Notting Hill
Coordinates: 51°30′35″N 0°12′16″W / 51.5096, -0.2043 Notting Hill is a 1999 romantic comedy film set in the Notting Hill district of London, England, UK. The screenplay was written by Richard Curtis who had previously written Four Weddings and a Funeral. ... Notting Hill is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, situated between Mount Waverley and Clayton North. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...
OS grid reference	TQ245805
London borough	Kensington & Chelsea
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	W11
Dial code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
London Assembly	West Central
European Parliament	London
List of places: UK • England • London

Notting Hill is an area in West London, England, and close to the north-western corner of Hyde Park. It lies within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Image File history File links Greater_london_outline_map_bw. ... Image File history File links Red_pog. ... 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 districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. ... The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (often abbreviated to RBKC) is a London borough in the west side of central London. ... 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, 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, England. ... This is an alphabetical list of countries of the world, including independent states (both those that are internationally recognised and generally unrecognised), inhabited dependent territories and areas of special sovereignty. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification  -  by Athelstan 967  Area... This is an alphabetical list of the sovereign states of the world, including both de jure and de facto independent states. ... A post town is a required part of all UK postal addresses. ... UK postal codes are known as postcodes. ... The W (Western and Paddington) postcode area, also known as the London W postcode area[1] is a group of postcode districts in central and west London, England. ... The UK telephone numbering plan, also known as the National Numbering Plan, is regulated by the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which replaced the Office of Telecommunications (Oftel) in 2003. ... 020 is the dial code for Greater London 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. ... A Fire Appliance belonging to the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service The fire service in the United Kingdom has undergone dramatic changes since the beginning of the 21st century, a process that has been propelled by a devolution of central government powers, new legislation and a change to operational... The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the statutory fire and rescue service for London, England. ... Crest of NHS ambulance services in England Crest of the Scottish Ambulance Service In the UK, the majority of ambulance services are provided under the National Health Service through local ambulance trusts. Each trust is specific to a county or area, and so the country is divided across a number... The London Ambulance Service (LAS) is the largest ambulance service in the world that does not directly charge its patients for its services. ... Greater London is divided into a number of constituencies for London Assembly elections. ... West Central is a constituency represented in the London Assembly. ... This is a list of Members of the European Parliament for the United Kingdom in the 2004 to 2009 session, ordered by name. ... London is a constituency of the European Parliament. ... List of cities in the United Kingdom List of towns in England Lists of places within counties List of places in Bedfordshire List of places in Berkshire List of places in Buckinghamshire List of places in Cambridgeshire List of places in Cheshire List of places in Cleveland List of places... This is a partial list of places in London, England. ... Satellite image of the inner part of West London Ayad Dibis is the best in West London. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification  -  by Athelstan 967  Area... The Serpentine, viewed from the eastern end Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London and one of the Royal Parks of London. ... The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (often abbreviated to RBKC) is a London borough in the west side of central London. ...

Character

Notting Hill has a reputation as an affluent and fashionable area; known for attractive terraces of large Victorian townhouses, and high-class shopping and restaurants (particularly around Westbourne Grove and Clarendon Cross). Many people who conform to such stereotypes are often referred to as "The Notting Hill Set", "The Notting Hillbillies", and "Trustafarians" (White rastafaris, but with a trust fund left by their parents or family). Politicians who appeal to such voters, mainly on the conservative right, are often referred to as such. Conservative leader David Cameron and shadow Chancellor George Osborne have been labelled as such, often pejoratively. A street of British Victorian/Edwardian terraced homes. ... Manchester Town Hall is an example of Victorian architecture found in Manchester, UK. The Carson Mansion is an example of a Victorian home in Eureka, California, USA The term Victorian architecture can refer to one of a number of architectural styles predominantly in the Victorian era. ... Westbourne Grove is a glamourous shopping street in Londons Notting Hill. ... Clarendon Cross is one of the most interesting and eclectic areas in West London. ... In modern usage, a stereotype is a simplified mental picture of an individual or group of people who share a certain characteristic (or stereotypical) qualities. ... David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom, positions he has occupied since December 2005. ... The Official Loyal Opposition Shadow Cabinet (normally referred to simply as The Shadow Cabinet) is, in British parliamentary practice, a group of members from Her Majestys Loyal Opposition whose job it is to scrutinise their opposite numbers in government and come up with alternative policies. ... George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born 23 May 1971 in London) is a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom, and has been Member of Parliament for Tatton since 2001. ...

