Holland Park

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Holland Park
Embassy of Ukraine in London 1.jpg
The embassy of Ukraine in Holland Park
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Holland Park
Location within Greater London
OS grid reference TQ246798
London borough
Ceremonial county Greater London
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town LONDON
Postcode district W8, W11, W14
Dialling code 020
Police Metropolitan
Fire London
Ambulance London
UK Parliament
London Assembly
List of places
UK
England
London
51°30′10″N0°12′14″W / 51.5028°N 0.2038°W / 51.5028; -0.2038

Holland Park is an area of Kensington, on the western edge of Central London, [1] that lies within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and largely surrounds its namesake park, Holland Park.

Contents

Colloquially referred to as 'Millionaire's Row', Holland Park is among the most expensive residential areas in London and the United Kingdom. [2] [3] Past and present residents include David and Victoria Beckham, Sir Elton John, David Cameron, Ed Sheeran, Sir Richard Branson, and Robbie Williams, among others. [4] [5] The small neighborhood is further home to the embassies of several countries, including Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Greece, Jordan, Russia and Lebanon.

The area is principally composed of tree-lined streets with large Victorian mansions and contains shops, cultural tourist attractions such as the Design Museum, luxury spas, hotels, and restaurants along Holland Park Avenue and Kensington High Street.

Location and boundaries

Holland Park is located between Notting Hill and South Kensington, west of Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. While there are no official boundaries, the Holland Ward was historically bounded by Kensington High Street to the south, Holland Road to the west, Holland Park Avenue to the north, and Kensington Palace Gardens to the east.

Adjacent districts are Notting Hill to the north, Earl's Court to the south, and Shepherd's Bush to the west.

History

A map showing the Holland ward of Kensington Metropolitan Borough as it appeared in 1916 Kensington Met. B Ward Map 1916.svg
A map showing the Holland ward of Kensington Metropolitan Borough as it appeared in 1916

The district was rural until the 19th century, and most of the area now referred to by the name Holland Park was formerly the grounds of a Jacobean mansion called Cope Castle. In the later decades of that century the owners of the house sold off the more outlying parts of its grounds for residential development, and the district which evolved took its name from the house. Large parts of Holland Park were constructed between 1860 and 1880 by master builders William and Francis Radford, who were contracted to build over 200 houses in the area. Notable 19th-century residential developments in the area include the Royal Crescent and Aubrey House. It also included some small areas around the fringes which had never been part of the grounds of Holland House, notably the Phillimore Estate (there are at least four roads with the word Phillimore in their name) and the Campden Hill Square area.

In the late 19th century, a number of notable artists and art collectors (including Frederic Leighton, P.R.A. and Val Prinsep), known as the Holland Park Circle, lived in the area, especially in Melbury Road and Holland Park Road.

Lansdowne House

Lansdowne House, at Lansdowne Road. is a Grade II listed eight-storey building which was originally constructed in 1902–04 by Scottish architect William Flockhart, [6] for South African mining magnate Sir Edmund Davis. The building contained apartments and artists' workshops. Among the artists who had studios in the building in the early decades of the 20th century were Charles Ricketts, Charles Haslewood Shannon, Glyn Philpot, Vivian Forbes, James Pryde, and Frederick Cayley Robinson, who are commemorated on a blue plaque on the building. [7]

The building underwent significant alterations. When, in 1957, record producer Denis Preston was looking for a property in which to set up a recording studio, his assistant engineer Joe Meek found the premises, which had unusually high ceilings and a basement squash court, suitable for conversion into a studio. Preston, Meek and (a year later) engineer Adrian Kerridge then established the studio, and made their first recordings there in 1958. The studio was London's first independent music recording studio. [8] In 1962, an enlarged control room overlooking the studio floor was opened. Kerridge later became the studio's owner. [9] The studios closed in 2006 and the building was subsequently converted into 13 self-contained apartments, while retaining a small recording studio. [7]

The public park

The park covers about 22.5 hectares (56 acres), [10] with a northern half of semi-wild woodland, central section of formal garden areas, and southernmost section used for sport.

