View source for Bayswater

{{Short description|Inner-city district of west Central London}}
{{Other uses}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox UK place
 | country                  = England
 | map_type                 = Greater London
 | region                   = London
 | population               = 12,363
 | population_ref           = (2020 estimate)
 | official_name            = Bayswater
 | constituency_westminster = [[Kensington and Bayswater (UK Parliament constituency)|Kensington and Bayswater]]
 | post_town                = LONDON
 | postcode_area            = W
 | postcode_district        = W2
 | dial_code                = 020
 | os_grid_reference        = TQ255805
 | coordinates              = {{coord|51.5095|-0.1929|display=inline,title}}
 | static_image_name        = Bayswater Rd - geograph.org.uk - 2593692.jpg
 | static_image_caption     = View from Bayswater Road
}}

'''Bayswater''' is an area in the [[City of Westminster]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/LP2011%20Chapter%202.pdf|title=London's Places|work=[[London Plan]]|publisher=[[Greater London Authority]]|year=2011|page=46|access-date=27 May 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906090756/http://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/LP2011%20Chapter%202.pdf|archive-date=6 September 2015}}</ref> It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between [[Kensington Gardens]] to the south, [[Paddington]] to the north-east, and [[Notting Hill]] to the west.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Much of Bayswater was built in the 1800s, and consists of streets and [[garden square]]s lined with [[Victorian era|Victorian]] [[stucco]] [[Terrace (building)|terraces]]; some of which have been subdivided into flats. Other key developments include the Grade II listed 650-flat [[Hallfield Estate]], designed by [[Sir Denys Lasdun]], and [[Queensway (London)|Queensway]] and [[Westbourne Grove]], its busiest high streets, with a mix of independent, boutique and chain retailers and restaurants.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

Bayswater is also one of London's most cosmopolitan areas: a diverse local population is augmented by a high concentration of hotels. In addition to the English, there are many other nationalities. Notable ethnic groups include [[Greeks in the United Kingdom|Greeks]], [[French migration to the United Kingdom|French]], [[Americans in the United Kingdom|Americans]], [[Irish migration to Great Britain|Irish]], [[Italians in the United Kingdom|Italians]], [[Brazilians in the United Kingdom|Brazilians]], [[Russians in the United Kingdom|Russians]], [[Arabs in the United Kingdom|Arabs]], and [[Swedes in the United Kingdom|Swedes]],<ref name="New spot for Swedish favourites in London">{{Cite web|title=New spot for Swedish favourites in London|url=https://www.thelocal.se/20220719/new-spot-for-swedish-favourites-in-london|access-date=1 October 2025}}</ref><ref name="How This Autentisk Swedish Eatery Became London’s Newest Foodie Craze">{{Cite web|title=How This Autentisk Swedish Eatery Became London’s Newest Foodie Craze|url=https://www.swedenherald.com/article/how-this-autentisk-swedish-eatery-became-londons-newest-foodie-craze/|access-date=1 October 2025}}</ref> amongst others.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

==Etymology==
The name Bayswater is derived from the 1380 placename "Bayards Watering Place", which in [[Middle English]] meant either a watering place for horses, or the watering place that belonged to the Bayard family.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mills |first=A. D. |title=A Dictionary of English Place-Names |date=1993 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-283131-3 |page=28}}</ref>

==History==
Historically, Bayswater was located to the west of London on the road from [[Tyburn]] towards [[Uxbridge]]. It was a [[hamlet (place)|hamlet]] in the seventeenth century close to the [[Kensington Gravel Pits]]. By the end of the eighteenth century Bayswater remained a small settlement, although the gradual expansion of London westward into [[Mayfair]] and [[Paddington]] brought it closer to the outskirts of the city. During the [[Regency era]] new [[suburbs]] were rapidly constructed to cope with the growing population of the city. An important early developer in Bayswater was [[Edward Orme]] who constructed [[Moscow Road]] and [[St. Petersburgh Place]], which he named in honour of [[Alexander I of Russia]]. Both Bayswater and [[Tyburnia]] to the east developed independently of each other. Gradually over the following decades the remaining open spaces were built on and it became an urban area of affluent residential streets and [[garden square]]s.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol9/pp204-212 | title=Paddington: Bayswater |website=British-history.ac.uk}}</ref>

