Holland Park
Encyclopedia
Holland Park is a district and a public park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
, in west central London
, England
.
Holland Park has a reputation as an affluent and fashionable area, known for attractive large Victorian townhouses, and high-class shopping and restaurants. There are many popular shopping destinations located around Holland Park such as High Street Kensington
, Notting Hill
, Holland Park Avenue, Portobello Market, Westbourne Grove
, Clarendon Cross and Ledbury Road
.
Though there are no official boundaries, they are roughly Kensington High Street
to the south, Holland Road to the west, Holland Park Avenue
to the north and Kensington Church Street to the east. Holland Park Avenue is at the boundaries of four CAS
wards: Norland, Holland, Pembridge and Campden.
. The park contains a famous Orangery
, a giant chess
set, a cricket
pitch, tennis courts, a Japanese garden
, a youth hostel, one of London's best equipped children's playgrounds, squirrel
s and (impressively for a London park) peacocks. In 2010, the park set aside a part which is home to pigs, their job over the next 12 months is to reclaim the area from nettles etc, in order to create another meadow area for wild flowers and fauna. Today the remains of the house form a backdrop for the open air Holland Park Theatre, which is the home of Opera Holland Park
. The green-roofed Commonwealth Institute
lies to the south.
mansion called Holland House. 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. 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 (including Frederic Leighton
, P.R.A.
and Val Prinsep
) and art collectors lived in the area. The group were collectively known as "The Holland Park Circle". Holland Park was in most part very comfortably upper middle class when originally developed and in recent decades has gone further upmarket.
Of the 19th century residential developments of the area one of the most architecturally interesting is The Royal Crescent
designed in 1839. Clearly inspired by its older namesake in Bath, it differs from the Bath crescent in that it is not a true crescent
at all but two quadrant
terraces each terminated by a circular bow in the Regency style
which rises as a tower, a feature which would not have been found in the earlier classically inspired architecture of the 18th century which the design of the crescent seeks to emulate. The design of the Royal Crescent by the planner Robert Cantwell in two halves was dictated by the location of the newly fashionable underground sewer
s rather than any consideration for architectural aesthetics.
The stucco
fronted crescent is painted white, in the style of the many Nash
terraces which can be elsewhere in London's smarter residential areas. Today many of these four storey
houses have been converted to apartment
s, a few remain as private houses. The Royal crescent is a listed Grade 2.
Holland Park is now one of the most expensive residential districts in London or anywhere in the world, with large houses regularly listed for sale at over £10 million . A number of countries maintain embassies here. Simon Cowell
lives in Holland Park when he is in London, as does actor Kenneth Branagh
, rock star Bryan Ferry
, actress Anita Dobson
and her husband Brian May
.
is primarily set in Holland Park.
Edina Monsoon's house in Absolutely Fabulous
is in Holland Park, and she is eager to disavow assumptions that it is located in Shepherds Bush.Jennifer Saunders
used to live at 67 Holland Park.
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is a central London borough of Royal borough status. After the City of Westminster, it is the wealthiest borough in England....
, in west central London
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Holland Park has a reputation as an affluent and fashionable area, known for attractive large Victorian townhouses, and high-class shopping and restaurants. There are many popular shopping destinations located around Holland Park such as High Street Kensington
High Street Kensington
High Street Kensington may refer to:*Kensington High Street, a popular shopping street in London*High Street Kensington, a Tube station on the Circle and District Lines....
, Notting Hill
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is an area in London, England, close to the north-western corner of Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
, Holland Park Avenue, Portobello Market, Westbourne Grove
Westbourne Grove
Westbourne Grove is a retail road running across Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, a section of west London, England. It runs from Kensington Park Road in the west to Queensway in the east, crossing over Portobello Road...
, Clarendon Cross and Ledbury Road
Ledbury Road
Ledbury Road is situated near Notting Hill Gate and within the area known as Portobello . The road is intersected by Westbourne Grove....
.
Though there are no official boundaries, they are roughly Kensington High Street
Kensington High Street
Kensington High Street is the main shopping street in Kensington, west London. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
to the south, Holland Road to the west, Holland Park Avenue
Holland Park Avenue
Holland Park Avenue is a street located in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in west central London in England. The street runs from Notting Hill Gate in the east to the Holland Park Roundabout in the west, and forms a part of the old west road connecting London with Oxford and the west...
to the north and Kensington Church Street to the east. Holland Park Avenue is at the boundaries of four CAS
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
wards: Norland, Holland, Pembridge and Campden.
Holland Park (public park)
Holland Park is about 22 hectares (54.36 acres) in area and is considered one of the most romantic and peaceful parks of central London. The northern half or so of the park is semi-wild woodland, the central section around the ruins of Holland House is more formal with several garden areas, and the southernmost section is used for sport. Holland House is now a fragmentary ruin, having been devastated by incendiary bombing 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 IlchesterGiles Fox-Strangways, 6th Earl of Ilchester
Giles Stephen Holland Fox-Strangways, 6th Earl of Ilchester GBE, FSA, DL , styled Lord Stavordale until 1905, was a British peer and philanthropist.-Background and education:...
