Ladbroke Grove () is an area and a road in

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 ...

in the

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is an Inner London borough with royal status. It is the smallest borough in London and the second smallest district in England; it is one of the most densely populated administrative regions in the ...

, passing through Kensal Green and

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 M ...

, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue. It is also a name given to the immediate surrounding areas of

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 ...

, Kensal Green and Westbourne Park straddling the W10 and W11 postal districts although parts of the wider area cover parts of NW10.

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 located on the road, at the point where it is crossed by the Westway. Ladbroke Grove is the nearest tube station to

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 ...

. The adjacent bridge and nearby section of the Westway were regenerated in 2007 in a partnership including

Urban Eye Urban Eye (formerly Westway Project) is a London-based charity that has been regenerating run-down parts of inner city London through the use of design, architectural lighting and public art since 1998. Projects aim to reduce fear of crime and a ...

, Transport for London and

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 ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

. It is the main road on the route of the annual Notting Hill Carnival. The northern end between the Harrow Road and

Kensal House Kensal House is a housing estate of two curved blocks of 68 housing association Apartment, flats at the northern end of Ladbroke Grove, London, completed in 1937 and designed by the architect Maxwell Fry. It was the first Modern architecture, mo ...

is located in Kensal Green, the middle section between Barlby Road and the A40 flyover is in North Kensington with the southern end between Lancaster road and Holland Park Avenue situated in Notting Hill.

History

The area and the street are named after James Weller Ladbroke, who developed the

Ladbroke Estate The Ladbroke Estate was a substantial estate of land owned by the Ladbroke family in Notting Hill, London, England, in the early 19th century that was gradually developed and turned into housing during the middle years of the century, as London ...

in the 1840s. It was originally a predominantly rural area on the western edges of London. Construction at the southern end by Holland Park Avenue began in the 1830s, but the road was not fully developed to Harrow Road until the 1870s.

Hablot Knight Browne Hablot Knight Browne (10 July 1815 – 8 July 1882) was an English artist and illustrator. Well-known by his pen name, Phiz, he illustrated books by Charles Dickens, Charles Lever, and Harrison Ainsworth. Early life Of Huguenot ancestry, Hablot ...

, the cartoonist who illustrated

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

' novels as "Phiz", lived at No. 99 in 1872–80.

Churches

The church of St John the Evangelist was constructed in 1845 on the site of the Hippodrome on the Ladbroke Estate, which had closed four years earlier. The

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church of St Michael and All Angels in the road was designed by

James Edmeston James Edmeston (10 September 1791 – 7 January 1867) was an English architect and surveyor; he was also known as a prolific writer of church hymns. He was born in Wapping, Middlesex, England. His maternal grandfather was the Reverend Samuel B ...

and built in the

Romanesque style Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this later ...

in 1871. The funds were provided by J. E.Gray, the father of the first vicar, the Reverend Edward Ker Gray: the foundation stone was laid on 1 November 1870 by a cousin of the Grays, John Mowbray. The church became fashionable with members of the Royal Family. The Duke of Edinburgh played the violin in the church orchestra. The vicarage was built in 1876, with the foundation stone being laid by the Duchess of Teck. The Lady Chapel was opened by the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh in 1882. However, in 1886, the Reverend Gray moved to the Curzon Street Chapel and St Michael's became less fashionable. The

Serbian Orthodox The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The majority of the population in ...

Church of St Sava is on Lancaster Road, just off Ladbroke Grove. The church building was originally built in 1903 as the Anglican church of St Columba; in 1952 it was re-consecrated as Saint Sava's, to serve a growing community of post-war refugees. It was the venue for the baptism of Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia, son of Peter II, in 1945, and his second marriage in 1985. Princess Maria Tatiana, daughter of

Prince Andrew of Yugoslavia Prince Andrew of Yugoslavia ( sr-cyr, Андреј Карађорђевић; 28 June 1929 – 7 May 1990) was the youngest child of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia and Maria of Yugoslavia. Personal life In 1934, when he was only five, Prince An ...

, was baptised there in 1957. In 2013, it was the venue for the memorial service of

Princess Margarita of Baden Princess Margarita of Baden (''Margarete Alice Thyra Viktoria Marie Louise Scholastica''; 14 July 1932 – 15 January 2013) was the only daughter of Berthold, Margrave of Baden, and Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark. She was the cousin of K ...

. The former church of Christ Church, Telford Road was opened in 1881, and closed in 1940 when the parish merged with St Michaels. The church building was demolished.