==Notable residents==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
*[[Damon Albarn]]
*[[Brett Anderson]]
*[[Mike Atherton]]
*[[J. M. Barrie]], playwright and novelist, and his wife, Mary, lived at 100 Bayswater Road.
*[[Tony Blair]]
*[[Winston Churchill]]
*[[Richard Cobden]], lived on [[Westbourne Terrace]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/morley-the-life-of-richard-cobden|title=The Life of Richard Cobden &#124; Online Library of Liberty|website=Oll.libertyfund.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.artwarefineart.com/gallery/portrait-richard-cobden-mp-1804-1865|title = Portrait of Richard Cobden, MP 1804 – 1865 |website=Artwarefineart.com}}</ref>
*[[A. J. Cronin]]
*[[Umaru Dikko]], former Nigerian minister of transportation
*[[Tim Dry]] has lived in Bayswater since the early 1980s.
*[[Ade Edmondson]]
*[[Stephanie Beacham]]
*[[Roger C. Field]], inventor and designer whose first home was flat D, 15 Cleveland Square
*[[Alexander Fleming]]
*[[Mariella Frostrup]]
*[[Ferdinand de Géramb]]
*[[Reginald Gray (artist)|Reginald Gray]], Irish artist, lived with his wife Catherine at 105a Queensway from 1958 to 1963.
*[[J. B. Gunn]], physicist, lived with his mother, the Freudian psychoanalyst L. F. Gunn/Grey-Clarke, at 14 Durham Terrace, in the 1940s
*[[Francis Guthrie]], whose observations led to the [[Four color theorem]]<ref>{{cite journal |title=Francis Guthrie: A Colourful Life |year=2012 |doi=10.1007/s00283-012-9307-y |url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00283-012-9307-y.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323165516/http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs00283-012-9307-y.pdf |archive-date=2014-03-23 |url-status=live |access-date=2 June 2020|last1=Maritz |first1=Pieter |last2=Mouton |first2=Sonja |journal=The Mathematical Intelligencer |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=67–75 |s2cid=121812208 |hdl=10019.1/70384 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
*[[Alice Hart-Davis]]
*[[Thora Hird]]
*[[Paul Johnson (writer)|Paul Johnson]]
*[[Dylan Jones]]
*[[Jonathan King]]
*[[Keira Knightley]]
*[[Guglielmo Marconi]], the pioneer of wireless communication, lived at 71 Hereford Road between 1896 and 1897 with his mother upon arrival in England (marked by a [[blue plaque]]).
*[[Rik Mayall]]
*[[Stella McCartney]]
*[[Queen Noor of Jordan]]
*[[Dermot O'Leary]]
*[[Irfan Orga]], exile and writer, lived at 29, 35 and 21 Inverness Terrace from 1942 until the mid-1950s, publishing his memoirs ''Portrait of a Turkish Family'' in 1950.
*[[Nick Ross]]
*[[Ilyich Ramirez-Sanchez|Ilyich Ramírez Sánchez]], terrorist known as [[Carlos the Jackal]]
*[[Jennifer Saunders]]
*[[Tony Selby]], lived at Basement, 1, Stanhope Place, W2 2HB
*[[Paul Simonon]]
*[[Sting (musician)|Sting]] occupied a basement flat at 28A [[Leinster Square]] in the late 1970s during the formative years of [[The Police]]. [[Trudie Styler]], now his wife, lived in a basement flat two doors down.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2002/aug/04/features.magazine37 |title=Interview: Trudie Styler &#124; Magazine &#124; the Observer |access-date=2006-02-24 |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313122407/http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0%2C11913%2C768378%2C00.html |archive-date=13 March 2007 }} ''observer.guardian.co.uk''</ref>
*[[Georgina Castle Smith]] (pseudonym Brenda), children's writer born and bred in Bayswater<ref>Charlotte Mitchell: Smith, Georgina Castle... ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford, UK: OUP, 2004/2008) [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-41041?rskey=8xWYL9&result=1 Retrieved 2 April 2018.]</ref>
*[[Luigi Sturzo]], Catholic priest and politician, and one of the fathers of Christian democracy and a founder of the [[Italian People's Party (1919)]]
*[[John Tenniel]], artist and cartoonist, was born at 22 [[Gloucester Place]], New Road, Bayswater on 28 February 1820.<ref>L. Perry Curtis jun., "Tenniel, Sir John (1820–1914)" [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36458 Retrieved 25 February 2014, pay-walled.]</ref>
*[[Jeremy Thorpe]]
*[[Kwasi Kwarteng]]
{{Div col end}}

==Local politics==
The Bayswater area elects a total of six councillors to [[Westminster City Council]]: three from the eponymous [[Bayswater (ward)|Bayswater ward]],<ref name="Westminster.gov.UK:BayswaterWard:profile">{{cite web
 |url=http://Westminster.gov.UK/workspace/assets/publications/Bayswater-2013-Ward-Profile-1375456199.pdf
 |title=Westminster.gov.UK: Bayswater Ward profile
 |work=Bayswater Ward's councillors, boundary map and demographics.
 |publisher=[[Westminster City Council]]
 |date=July 2013
 |access-date=3 September 2013
}}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and three from Lancaster Gate ward.<ref name="Westminster.gov.UK:LancasterGateWard:profile">{{cite web
 |url=http://Westminster.gov.UK/workspace/assets/publications/Lancaster-Gate-2013-Ward-Profile-1375694982.pdf
 |title=Westminster.gov.UK: Lancaster Gate Ward profile
 |work=Lancaster Gate Ward's councillors, boundary map and demographics.
 |publisher=[[Westminster City Council]]
 |date=July 2013
 |access-date=3 September 2013
}}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Following the [[2022 Westminster City Council election]]s, five members belong to the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]], and one to the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], with Bayswater being fully represented by Labour, and Lancaster Gate being split between the two parties. Lancaster Gate can be considered as a [[Marginal seat|marginal ward]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bayswater |url=https://www.westminster.gov.uk/about-council/democracy/elections-referendums-and-how-vote/local-elections-5-may-2022/bayswater |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=Westminster.gov.uk|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Lancaster Gate |url=https://www.westminster.gov.uk/about-council/democracy/elections-referendums-and-how-vote/local-elections-5-may-2022/lancaster-gate |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=Westminster.gov.uk|language=en}}</ref>

