Five People Who Helped Shape Notting Hill

You could describe Notting Hill as London’s Cinderella story. There aren’t many neighbourhoods that’ve got such a rags to riches tale.

What was once a grim land of pig farms and potteries is now one of the most desirable postcodes in London. It’s also where you’ll find the biggest street carnival in Europe each August.

But the journey hasn’t always been plain sailing.

We take a look at five people whose influence on Notting Hill over the last few hundred years still resonates strongly today.

1. The landscaper: Thomas Allason (1790-1852)

Notting Hill. Image by tengri555 via Flickr Creative Commons

When it comes to physically shaping Notting Hill, no one did more than Thomas Allason.

Back in 1823, this London-born architect and landscaper was tasked with designing a new estate on what was mostly farmland.

His grand plans included a central circus, with streets of terraced houses forming crescents and private paddocks (gardens) to keep some of the countryside feel. He was influenced by Ancient Greek architecture, as well as John Nash’s work at Regent’s Park.

Sadly a financial crash meant he couldn’t carry out some of his more ambitious plans. But although other architects and developers were involved in the 50 year build, the basis of Allason’s plans for the Ladbroke Estate can still be seen now.

He’s also indirectly responsible for two of the most famous romantic scenes in the film Notting Hill. Hugh Grant’s Will proposes to Julia Robert’s Anna in Rosmead Garden – a private “pleasure ground” which was a key part of Allason’s vision. The garden is also used in the film’s final scene.

Allason’s plan (1823) By Thomas Allison, architect – scan of photo printed in Notting Hill and Holland Park Past by Barbara Denny, Public Domain, httpscommons.wikimedia.orgwindex.phpcurid=

DID YOU KNOW? Allason also designed Connaught Square, near Marble Arch, and was involved with designing the house and gardens at Alton Towers.

The legacy: Had the vision for “one of the finest townscapes in all London” and created Notting Hill’s communal gardens – 15 remain today. His work is now registered under the Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments Act 1953 by Historic England.

Find out more: Set up in 1969, The Ladbroke Association is a charity which looks after the conservation area and seeks to retain the Ladbroke Eastate in all its glory.

2. The photographer: Roger Mayne (1929-2014)

Haunting images which became synonymous with social change

Southam Street: ©Roger Mayne / Mary Evans

In 1956, photographer Roger Mayne started taking photos of the slum children living in Southam Street. 

The 64 images showed the almost Dickenesian living standards in post-war Notting Hill, and led to the street being declared inhabitable.

Some of the houses didn’t have electricity and the density of people per room was more than four times the average in London of that time.

“I remember my excitement when I turned the corner into Southam Street, a street I have since returned to again and again. The streets have their own kind of beauty, a kind of decaying splendour ” – Roger Mayne in the Universities and Left Review, Spring 1959

The legacy:  The street was later demolished to make way for the Trellick Tower. The photos of Southam Street are a record of the diversity of life back then, with children playing alongside gangs of Teddy Boys and groups of slickly-dressed West Indians walking past gossiping girls.

Find out more: You can see some of Roger Mayne’s images in the Victoria & Albert Museum (includes the “Portrait of Southam Street Album”) and the Museum of London. Visit www.rogermayne.com to see the full gallery of images and find out when the next exhibition is.

DID YOU KNOW? Roger Mayne’s images inspired writer Colin MacInnes, who asked him to take the cover for his novel, Absolute Beginners (also a film), set in the Southam Street area.

3. The campaigner: Claudia Jones (1915-1964)

Notting Hill’s first Carnival Queen

Claudia Jones’s blue plaque, in Notting Hill by Edwardx via Wiki Commons

Claudia Jones is a Trinidad-born journalist and activist. In winter of 1959, after the August Bank Holiday riots in Notting Hill, she set up a indoor Caribbean carnival to raise money (and pay the fines) for the victims of the racial violence that had exploded in the summer.

Alongside Sam King, Jones’ aim was to celebrate Caribbean culture and heal Notting Hill’s simmering streets by reaching out to the area’s white population.

Now the Notting Hill Carnival is the the second largest in the world and attracts 2.5 million people each year.

The legacy: Her work was continued by Rhaune Laslett-O’Brien (who was also given a Blue Plaque). Rhaune created the first outdoor carnival in 1964 – the same year Jones died. The Claudia Jones Organisation was formed in 1982 and is a charity which works to empower women and families of African Caribbean heritage.

Find out more: Visit the official Notting Hill Carnival website. 

DID YOU KNOW? Claudia Jones was awarded with her own stamp in 2008 by Royal Mail, and was once deported from the US for her beliefs.

4. The architect: Ernö Goldfinger (1902-1987)

James Bond baddie inspiration and esteemed architect

Trellick Tower by Damien Everett via Flicr Creative commons

Trellick Tower was built between 1968-72, on the Cheltenham Estate. In stark contrast to the pretty Georgian terraces, this landmark looms large over the area. It’s got 217 flats over 31 storeys.

Designed as a “modernist, post-war utopian living space” – the aim was to encourage social interaction.

It’s considered Goldfinger’s masterpiece (Bond creator, Ian Fleming perhaps wasn’t such a fan of his style), the building has become more admired over time and is now listed.

J. G. Ballard had the building in mind when writing his 1975 novel High Rise, and the tower’s also named in the novel London Fields by Martin Amis and has appeared in many music videos too.

View from Trellick Tower. Image by Ben Adlard via Flickr Creative Commons

The legacy: Thanks to a £4 million makeover by architects John McAslan + Partners for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which repaired and conserved the building, this landmark is built to last.

Find out more: Here’s specifically why it’s listed for its special architectural interest.

See more examples, such as his former house and now a National Trust museum, 2 Willow Road and also the Balfron Tower in Poplar.

5. The screenwriter: Richard Curtis (1956-)

Filmed Notting Hill through rose-tinted glasses

The romantic comedy Notting Hill starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant really struck a chord with film fans at home and across the pond in 1999.

In the film, a Notting Hill bookseller called William Thacker meets the most famous film star on the planet, Anna Scott, and the pair begin a tentative romance. It was a smash hit at the pre-millenium box office, and has now raked in more than £300 million.

Richard Curtis was a Notting Hill resident himself, and used many local references as inspiration. His own blue front door was even used as the front of Will’s house.

The legacy:  Curtis has regretted the fact he may have had a lot to do with the gentrification of Notting Hill, as he reveals in this interview in the Independent. However his film did give a much needed shot in the arm to the British Film Industry.

The movie’s enduring popularity also means Notting Hill remains one of the most recognised and visited places in London.

And yes, people do still come looking for that famous blue door (it’s 280 Westbourne Park Road if you’re interested).

Find out more: You could take a walking tour of the film’s location or best of all watch the film itself.

Who are your Notting Hill neighbourhood heroes?

We’d love to discover the people you believe had influenced and continue to have a good effect on life in your area.

Let us know who they are by leaving a comment below.

 

 

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