Music and culture

Ladbroke Grove was a centre of the British counterculture in the 1960s. The area was

blacklist Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...

ed for development following

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 ...

, and consequently found favour with individuals who distrusted authority, moving into unmodernised Victorian properties along the road. The

space rock Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...

band

Hawkwind Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard ...

were formed here in 1969, and eventually bonded and worked with fantasy author

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 ...

who was then a resident. Moorcock's work often contain references to Ladbroke Grove, the location being the headquarters of his fictional characters

Jerry Cornelius Jerry Cornelius is a fictional character created by English author Michael Moorcock. The character is an urban adventurer and an incarnation of the author's Eternal Champion concept. Cornelius is a hipster of ambiguous and occasionally polymorphous ...

and Colonel Pyat. The Deviants (formerly the Social Deviants) and

Pink Fairies Pink Fairies are an English rock band initially active in the London (Ladbroke Grove) underground and psychedelic scene of the early 1970s. They promoted free music, drug use, and anarchy, and often performed impromptu gigs and other stunts, ...

were musical groups out of the Ladbroke Grove UK underground movement, from which a number of bands would emerge, influenced by anarchistic singer/writer

Mick Farren Michael Anthony Farren (3 September 1943 – 27 July 2013) was an English rock musician, singer, journalist, and author associated with counterculture and the UK underground. Early life Farren was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and aft ...

. Punk group

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 wa ...

also formed locally in 1976; frontman

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, ...

squatted Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

around Ladbroke Grove before joining the group. The '' Roughler'' magazine emerged in the 1980s and 1990s to chronicle the antics of the more Bohemian residents, including the legendary Portobello

Panto Panto may refer to: * Pantomime, a genre of musical comedy stage production, developed in England and mostly performed during Christmas and New Year season * American pantomime, theatre entertainments in North America derived from the English ente ...

s. Ladbroke Grove features as the scene of

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

's 1968 song "

Slim Slow Slider "Slim Slow Slider" is the closing track on the 1968 album ''Astral Weeks'' by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. Recording and composition As the final song on the album, "Slim Slow Slider" was also the last song recorded on the final ...

" from ''

Astral Weeks ''Astral Weeks'' is the second studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was recorded at Century Sound Studios in New York during September and October 1968, and released in November of the same year by Warner Bros. Rec ...

'', and is mentioned in the 1970s pop hit "One Man Band" by

Leo Sayer Gerard Hugh "Leo" Sayer (born 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter whose singing career has spanned five decades. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom ...

. The

Pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material ...

song "I Spy", from the album '' Different Class'', features the line "your Ladbroke Grove looks turn me on". The Blur songs " Fool's Day" and " Lonesome Street" also feature Ladbroke Grove in their lyrics. As does the song "Joel" by

The Boo Radleys The Boo Radleys are an English alternative rock band who were associated with the shoegazing and Britpop movements in the 1990s. They originally formed in Wallasey, England in 1988, with Rob Harrison on drums, singing, singer/electric guitar, g ...

, with the line, "I've found myself in Ladbroke Grove" from the album '' Wake Up!''.

The Slits The Slits were a punk and post-punk band based in London, formed there in 1976 by members of the groups the Flowers of Romance and the Castrators. The group's early line-up consisted of Ari Up (Ariane Forster) and Palmolive (a.k.a. Paloma R ...

song "Ping Pong Affair" from the album ''

Cut Cut may refer to: Common uses * The act of cutting, the separation of an object into two through acutely-directed force ** A type of wound ** Cut (archaeology), a hole dug in the past ** Cut (clothing), the style or shape of a garment ** Cut (ea ...

'', also features Ladbroke Grove in its lyrics. " LDN" by

Lily Allen Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Her music career began in 2005 when she made some of her vocal recordings public ...

mentions Ladbroke Grove in an

overdubbed Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...

chorus of London placenames.

Killing Joke Killing Joke are an English rock music, rock band from Notting Hill, London, England, formed in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Ki ...

have released an EP (In Excelsis) that features two mixes of a song called "Ghost Of Ladbroke Grove". The UK rapper

AJ Tracey Ché Wolton Grant (born 4 March 1994), known professionally as AJ Tracey, is a British rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is from Ladbroke Grove, West London. Tracey rose to popularity in 2016 and was listed by ''The Guardian'' i ...

's hit "

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 ...

