Notting Hill: Difference between revisions
| Line 88: | Line 88: | ||
North Kensington was once an area well-known for its slum housing, as documented in the photographs of Roger Mayne.<ref>http://www.morrissey-solo.com/people/mayne.htm</ref> |
North Kensington was once an area well-known for its slum housing, as documented in the photographs of Roger Mayne.<ref>http://www.morrissey-solo.com/people/mayne.htm</ref> |
||
Waves of immigrants have arrived for at least a century including, but certainly not limited to, the Irish, the Jews, the West Indians, the Spanish, the Moroccans and many from the Horn of Africa and Eastern Europe. This constant renewal of the population makes the area one of the most cosmopolitan in the world. Levels of poverty are still high |
Waves of immigrants have arrived for at least a century including, but certainly not limited to, the Irish, the Jews, the West Indians, the Spanish, the Moroccans and many from the Horn of Africa and Eastern Europe. This constant renewal of the population makes the area one of the most cosmopolitan in the world. Levels of poverty are still high in some areas, making the vicinity dangerous at times, though policing has proved effective in many areas of North Kensington. |
||
A budding music scene is also emerging. |
A budding music scene is also emerging. |
||
Revision as of 10:50, 18 August 2007
Notting Hill is an area in West London, England close to the north-western corner of Hyde Park, and lying within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is a cosmopolitan district known as the location for the annual Notting Hill Carnival, the setting for the 1999 film Notting Hill starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, and for being home to the Portobello Road antique market.[1]
Notting Hill has a contemporary reputation as an affluent and fashionable area[2]; known for attractive terraces of large Victorian townhouses, and high-class shopping and restaurants (particularly around Westbourne Grove and Clarendon Cross). A Daily Telegraph article in 2004 used the phrase "The Notting Hill Set" [3] to refer to a group of young Conservative politicians, such as leader David Cameron and shadow Chancellor George Osborne. However, the large houses have also provided multi-occupancy rentals for much of the 20th century, attracting Caribbean immigrants in the 1950s who eventually clashed with the indigenous Teddy boys in the Notting Hill race riots.
In addition, Notting Hill has had an association with artists and "alternative" culture since its development in the 1820s.[4][5] There are also areas of social deprivation to the north[6], sometimes referred to as "North Kensington", or the "Ladbroke Grove" area, from the name of the same street.
History
Origin of the Notting Hill name
The origin of the name "Notting Hill" is uncertain [7] though an early version appears in the Patent Rolls of 1356 as Knottynghull [8][9], 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"[5], 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". It is thought likely that the "Nott" section of the name is derived from the Saxon personal name Cnotta,[10] with the "ing" part generally accepted as coming from the Saxon for a group or settlement of people.[11]
Potteries & Piggeries
19th century development
The area remained rural until the westward expansion of London reached Bayswater in the early 19th century. The main landowner in Notting Hill was the Ladbroke family, and from the 1820s they 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 (the main north-south axis of the area) and Ladbroke Square (which is the largest private garden square in London).
The original idea was to call the district Kensington Park, and other roads (notably Kensington Park Road and Kensington Park Gardens) are remainders of this. The local telephone prefix 7727 is based on the old telephone exchange name of PARK.[13]
The principal architect of this plan was the Ladbroke family surveyor, Thomas Allom; and its distinctive feature was that instead of houses being set around a garden square, separated from the houses by a road around the square, houses were placed around the edge of the garden square; with the road on the other side of the house. This meant that the houses had direct access at the back to a secluded communal garden, to which people on the street did not have access; and which could not even be seen from the street (mostly). These communal gardens continue to provide the area with much of its attraction for the richest householders.
In 1837 the Hippodrome racecourse was laid out.[14] The racecourse ran around the hill, and bystanders were expected to watch from the summit of the hill. However, it was not a success as it became waterlogged, and was closed in 1841, after which houses were built on the site. The crescent shaped roads which circumvent the hill (Blenheim Crescent, Elgin Crescent, Stanley Crescent, Cornwall Crescent, Landsdowne Crescent), were built over the circular racecourse tracks.
