Slums and piggeries
Bathed in a romantic glow by the film of the same name starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, Notting Hill is regarded as one of the most desirable residential areas in London. This was not always the case. To glimpse humbler origins, walk from Notting Hill Gate Tube station to Walmer Road via Ladbroke Square and Ladbroke Grove, then left into Lansdowne Crescent and along Clarendon Cross and Hippodrome Place. The houses here, with fine stucco façades and beautiful gardens, are coveted by high earners from the City and investors from abroad who see property in London as a safe haven for their money.
The destination is a dark brick structure, named a »bottle kiln« on account of its shape, in Walmer Road opposite Avondale Park. It survives from the early 19th century, when the heavy clay found here was fired to make bricks and tiles. This was one of London’s most dangerous and insalubrious areas, as the brick workers were an extremely rough bunch and pig-keeping turned the clay pits into evil-smelling pools – the largest of which, »the ocean«, was made into Avondale Park in 1892.
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Address Walmer Road, W11 4LR | Public Transport Notting Hill Gate (Central, Circle, District Line) | Tip In The Windsor Castle (114 Campden Hill Road, daily noon–11pm), a historic pub dating from 1826, down-to-earth food, ale and cider are served.
In 1837 a race course, the Hippodrome, opened on the hill, but the stench, slums and undesirable neighbours condemned it to failure. From 1840 the landowners, the Ladbroke family, developed Notting Hill as a fashionable place to live. However, poverty returned in the 20th century, when the large houses were subdivided into flats, and Notting Hill was known for race riots and exploitative landlords. Tentative gentrification started in the 1970s, when decaying houses could be bought for a few thousand pounds. They are worth millions now. The façades have been repaired and painted – but behind the stucco, after all the ups and downs, remain bricks made from London clay.
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