Bayswater is an area of London in the City of Westminster. It is a built-up district located 3 miles (4.8 km) west north-west of Charing Cross and borders the north of Hyde Park. The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... The administrative area of Greater London contains 32 London Boroughs, of which 12 (plus the City of London) make up Inner London and 20 Outer London. ... The City of Westminster is a London borough with city status, situated to the west of the City of London and north of the River Thames. ... Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. ... Greater London is the top level administrative subdivision covering London and forms one of the nine regions of England. ... The region, also known as Government Office Region, is currently the highest tier of local government subnational entity of England in the United Kingdom. ... Greater London is the top level administrative subdivision covering London and forms one of the nine regions of England. ... Constituent country is an official term used to describe three of the four principal component parts of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK): England; Scotland; Wales. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq... This is an alphabetical list of the sovereign states of the world, including both de jure and de facto independent states. ... The Ceremonial counties of England are areas of England that are appointed a Lord-Lieutenant, and are defined by the government with reference to the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England. ... Greater London is the top level administrative subdivision covering London and forms one of the nine regions of England. ... The historic counties of England are ancient subdivisions of England. ... Middlesex is one of the 39 historic counties of England and the second smallest (after Rutland). ... There are a number of policing agencies in the United Kingdom. ... The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is the Home Office police force responsible for Greater London, with the exception of the square mile of the City of London. ... Fire brigades in the United Kingdom are organised on a territorial basis. ... The London Fire Brigade (LFB) provides fire fighting and rescue services in London, UK. It is the third largest fire department in the world with nearly 7000 staff. ... 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Cities of London and Westminster is a constituency covering the area comprising the City of London and the City of Westminster in Central London. ... Greater London is divided into a number of constituencies for London Assembly elections. ... West Central is a constituency represented in the London Assembly. ... Sign in the entrance of the European Parliament building in Brussels, written in all the official languages used in the European Union as of July 2006 The European Parliament building in Strasbourg The inside of the Strasbourg building The European Parliament building in Brussels The European Parliament (formerly European Parliamentary... London is a constituency of the European Parliament. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ... This is a partial list of places in London, the capital city of the United Kingdom. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ... The City of Westminster is a London borough with city status, situated to the west of the City of London and north of the River Thames. ... The Victorian Eleanor Cross at Charing Cross The name Charing Cross, now given to a district of central London in the City of Westminster, comes from the original hamlet of Charing, where King Edward I placed a memorial to his wife, Eleanor of Castile. ... Hyde Park is the name of: Hyde Park, a Royal Park in London (the original location) Hyde Park in Sydney - a park some places in the United States of America: Hyde Park, Massachusetts Hyde Park, New York - a town in Dutchess County, New York Hyde Park, Vermont - a town Hyde...

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. Look up cosmopolitan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Arabs (Arabic: عرب) are an ethnic group who are predominantly speakers of the Arabic language, mainly found throughout the Middle East and North Africa. ...

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. An interbellum is a period between wars. ... Public housing describes a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. ... Royal National Theatre Sir Denys Lasdun (8 September 1914–11 January 2001) was an eminent English architect of the 20th century, particularly associated with the Modernist design of the Royal National Theatre on Londons South Bank of the River Thames. ...

Queensway and Westbourne Grove are busy High Streets, with a very large number of ethnic restaurants. Queensway is a bustling cosmopolitan street in the Bayswater neighbourhood of West London. ... Westbourne Grove is a glamourous shopping street in Londons Notting Hill. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Main Street. ...

It has a population density of 17,500 people per square kilometre. Square kilometre (US spelling: Square kilometer), symbol km², is an SI unit of surface area. ...

History

Rooftop view of Bayswater, looking from the top of one of the Hallfield Estate tower blocks towards Kensington Gardens.

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. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (888x567, 482 KB) Rooftop view of Bayswater, looking from the top of one of the Hallfield Estate tower blocks towards Kensington Gardens. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (888x567, 482 KB) Rooftop view of Bayswater, looking from the top of one of the Hallfield Estate tower blocks towards Kensington Gardens. ... Kensington Gardens is one of the royal parks in London, lying immediately to the west of Hyde Park. ... Doomesday Book (also known as Domesday, or Book of Winchester), was the record of the great survey of England completed in 1086, executed for William the Conqueror, that was similar to a census by a government of today. ... The Normans (adapted from the name Northmen or Norsemen) were a mixture of the indigenous population of Neustria and Danish or Norwegian Vikings who began to occupy the northern area of France now known as Normandy in the latter half of the 9th century. ... William of Normandy (French: Guillaume de Normandie; c. ... Events February 2 - New Amsterdam (later renamed New York City) is incorporated. ... // Events January 6 - The Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble publishes its findings February 11 - Sweden and Prussia sign the (2nd Treaty of Stockholm) declaring peace. ...