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 or Belgravia. Rather, 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 novels, he housed the Nicholas Forsytes "in Ladbroke Grove, a spacious abode and a great bargain". [15]
20th century progress
In common with many parts of London, the reputation of the district evolved significantly 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 occupations. In the postwar period the name Notting Hill evoked a down-at-heel area of cheap lodgings, epitomised by the notorious racketeering landlord Peter Rachman. The area to the north east, Golbourne, was particularly known for being, in the words of Charles Booth, "one of the worst areas in London".[16] Southam Street 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. The slums were cleared during redevelopment in the 1960s and '70s when the Westway Flyover and Trellick Tower were built. It is now home to a vibrant Mediterranean community, mainly Portuguese, Spanish and Moroccan. [17]
By the 1980s, single-occupation houses began to return to favour with families who could afford to occupy them, and parts of Notting Hill are among London's most desirable areas. The parts of Notting Hill near Holland Park are characterised by well-maintained stucco-fronted pillar-porched houses, private gardens, communal gardens, access to the public parks at Holland Park and Kensington Gardens, and smart shops. The area's newer, wealthy residents are satirised in Rachel Johnson's 2006 novel Notting Hell, which is set in grand houses surrounding a fictional communal garden.
Notting Hill features as a backdrop to novels by G.K. Chesterton (The Napoleon of Notting Hill), Colin Macinnes (Absolute Beginners) and Michael Moorcock (the Jerry Cornelius quartet). The area is also the setting of the Rita Tushingham movie The Knack (and how to get it) (1965), and Nicolas Roeg's 1968 film Performance starring Mick Jagger.
Geography
Notting Hill is the area to the north of Kensington. It is bounded by Bayswater to the east, merges with Ladbroke Grove to the north, and Notting Dale to the east which has the West Cross Route as a boundary with Shepherds Bush. The A40 (Holland Park Avenue and Bayswater Road) form the southern boundary.
It forms the major part of North Kensington, and is considered an alternative name;[18] though estate agents differentiate North Kensington as a distinct area including Notting Dale and the area east of Ladbroke Grove leading up to Harrow Road.[19]
- that part of the historic parish of Kensington (now the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) which falls north of Notting Hill Gate, and south of Harrow Road. This area broadly corresponds to the London postcodes W11 and W10 and a small part of Westminster's borough W2, as far as Kensington Park Gardens and Westbourne Park Road; or
- historically some thought it just the W11 postcode area (with the more northerly W10 area called North Kensington in which may be found the lesser known manors of Notting Dale and Notting Barn). However, a part of the south western W11 post code area is rather referred to as the Holland Park area.
Two tube stations are Ladbroke Grove in the north and Notting Hill Gate in the south.
Ladbroke Grove tube station, was originally 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.
Areas of Notting Hill
Ladbroke Grove
Ladbroke Grove is a road in Notting Hill and also the name given to the immediate area surrounding the road. It is in the northern part of Notting Hill, stretching up to Kensal Green, straddling the W10 and W11 postal districts. Ladbroke Grove tube station is located on the road, at the point where it is crossed by the Westway.
The psychedelic rock band Hawkwind formed here in 1969, [20], later working with fantasy author Michael Moorcock who then was a resident. The Deviants (formerly the Social Deviants) and Pink Fairies were musical groups out of the Ladbroke Grove UK Underground Community, from which a number of bands would emerge, influenced by anarchistic singer/writer Mick Farren. Punk group The Clash also formed locally in 1976. The Roughler emerged in the 1980s and 1990s to chronicle the antics of the more Bohemian residents, including the legendary Portobello Pantos.
In 1999, 31 people died in the Ladbroke Grove rail crash.
Celebrities currently living on this road include the socialite James Hudson and David Beckham's former personal assistant Rebecca Loos.
Notting Hill Gate
A turnpike gate was constructed at the foot of the hill on the main road from London to Uxbridge, which is now known as Oxford Street, 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.