However, it has an equally thriving "alternative" culture, exemplified by the numerous second-hand music stores around Notting Hill Gate. There are also areas of social deprivation to the north, sometimes referred to as "North Kensington", or the "Ladbroke Grove" area, from the name of the same street. Notting Hill is a cosmopolitan district particularly known as the location for the annual Notting Hill Carnival, which takes place in August. This is a large street festival and celebration of Caribbean culture, centred on parades of elaborately costumed dancers and colourfully decorated floats. The carnival was originally established in the 1960s as a positive response to tensions between the recently arrived immigrant community and the majority community, which culminated in the Notting Hill race riots. Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares of Notting Hill in London. ... Approximately 1 million people attend the Notting Hill Carnival each year Carnival dancers on Ladbroke Grove. ... West Indian redirects here. ... This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ...

Notting Hill is also home to the Portobello Road antique market, which has become a major London tourist attraction. The market takes place each Saturday and attracts antique buyers and sellers, as well as tourists. In recent years the growth of the market and increasing tourist quota has led some to claim that quality has declined. Portobello Road Portobello Road is a road in the Notting Hill district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London. ... Antiques (Latin antiquus, old) are objects which have reached an age which makes them a witness of a previous era in human society. ...

The area came to international attention with the release of the successful Hollywood movie of the same name. Notting Hill (1999) stars Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. The movie uses the characteristic features of the area as a backdrop to the action, including the Portobello Road antiques market and enclosed square gardens. For places named Notting Hill, see Notting Hill. ... Julia Roberts is an Academy Award-winning American film actress and former fashion model. ... Hugh John Mungo Grant[1] (born September 9, 1960) is a Golden Globe-winning British actor. ...

Portobello Road

Notting Hill Carnival

Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 792 KB)The Portabello Road File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 792 KB)The Portabello Road File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Portobello Road Portobello Road is a road in the Notting Hill district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London. ... Notting Hill Carnival photo File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Notting Hill Carnival photo File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Approximately 1 million people attend the Notting Hill Carnival each year Carnival dancers on Ladbroke Grove. ...

History

The hill from which Notting Hill takes its name is probably the hill upon which Ladbroke Grove is built; its summit is near the point where St John's Church now stands. Alternatively, some writers suggest that Notting Hill could refer to nearby Campden Hill, but the local place name and map evidence states the contrary. The name "Notting Hill" very old, and is derived from the Saxon personal name Cnotta, as in Cnotta's Hill. The UK Underground movement in the UK was focussed around the Ladbroke Grove/Notting Hill area of London, which Mick Farren commented was an enclave of freaks, immigrants and bohemians long before the hippies got there (1). ... Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon) is an early form of the English language that was spoken in parts of what is now England and southern Scotland between the mid-fifth century and the mid-twelfth century. ...

In early times, the area was entirely rural, and it fell within the northern district of the parish of Kensington. Records show it as an early manor by the name of Notting Barns. The name Notting Hill came to prominence when 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. Kensington is an area to the west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. ... Oxford Street, with Centre Point in the background Oxford Street in 1875, looking west from the junction with Duke Street. ...

There is, therefore, a difference between modern Notting Hill (which is the area surrounding the hill) and Notting Hill Gate. Both are within the locality of Notting Hill.

When 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). Bayswater is an area of London in the City of Westminster. ...

