays, many nov ...
(''
The Hopkins Manuscript''), and
Alan Hollinghurst
Alan James Hollinghurst (born 26 May 1954) is an English novelist, poet, short story writer and translator. He won the 1989 Somerset Maugham Award, the 1994 James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the 2004 Booker Prize.
Early life and education
H ...
(''
The Line of Beauty
''The Line of Beauty'' is a 2004 Man Booker Prize-winning novel by Alan Hollinghurst.
Plot
The novel is set in Britain in three parts, taking place in 1983, 1986 and 1987. The story surrounds the young gay protagonist, Nick Guest. Nick is mid ...
''). Dan Waddel's ''The Blood Detective'' is a murder novel set in the past and present - featuring Notting Dale. The area's newer, wealthy residents are satirised in
Rachel Johnson
Rachel Sabiha Johnson (born 3 September 1965) is a British journalist, television presenter, and author who has appeared frequently on political discussion panels, including '' The Pledge'' on Sky News and BBC One's debate programme, '' Questi ...
's novel ''Notting Hell'' (2006) set in grand houses surrounding a fictional communal garden.
's 1956 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' ...
'' set in Notting Hill portrays the lives of Caribbean immigrants making their way in post-World War II London.
The area is also the setting of the films: ''
The Knack …and How to Get It
''The Knack …and How to Get It'' is a 1965 British comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring Rita Tushingham, Ray Brooks, Michael Crawford, and Donal Donnelly. The screenplay by Charles Wood is based on a play of the same name by ...
'' (1965), ''
Performance'' (1970) featuring
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...
, ''
Lava
Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...
'' (2001), and ''
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 Padd ...
'' (2014). Notting Hill serves as the locale for the 1999 romantic comedy ''
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road Ma ...
'', starring
Julia Roberts
Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles in films encompassing a variety of genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and th ...
and
Hugh Grant
Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor. He established himself early in his career as both a charming, and vulnerable romantic lead and has since transitioned into a dramatic character actor. Among his numerous a ...
.
A film set in the same streets but showing a different story of the area is ''
Pressure
Pressure (symbol: ''p'' or ''P'') is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled ''gage'' pressure)The preferred spelling varies by country and e ...
'' (1976), by
Horace Ové
Sir Horace Shango Ové (born 1936) is a Trinidad and Tobago-born British filmmaker, photographer, painter and writer. One of the leading black independent filmmakers to emerge in Britain in the post-war period, Ové holds the ''Guinness World R ...
, examining the experience of those of Caribbean descent in 1970s Notting Hill including police brutality and discrimination.
The Notting Hillbillies
The Notting Hillbillies were a country rock project formed by British singer-songwriter Mark Knopfler in May 1986. The group consisted of Knopfler (guitar and vocals), Steve Phillips (guitar and vocals), Brendan Croker (guitar and vocals), Guy F ...
were a
country rock project formed by
Dire Straits frontman
Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...
in 1986. They released a single album, ''
Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time'', in 1990.
Notting Hill is often referred to as 'the most Instagrammable district in London' due to the abundance of photogenic restaurants and pastel-coloured houses.
Notable residents
*
Damon Albarn
*
Elizabeth Clark
*
Mabel
*
Peter Gabriel
*
Bette Bourne
Bette Bourne (born Peter Bourne, 22 September 1939) is a British actor, drag queen, campaigner, and activist. His theatrical career has spanned six decades. He came to prominence in the mid-1970s onwards after joining the New York-based alterna ...
(born Peter Bourne) a British actor, drag queen and activist
*
George Orwell
*
David Cameron
*
Noel Clarke
*
George Osborne
George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...
*
Michael Gove
*
Duncan Fallowell
Duncan Fallowell (born 1948) is an English novelist, travel writer, memoirist, journalist and critic.
Early life
Fallowell was born on 26 September 1948 in London. His family later moved to Somerset and Essex before settling in Berkshire. While ...
*
John Christie
*
Mark White
*
Tallulah (DJ) - Originally from
Hamburg, Germany
*
Tom Hollander
Thomas Anthony Hollander (; born 25 August 1967) is an English actor. As a child Hollander trained with the National Youth Theatre and was later involved in stage productions as a member of the Footlights and was president of the Marlowe Soc ...
*
Roche Lynch
Gerald Roche Lynch OBE FRIC DPH (1889–1957) was a British forensic scientist and public health analyst associated with several infamous murders as a medico-legal expert. An expert on poisons he appeared as an expert witness in multiple murder ...
*
Michael Moorcock
Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has work ...
