Bayswater? |
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| Bayswater | |
|---|---|
| Administration | |
| Borough: | Westminster |
| County: | Greater London |
| Region: | Greater London |
| Nation: | England |
| Other | |
| Ceremonial County: | Greater London |
| Traditional County: | Middlesex |
| Post Office and Telephone | |
| Post town: | LONDON |
| Postcode: | W2 |
| Dialling Code: | 020 |
Rooftop view of Bayswater, looking from the top of one of the Hallfield Estate tower blocks towards Kensington Gardens.- For other uses, see Bayswater (other meanings).
Bayswater is a place in the City of Westminster, in London.
Bayswater is one of London's most cosmopolitan areas, with the significant diversity of the local population added to by having one of London's biggest concentration of hotels. Notably, there is a significant Arab population, a large number of Americans, a substantial Greek community attracted by London's Greek Orthodox Cathedral and the area is also a centre of London's Brazilian community.
The social tenor of the area tends to be young and Upper-Middle Class. Although parts of the area had slipped down the social ladder during the 20th Century, many of its private tenements have moved upmarket, while much of the areas council housing was sold off in the late 1980s and early 1990s as part of the Building Stable Communities policy of Westminster City Council under its then leader Dame Shirley Porter.
Architecturally, the biggest part of the area is made up of Victorian mansion blocks, mostly, although not exclusively, divided up into flats. There are also purpose built apartment blocks dating from the inter-war period as well as more recent developments, and a there is large Council Estate, the 800 flat Hallfield Estate, designed by Sir Denys Lasdun and now largely sold off. There are some garden squares in the area.
Queensway and Westbourne Grove are busy High Streets, with a very large number of ethnic restaurants.
With a population density of 17,500 people per square kilometre, Bayswater is one of London's most heavily settled areas.
Nearest places:
Nearest tube stations:
- NOTE: In reference to the Bayswater river, refer to the River Westbourne for more information.
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Places of interest
Famous Bayswater residents (past & present)
- Winston Churchill
- J M Barrie
- Alexander Fleming
- Tony Blair (has bought a house in Connaught Square, to serve as a family home once his term as Prime Minister ends)
History
The land now called Bayswater belonged to the Abbey of Westminster when the Domesday Book was compiled; the most considerable tenant under the abbot was Bainiardus, probably the same Norman associate of the Conqueror who gave his name to Baynard's Castle. The descent of the land held by him cannot be clearly traced: but his name long remained attached to part of it; and, as late as the year 1653, a parliamentary grant of the Abbey or Chapter lands describes "the common field at Paddington" as being "near a place commonly called Baynard's Watering." In 1720, the lands of the Dean and Chapter are described to be the occupation of Alexander Bond, of Bear's Watering, in the same parish of Paddington. It may therefore fairly be concluded that this portion of ground, always remarkable for its springs of excellent water, once supplied water to Baynard, his household, or his cattle; that the memory of his name was preserved in the neighbourhood for six centuries; and that his watering-place now takes the abbreviated name Bayswater.
Local Politics
The area the elects six councillors to Westminster City Councillor, currently all Conservative. Three each are elected from the wards of Bayswater, which is keenly contested by all three main British political parties, and Lancaster Gate, which is a safe Conservative ward, represented by leader of the Council Simon Milton.
References in fiction
- In John le Carré's The Spy who Came in from the Cold, Liz is a member of the Bayswater South Branch of the Communist Party.
- In le Carré's Smiley's People, the retired Russian major lives in a dingy flat on Westbourne Grove.
- The Alfred Hitchcock film Frenzy was filmed in the area.