" is named after the road which he is from; it peaked at number 3 on the UK singles chart. Mahdi made his first music video in Ladbroke Grove. The posthumous music video of the Lil Peep release " 4 Gold Chains" is set at 121 Ladbroke Grove. In 1977, a brief encounter between musicians

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

and

Steve Hackett Stephen Richard Hackett (born 12 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who gained prominence as the lead guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis from 1971 to 1977. Hackett contributed to six Genesis ...

on Ladbroke Grove finalised the latter's departure from the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

. From the 2010s to today Ladbroke Grove has been home to some of the most prominent grime and drill artists, such as AJ Tracey and Digga D.

Transport

Rail

is located halfway along the road, and is served by the

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 const ...

and Hammersmith & City lines. The Westway, part of a main road from Central London to

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

crosses in the same location, though there is no junction. The road also has bridges over the Great Western Main Line from

London Paddington station Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great W ...

, and the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter st ...

Crossrail

At a site just to the east of the Old Oak Common site,

Kensington and Chelsea Council Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council is the local authority for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. Kensington and Chel ...

has been pushing for a station at Kensal 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.

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's overall cost; in response, Kensington and Chelsea Council agreed to underwrite the projected £33 million cost of a Crossrail station. TfL is conducting a feasibility study on the station and the project is 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 wa ...

and

Cath Kidston Catherine Isabel Audrey Kidston (born 6 November 1958) is an English fashion designer, businesswoman and author whose company, Cath Kidston Limited sells home furnishings and related goods online, through franchises and by mail order. She is ...

, and Jenny Jones (Green Party member of the London Assembly). The plans were resurrected by Johnson in 2016.

Incidents

On 5 October 1999, two trains on the Great Western Main Line near Ladbroke Grove crashed into each other at a combined speed of over , leading to the diesel fuel of one of the trains igniting and setting fire to both. Thirty one people died and over 400 were injured, including severe burns. The cause of the crash was determined to be lack of suitable visibility of signals. The crash, combined with further major incidents at Hatfield and

Potters Bar Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882. In 2022 the population was ...

, shook confidence in the British rail network.

Bus

Ladbroke Grove is served by

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...

routes 7, 23, 52, 70, 228, 295, 316, 452 and N7.

Notable residents

Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence in February 2012 when she featured on DJ Fresh's single, "Hot Right Now", which reached number one in the UK. Her debut studi ...

, British singer/songwriter grew up in Ladbroke Grove. *

, rapper, best known for his song "Ladbroke Grove", grew up in Ladbroke Grove. * Chrissie Hynde, American musician, lead vocalist with

The Pretenders Pretenders are an English–American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Fa ...

. *

Anthony Sampson Anthony Terrell Seward Sampson (3 August 1926 – 18 December 2004) was a British writer and journalist. His most notable and successful book was '' Anatomy of Britain'', which was published in 1962 and was followed by five more "Anatomies", upd ...

, journalist and writer, 27 Ladbroke Grove * Hugh Thomas, historian, 29 Ladbroke Grove. *

Hayley Atwell Hayley Elizabeth Atwell (born 5 April 1982) is a British and American actress. Born and raised in London, Atwell studied acting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and made her stage debut in a 2005 production of James Kerr's translation ...

, a British and American actress, most widely known for portraying Agent

Peggy Carter Margaret Elizabeth Carter is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is usually depicted as a supporting character in books featuring Captain America. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirb ...

. *

Digga D Rhys Angelo Emile Herbert (born 29 June 2000), known professionally as Digga D, is a British rapper and director. He had multiple singles that have been placed in the UK Singles Chart; his mixtape albums '' Double Tap Diaries'' and '' Made In ...

, rapper, member of CGM. *

Javine Hylton Javine Dionne Hylton (born 27 December 1981), often known simply as Javine, is an English singer and songwriter. She represented the UK at the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv with " Touch My Fire". Hylton has also had a string of singles ...

, singer, hailed from Ladbroke Grove. *

, British singer/songwriter lives in Ladbroke Grove. *

Cleo Sol Cleopatra Zvezdana Nikolic (born 24 March 1991), better known by her stage name Cleo Sol, is a British singer-songwriter. Working closely with the producer Inflo, she has released two solo studio albums, ''Rose in the Dark'' (2020) and ''Mother'' ...

, British singer/songwriter, member of Sault

Notes and references

Citations Sources *

Bibliography

British History Online
* Barbara Denny, ''Notting Hill and Holland Park Past'', Historical Publications, 1993. * Derry Moore, ''Notting Hill'', Frances Lincoln Ltd, 2007,

External links

{{Authority control Streets in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Districts of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Areas of London Notting Hill