*
Philip Sayer
Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
*
Steve Strange
Stephen John Harrington (28 May 1959 – 12 February 2015), known professionally as Steve Strange, was a Welsh singer. From the late 1970s he was a nightclub host and promoter. He became famous as the leader of the new wave synth-pop group ...
*
Anne Pigalle
Anne Pigalle is a French singer and multimedia artist (writer, musician, art performer, poet, photographer and painter).
Biography Early career
Pigalle grew up in Montmartre, Paris. As a teenager, she played guitar in an all-female band, hangi ...
(Originally from
Paris, France
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
)
*
Alfonso Cuarón (Originally from
Mexico City, Mexico)
*
Will Shu
William Shu ( zh, t=許子祥, poj=Khó͘ Chú-siông, born December 1979) is a UK-based American businessman, the co-founder and CEO of Deliveroo, an online food delivery company with operations spread across more than 200 cities in 11 countri ...
Transport
Along with the majority of west and northwest London, Notting Hill is heavily served by the
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England.
The ...
. Five lines serve the area, two deep level tubes, the
Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and
Bakerloo line
The Bakerloo line () is a London Underground line that goes from in suburban north-west London to in south London, via the West End. Printed in brown on the Tube map, it serves 25 stations, 15 of which are underground, over . It runs partly ...
s, with three sub-surface lines, the
Hammersmith & City,
Circle
A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is con ...
and
District line
The District line is a London Underground line running from in the east and Edgware Road in the west to in west London, where it splits into multiple branches. One branch runs to in south-west London and a short branch, with a limited serv ...
s. Firstly, the Central line crosses the area on an east–west axis, with stations at
Notting Hill Gate
Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares of Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically the street was a location for toll gates, from which it derives its modern name.
Location
At Ossington Street/Ke ...
, which also provides an interchange with the Circle (main section) and District lines (Edgware road branch), and
Holland Park to the west. The northern half of Notting Hill, comprising various sub districts such as Kensal Green, Ladbroke Grove and
North Kensington
North Kensington is an area of west London. It is north of Notting Hill and south of Kensal Green and in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The names North Kensington and Ladbroke Grove describe the same area.
North Kensington is wh ...
is served by the western branch of the Circle line, as it shares tracks with the
Hammersmith & City line west of Paddington. These lines run through Notting Hill predominantly on a viaduct, calling at
Westbourne Park,
Ladbroke Grove
Ladbroke Grove () is an area and a road in West London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, passing through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue.
It is also a name given ...
and
Latimer Road Latimer may refer to:
Places England
* Latimer, Buckinghamshire, a village
** Latimer and Ley Hill, a civil parish that until 2013 was just called "Latimer"
* Latimer, Leicester, an electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leices ...
respectively, before reaching Shepherds Bush to the west. The Bakerloo line skirts the North East corner running from
Warwick Avenue station to
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 Padd ...
.
Crossrail Station
At a site just to the east of the Old Oak Common site,
Kensington & Chelsea Council has been pushing for a station at
Kensal Green off Ladbroke Grove and Canal Way, as a turn-back facility will have to be built in the area anyway. Siting it at Kensal Green, rather than next to Paddington itself, would provide a new station to regenerate the area. Among the general public there is a huge amount of support for the project and the then-Mayor
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
stated that a station would be added if it did not increase
Crossrail
Crossrail is a railway construction project mainly in central London. Its aim is to provide a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system crossing the capital from suburbs on the west to east, by connecting two major railway l ...
's overall cost; in response, Kensington & Chelsea Council agreed to underwrite the projected £33million cost of a Crossrail station, which was received very well by the residents of the Borough. In 2011,
Transport for London conducted a feasibility study on the station with the project backed by
National Grid, retailers
Sainsbury's
J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales.
Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...
and
Cath Kidston Limited
Cath Kidston Limited is a British international home furnishing retail company with headquarters in London, with a focus on handicraft and vintage themed items that embody a quintessentially British lifestyle.
Designer Cath Kidston opened her f ...
, and Jenny Jones (Green Party member of the London Assembly).
"Kensal Crossrail station would 'transform' the area, says deputy mayor"
Regeneration + Renewal, 16 May 2011.
See also
* 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 Padd ...
* West Kensington
West Kensington, formerly North End, is an area in the ancient parish of Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, England, 3.4 miles (5.5 km) west of Charing Cross. It covers most of the London postal area of W14, includ ...
References
External links
* Jennifer Hudson
"The forgotten black history of London's famous Notting Hill neighborhood"
mic.com, 31 October 2018.
{{Authority control
Areas of London
Districts of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
History of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Places formerly in Middlesex
District centres of London