==Education==
{{For|education in Bayswater|List of schools in the City of Westminster}}

==Nearest places==
* [[Paddington]]
* [[Notting Hill]]
* [[St John's Wood]]
* [[Knightsbridge]]
* [[Maida Vale|Little Venice]]
* [[Kensington]]

==Nearest tube stations==
[[File:Bayswater Tube Station London.jpg|thumb|right|Bayswater station]]
The stations within the district are [[Bayswater tube station|Bayswater]] and [[Queensway tube station|Queensway]]. Other nearby stations include Paddington ([[Paddington tube station (Bakerloo, Circle and District lines)|Bakerloo, Circle and District lines]] and [[Paddington tube station (Circle and Hammersmith & City lines)|Circle and Hammersmith & City lines]]),<ref>{{Cite web|title = Queens Park Hotel Bayswater Tube Station|url = http://www.queensparkhotel.com/location.html|website = queensparkhotel.com|access-date = 2016-01-18|archive-date = 12 March 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160312104115/http://www.queensparkhotel.com/location.html|url-status = dead}}</ref> [[Royal Oak tube station|Royal Oak]] (in Westbourne) and [[Lancaster Gate tube station|Lancaster Gate]] (to the east).

==In Film==
[[A House in Bayswater]], (1959).

==Places of interest==
* [[Kensington Gardens]]
* [[St Sophia's Cathedral, London|St Sophia's Cathedral]]
* [[The Mitre, Bayswater]]
* [[Whiteleys|Whiteleys Shopping Centre]] ''under reconstruction''{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

==References in fiction==
{{Unreferenced section|date=May 2024}}
* 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 of Great Britain|Communist Party]].
* In le Carré's ''[[Smiley's People]]'', the retired Estonian general turned British spy, Vladimir, lives in a dingy flat on Westbourne Grove.
* Many of the characters in [[Samuel Selvon]]'s novel ''[[The Lonely Londoners]]'' live in Bayswater.
* The [[Alfred Hitchcock]] film ''[[Frenzy]]'' was filmed in the area.
* In [[Martin Amis]]'s ''Success'', the two main characters live together in a flat in Bayswater, which he calls 'the district of transients.'
* 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".
* In [[Saki]]'s short story "Cross Currents" (1909), Vanessa Pennington lives on a "Bayswater back street" but would have preferred "smarter surroundings."
* In [[Evelyn Waugh]]'s novel ''[[Brideshead Revisited]]'', Charles Ryder's father lives in Bayswater.
* [[Whiteleys]] is frequently seen in film, e.g. ''[[Love Actually]]'', ''[[Closer (2004 film)|Closer]]'', and was referred to in ''[[My Fair Lady (film)|My Fair Lady]]'' as Eliza Doolittle is sent "to Whiteleys to be attired" in ''Pygmalion''. It also has [[Princess Productions]]' studios on the top floor.
* Scenes in ''[[Alfie (1966 film)|Alfie]]'' (1966) were filmed around [[Chepstow Road, Inner London|Chepstow Road]].
* The main character in [[Iris Murdoch]]'s novel ''[[A Word Child]]'', Hilary Burde, has a "flatlet" near Bayswater Tube Station.
* Scenes in ''[[The Black Windmill]]'' refer to, and were filmed around, the area.
* In the Italian comics series ''[[Dylan Dog]]''  the main character lives in Craven Road.
* Nick Jenkins meets Uncle Giles for tea at the Ufford Hotel, "riding at anchor on the sluggish Bayswater tide", in ''[[The Acceptance World]]'' (1955), volume three of ''[[A Dance to the Music of Time]]'' by [[Anthony Powell]].
* [[Linda Stratmann]]'s novel ''The Poisonous Seed'' is set almost entirely in Victorian Bayswater.
* In [[Lauren Willig]]'s Pink Carnation Series, her character Eloise Kelly lives in Bayswater while writing her doctoral thesis.
*In Herbert Jenkins' novel, ''Patricia Brent, Spinster'', Patricia lives at Gavin House, a boarding house in Bayswater.
*[[Iron Maiden]] released a bonus track named "Bayswater Ain't a Bad Place to Be" on their "Be Quick or Be Dead" single.

==See also==
* In reference to the Bayswater river, refer to [[River Westbourne]]
* [[Aeroford]] – automobile manufactured in Bayswater
* [[Leinster Gardens]] – a false façade on this street hides a [[London Underground]] line from view
* [[Craven Hill Gardens]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons-inline}}

{{LB City of Westminster}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Bayswater| ]]
[[Category:Areas of London]]
[[Category:Districts of the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Places formerly in Middlesex]]