North Kensington
North Kensington is the area lying in the north and west of Notting Hill. It is where most of the violence of the Notting Hill Race Riots of 1958 occurred, and where the Notting Hill Carnival starts and finishes.
North Kensington was once an area well-known for its slum housing, as documented in the photographs of Roger Mayne.[21]
Waves of immigrants have arrived for at least a century including, but certainly not limited to, the Irish, the Jews, the West Indians, the Spanish, the Moroccans and many from the Horn of Africa and Eastern Europe. This constant renewal of the population makes the area one of the most cosmopolitan in the world. Levels of poverty are still high in some areas, making the vicinity dangerous at times, though policing has proved effective in many areas of North Kensington.
A budding music scene is also emerging.
Carnival
Notting Hill Carnival is an annual event which takes place each August, over two days (Sunday and the following bank holiday). It has continuously taken place on the streets of Notting Hill since 1965[22]. 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 1.5 million people in the past, putting it among the largest street festivals in Europe.
It attracted press attention in 1976 for clashes with the police[23], which continued for several years. More recently however Carnival has been seen as a peaceful event, and attracts press attention for the attendance figures.
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"[24]. 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 be used as a "savannah"; though this move has attracted some concern that the Hyde Park event may overshadow the original street carnival[25].
In 2003 Carnival was run by a limited company, the Notting Hill Carnival Trust Ltd. A report by the London Development Agency on the 2002 Carnival estimated that the event contributes around £93 million to the London and UK economy.
Notting Hill race riots
The Notting Hill race riots were a series of racially-motivated riots which took place in the Notting Hill area of London, England over several nights in late August and early September 1958.
The riot is thought to have started on 20 August when a gang of white youths attacked a white Swedish woman, Majbritt Morrison, who was married to a West Indian man.[26] Later that night a mob of 300 to 400 white people, many of them "Teddy Boys", were seen on Bramley Road attacking the houses of West Indian residents.
The disturbances, rioting and attacks continued every night until they finally petered out by 5 September.
See also
References
- ^ http://www.londononline.co.uk/articles/Portobello_Road/
- ^ http://www.londonhotels.com/london/areas/west-london/
- ^ http://politics.guardian.co.uk/conservatives/story/0,9061,1270560,00.html
- ^ http://www.beaneypearce.co.uk/?page=area&id=10
- ^ a b [1] 'Notting Hill and Bayswater', Old and New London: Volume 5 (1878), pp. 177-88.
- ^ http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/yourcouncil/councilfinances/sandpreport06.pdf
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/240416.stm
- ^ http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9045105/Kensington-and-Chelsea
- ^ http://www.worley.org.uk/NOTTING%20DALE.htm
- ^ http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/holiday_type/travel_and_literature/article1967240.ece
- ^ http://www.glaucus.org.uk/-ing.htm
- ^ http://www.london-footprints.co.uk/wknottinghillroute.htm
- ^ http://www.rhaworth.myby.co.uk/phreak/tenp_01.htm
- ^ http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/destinations/england/article727749.ece
- ^ John Galsworthy The Man of Property, Chapter 1, published 1906
- ^ http://www.golbornelife.co.uk/golbornehistory.html
- ^ http://www.thelondonpaper.com/cs/Satellite/london/food/article/1157140145760?packedargs=suffix%3DSubSectionArticle
- ^ The London Encyclopaedia, Edited by Ben Weinreb and Christopher Hibbert. Macmillan London Ltd 1983
- ^ http://www.primelocation.com/area-guides/article/property-to-rent-in-north-kensington
- ^ http://www.punk77.co.uk/punkhistory/thesoundofladbrokegrove.htm
- ^ http://www.morrissey-solo.com/people/mayne.htm
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/1xtra/blackhistory/years/1965.shtml
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/5275542.stm
- ^ http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/carnival/index.jsp
- ^ http://www.blackbritain.co.uk/news/details.aspx?i=1701&c=uk&h=Caribbean+Showcase+vs+Notting+Hill+Carnival%3F
- ^ BBC News: Long history of race rioting, British Broadcasting Corporation, 28 May 2001.
External links