Holland House is now a fragmentary ruin, having been devastated by incendiary bombing during the Second World War in 1940, but the ruins and the grounds were bought by London County Council in 1952 from the last private owner, the 6th Earl of Ilchester. [11] Today the remains of the house form a backdrop for the open air Holland Park Theatre, which is the home of Opera Holland Park. To the immediate south of the park is the former site of the Commonwealth Institute, now home to the Design Museum.

The park contains a café, as well as the Belvedere Restaurant that is attached to the orangery, a giant chess set, [12] a cricket pitch, tennis courts, two Japanese gardens - the Kyoto Garden (1991) and Fukushima Memorial Garden (2012), [13] a youth hostel, a children's playground, squirrels and peacocks. In 2010, the park set aside a section for pigs whose job was to reclaim the area from nettles etc., in order to create another meadow area for wildflowers and fauna. Cattle were used subsequently to similar effect.

The Holland Park Ecology Centre (2013), operated by the borough's Ecology Service, provides environmental education programmes including nature walks, talks, programmes for schools, and outdoor activity programs for children. [14]

In the northwest of the park near Abbotsbury Road, installed in 2000, is the outdoor sculpture Tortoises with Triangle and Time by Wendy Taylor, commissioned by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for the Millennium. [15]

Places of Interest

Debenham House Debenham House (35482927182).jpg
Debenham House

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brompton, London</span> Human settlement in England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">8 Melbury Road</span> Historic site in West London, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lansdowne Studios</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melbury Road</span> Road in Holland Park, London, England

Melbury Road is a residential road in the Holland Park area of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England. It is known for houses owned by the Victorian Holland Park Circle, an informal group of 19th-century artists, including William Burges, Luke Fildes, Frederic Leighton, Valentine Prinsep, Hamo Thornycroft, and George Frederick Watts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holland Park Road</span> Road in Holland Park, London, England

Holland Park Road is a residential road in the Holland Park district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England. It is especially known for Leighton House, owned by the artist Lord Frederic Leighton, President of the Royal Academy and leading light of the Victorian Holland Park Circle, an informal group of 19th-century artists, including William Burges, Luke Fildes, Frederic Leighton, Valentine Prinsep, Hamo Thornycroft, and George Frederick Watts, who lived in the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbotsbury Road</span> Road in Holland Park, London, England

Abbotsbury Road is a residential road in the Holland Park area of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, West London, England.

References

  1. ↑ "Policy 2.5 Sub-regions". The London Plan . Greater London Authority. 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  2. ↑ Masey, Anthea (20 January 2020). "The lowdown on west London's most intriguing celebrity neighbourhood". Evening Standard. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  3. ↑ Murdock, Meghann (21 December 2022). "Revealed: the UK's 10 most expensive streets to buy a home in 2022". Evening Standard. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  4. ↑ Finn, Rachel (5 April 2022). "Inside Millionaire's Row home to the Beckhams, Robbie Williams and Elton John". OK! Magazine. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  5. ↑ "Millionaire's row – the most expensive streets in Britain – Rated People Blog" . Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  6. ↑ "Lansdowne House", Directory of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 23 May 2020
  7. 1 2 "Lansdowne House", Buildington.co.uk. Retrieved 23 May 2020
  8. ↑ "Adrian Kerridge RIP", Institute of Professional Sound, 11 August 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2020
  9. ↑ Massey, Howard (1 October 2015). "The Great British Recording Studios". Hal Leonard Corporation – via Google Books.
  10. ↑ "Holland Park". Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  11. ↑ "Parks and Gardens UK". Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2009.
  12. ↑ "Making mates on giant chessboard in Holland Park | News". Thisislondon.co.uk. 1 November 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
  13. ↑ Pylant, Don. "Holland Park's Fukushima Garden – London | Japanese Gardening" . Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  14. ↑ "About the Holland Park Ecology Centre". Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea . Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  15. ↑ "Tortoises with Triangle and Time". Art UK . Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  16. ↑ Murdock, Meghann (25 September 2020). "Inside the mega mansion for sale in Britain's most expensive street". Evening Standard. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
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