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. This is also the reasoning behind the choice of PARK as the name of the local telephone exchange (which was once located on the Portobello Road at the back of Kensington Park Road; although it has for many years been located in Moscow Road, Bayswater, and is the origin of the classic Notting Hill telephone prefix 727 (now 7727) on the principle illustrated here since the letters PAR corresponded with the numbers 727 on old telephone dials.

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. 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" (The Man of Property, Chapter 1, published 1906). Mayfair is an area in the City of Westminster London, named after the fortnight-long May Fair that took place there from 1686 until it was banned in that location in 1764. ... Belgravia is a district in the City of Westminster in London, to the south-west of Buckingham Palace. ... John Galsworthy OM (14 August 1867 – 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. ... The Forsyte Saga is the collective title of a series of novels by John Galsworthy. ...

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. It was documented in the famous 1950s Southam Street photographs of Roger Mayne, and 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). Peter Rachman (1920 — 1962) was a London landlord in the mid-20th century. ... Roger Mayne (b. ... For the town of Chesterton in Cambridgeshire, see Chesterton (Cambridge). ... Novel written by G. K. Chesterton in 1904, set in a nearly-unchanged London of the latter Twentieth century. ... Absolute Beginners is a novel by Colin MacInnes written and set in 1958 London England. ... Michael John Moorcock (born December 18, 1939, in London, England) is a prolific English writer primarily of science fiction and fantasy who has also published a number of literary novels. ... Rita Tushingham (b. ...

By the 1980s, single-occupation houses began to return to favour with families who could afford to occupy them, and Notting Hill is now one of London's smartest and most desirable areas. Notting Hill is 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. Rachel Johnson (born 1965) is a British journalist and writer based in London. ...

Location

Notting Hill has never been an official parish, manor, postcode or other administratively defined area, but it is generally understood to be either:

• that part of the historic parish of Kensington (now the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) which falls north of Notting Hill Gate (broadly corresponding to the London postcodes W11 and W10 and a small part of Westminter's borough W2); or
• 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.

As often in London, a lot of enthusiastic debate flows around which area a street or sometimes, a side of a street, sits in. To the extent that some streets, including some within the Notting Hill area, do not share the same post code. The London postal districts are divisions of the London post town in England and are primarily used for the direction of mail. ... North Kensington is an area of west London lying north of Notting Hill and south of Kensal Green. ...

A map of modern Notting Hill may be seen here

Nearby places

• Bayswater
• Holland Park
• Holland Park Avenue
• White City
• Paddington
• Kensal Green
• Westbourne Grove
• Little Venice
• Clarendon Cross
• Ledbury Road

Bayswater is an area of London in the City of Westminster. ... Holland Park is a district and a public park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in west central London in England. ... White City is a place in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London in England. ... A street in Paddington including a pub, a restaurant targeted at tourists and Paddington Station in the background. ... Kensal Green is a neighbourhood in the London Borough of Brent. ... Westbourne Grove is a glamourous shopping street in Londons Notting Hill. ... Little Venice is an area of central London, situated north-west of Paddington station. ... Clarendon Cross is one of the most interesting and eclectic areas in West London. ...

Nearby tube stations

• Ladbroke Grove (Hammersmith & City Line)
• Notting Hill Gate (Central Line, District Line and Circle Line)

Ladbroke Grove is a London Underground station on the Hammersmith and City Line, between Latimer Road and Westbourne Park stations, and in Travelcard Zone 2. ... The Hammersmith and City Line is a line of the London Underground, coloured salmon pink on the Tube map, running between Hammersmith and Aldgate East, extending to Barking in the rush hours. ... Notting Hill Gate tube station is a London Underground station in Notting Hill. ... Tube Portal The Central Line is a line of the London Underground and coloured red on the tube map. ... The District Line is a line of the London Underground, coloured green on the Tube map. ... The Circle Line of the London Underground became known as such in 1949, when it was separated from its parent lines, the Metropolitan Line and the District Line, although it had been shown on Underground maps since 1947. ...

External links

• Notting Hill Nonsense, a blog from Notting Hill
• Open Guide to Notting Hill
• An article on where to eat in Notting Hill