Famous residents

• Brett Anderson
• J. M. Barrie
• Winston Churchill
• Alexander Fleming
• Jonathan King
• Guglielmo Marconi (the pioneer of wireless communication) lived at 71 Hereford Road between 1896 and 1897 with his mother upon arrival to England (marked by a Blue Plaque)
• Stella McCartney
• Sting occupied a basement flat at 28A Leinster Square in the late seventies during the formative years of The Police. Trudie Styler, now his current wife, lived in a basement flat two doors down. [1]

Various persons of international renown are frequently reported as buying property in the area, including Claudia Schiffer. Brett Lewis Anderson (born September 29, 1967) is a singer-songwriter, and former lead vocalist for British indie band Suede. ... Sir James Matthew Barrie, Bt. ... This article is becoming very long. ... Alexander Fleming Sir Alexander Fleming (6 August 1881 – 11 March 1955) was a Scottish biologist and pharmacologist. ... Jonathan King (born December 6, 1944) is the stage name of Kenneth George King, a British pop music producer and personality. ... Although Guglielmo Marconi is widely credited as the Inventor of Radio, for some this title is controversial, and competing claims are reviewed in History of radio and Invention of Radio. ... 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1897 (MDCCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... A blue plaque showing information about The Spanish Barn at Torre Abbey in Torquay. ... Stella Nina McCartney (born September 13, 1971) is a British fashion designer. ... For professional wrestler Steve Borden, see Sting (wrestler). ... Sting circa 1987 Gordon Matthew Sumner, CBE (born October 2, 1951), best known by his stage name Sting, is an English musician and formerly bassist and lead singer of The Police. ... One of the images that made her famous, from the Guess? jeans advertising campaign Claudia Schiffer on the cover of TIME magazine. ...

Local politics

The area elects six councillors to Westminster City Council, currently all Conservative. Three are elected from the wards of Bayswater, where the Conservatives have a majority in excess of 250 votes over the Liberal Democrats. Three are also elected from Lancaster Gate, which is a safe Conservative ward, represented by leader of the Council Simon Milton.

Nearest places

• Paddington
• Notting Hill
• St John's Wood
• Knightsbridge
• Kilburn

Paddington is an area in the west of London in the City of Westminster. ... Notting Hill is a district of London located to the west of the centre and close to the north-western corner of Hyde Park. ... St Johns Wood is a district in the City of Westminster in London near Regents Park. ... Click Here for Knightsbridge, Castle Hill Australia Knightsbridge is a place in the City of Westminster, London notable for its expensive shops, including Harrods. ... Kilburn is an area of North London on the border of the London Borough of Brent and the London Borough of Camden. ...

Nearest tube stations

• Bayswater tube station
• Queensway tube station
• Royal Oak tube station

Bayswater tube station Bayswater tube station platform Bayswater tube station platform Bayswater tube station is a London Underground station in Travelcard Zone 1 on the Circle and District lines. ... Queensway is a London Underground station, just inside the boundary of the City of Westminster with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. ... Royal Oak is a station on the Hammersmith and City Line in Zone 2, between Westbourne Park tube station and Paddington station. ...

Places of interest

• Whiteleys Shopping Centre
• Marble Arch
• Hyde Park
• Opus Dei UK headquarters

Whiteleys was a famous department store located in the Bayswater area of London (UK)), with its main entrance on Queensway. ... Marble Arch Marble Arch is a white Carrara marble monument near Speakers Corner in Hyde Park, at the western end of Oxford Street in London, England. ... The Serpentine, viewed from the eastern end. ... Saint Josemaría Escrivá, Founder of Opus Dei: Work is the way to contribute to the progress of society; even more, it is a way to holiness. ...

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.
• In Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell indicates that the perambulator (carrying Jack, as a baby) was found "standing by itself in a remote corner of Bayswater".
• Whiteleys is frequently seen in film, e.g. Love Actually, Closer, and was referred to in My Fair Lady as Eliza Dolittle is sent "to Whiteleys to be attired" in Pygmalion. It also has recording studios on the top floor.
• Scenes in Alfie were filmed around Chepstow Road.
• The main character in Iris Murdoch's novel A Word Child, Hilary Burde, has a "flatlet" near Bayswater Tube Station.

John le Carré is the pseudonym of David John Moore Cornwell (born October 19, 1931 in Poole, Dorset, England), an English writer of espionage novels. ... The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is an espionage novel by John le Carré, which tells the story of Alec Lemas, a British spy, who resigns from the Circus (as the British Secret Service is known in John le Carrés books) and defects to East Germany. ... The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist party in the United Kingdom. ... Smileys People is a spy novel by John le Carré, published in 1979, by Random House (ISBN 0394508432). ... Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was a highly influential director and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres. ... Frenzy (1972) is a crime thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and is the second last feature film of his extensive career. ... It has been suggested that Wildes Manuscripts be merged into this article or section. ... The Importance of Being Earnest The Importance of Being Earnest is a classic comedy of manners by Oscar Wilde. ... Whiteleys was a famous department store located in the Bayswater area of London (UK)), with its main entrance on Queensway. ... Love Actually is a romantic comedy film first released in cinemas in October and November 2003. ... Closer is a 2004 film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Patrick Marber, who wrote the play of the same name upon which the film is based. ... The original poster for the Broadway production of the show designed by Al Hirschfeld My Fair Lady is a 1956 musical theater production with lyrics and book by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederic Loewe. ... Whiteleys was a famous department store located in the Bayswater area of London (UK)), with its main entrance on Queensway. ... The cover to the VHS of Alfie Alfie is a 1966 film starring Michael Caine. ... Dame Iris Murdoch Dame Jean Iris Murdoch DBE (July 15, 1919 – February 8, 1999) was an Irish born British writer and philosopher, best known for her novels, which combine rich characterization and compelling plotlines, usually involving ethical or sexual themes. ... A Word Child is a novel by Iris Murdoch. ...

See also

• In reference to the Bayswater river, refer to River Westbourne
• Newspad (local publication covering the area and its surrounds)
• Aeroford - automobile manufactured in Bayswater