. The park contains a famous Orangery
Orangery
An orangery was a building in the grounds of fashionable residences from the 17th to the 19th centuries and given a classicising architectural form. The orangery was similar to a greenhouse or conservatory...
, a giant chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
set, a cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
pitch, tennis courts, a Japanese garden
Japanese garden
, that is, gardens in traditional Japanese style, can be found at private homes, in neighborhood or city parks, and at historical landmarks such as Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines and old castles....
, a youth hostel, one of London's best equipped children's playgrounds, squirrel
Squirrel
Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...
s and (impressively for a London park) peacocks. In 2010, the park set aside a part which is home to pigs, their job over the next 12 months is to reclaim the area from nettles etc, in order to create another meadow area for wild flowers and fauna. Today the remains of the house form a backdrop for the open air Holland Park Theatre, which is the home of Opera Holland Park
Opera Holland Park
Opera Holland Park is a summer opera company which produces an annual season of opera performances staged under a temporary canopy in Holland Park, a public park in a wealthy district of west central London of the same name. The venue is fully covered but is open at the sides.The canopy was...
. The green-roofed Commonwealth Institute
Commonwealth Institute
The Commonwealth Institute was an educational charity connected with the Commonwealth of Nations, and the name of a building in West London formerly owned by the Institute...
lies to the south.
History
The district was rural until the 19th century. Most of it was formerly the grounds of a JacobeanJacobean architecture
The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James I of England, with whose reign it is associated.-Characteristics:...
mansion called Holland House. 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. 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 (including Frederic Leighton
Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton
Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton PRA , known as Sir Frederic Leighton, Bt, between 1886 and 1896, was an English painter and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical and classical subject matter...
, P.R.A.
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
and Val Prinsep
Valentine Cameron Prinsep
Valentine Cameron Prinsep, often known as Val Princep, was a British painter of the Pre-Raphaelite school.-Early life:...
) and art collectors lived in the area. The group were collectively known as "The Holland Park Circle". Holland Park was in most part very comfortably upper middle class when originally developed and in recent decades has gone further upmarket.
Of the 19th century residential developments of the area one of the most architecturally interesting is The Royal Crescent
Royal Crescent (Holland Park)
The Royal Crescent is a Grade II* listed street in Holland Park, west London, England, consisting of two curved facing terraces in a crescent shape. The crescent is located on the north side of Holland Park Avenue, west of Addison Avenue, and to the east of the Holland Park Roundabout.Between the...
designed in 1839. Clearly inspired by its older namesake in Bath, it differs from the Bath crescent in that it is not a true crescent
Crescent
In art and symbolism, a crescent is generally the shape produced when a circular disk has a segment of another circle removed from its edge, so that what remains is a shape enclosed by two circular arcs of different diameters which intersect at two points .In astronomy, a crescent...
at all but two quadrant
Quadrant (architecture)
Quadrant in architecture refers to a curve in a wall or a vaulted ceiling. Generally considered to be an arc of 90 degrees - one quarter of a circle, or a half of the more commonly seen architectural feature - a crescent....
terraces each terminated by a circular bow in the Regency style
Regency architecture
The Regency style of architecture refers primarily to buildings built in Britain during the period in the early 19th century when George IV was Prince Regent, and also to later buildings following the same style...
which rises as a tower, a feature which would not have been found in the earlier classically inspired architecture of the 18th century which the design of the crescent seeks to emulate. The design of the Royal Crescent by the planner Robert Cantwell in two halves was dictated by the location of the newly fashionable underground sewer
Sanitary sewer
A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...
s rather than any consideration for architectural aesthetics.
The stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
fronted crescent is painted white, in the style of the many Nash
John Nash
John Nash may refer to:*John Nash , Anglo-Welsh architect*John Forbes Nash, Jr. , American mathematician, 1994 Nobel Economics laureate, subject of the book and film titled A Beautiful Mind...
terraces which can be elsewhere in London's smarter residential areas. Today many of these four storey
Storey
A storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people...
houses have been converted to apartment
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
s, a few remain as private houses. The Royal crescent is a listed Grade 2.
Holland Park is now one of the most expensive residential districts in London or anywhere in the world, with large houses regularly listed for sale at over £10 million . A number of countries maintain embassies here. Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...
lives in Holland Park when he is in London, as does actor Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...
, rock star Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry, CBE is an English singer, musician, and songwriter. Ferry came to public prominence in the early 1970s as lead vocalist and principal songwriter with the band Roxy Music, who enjoyed a highly successful career with three number one albums and ten singles entering the top ten charts in...
, actress Anita Dobson
Anita Dobson
Anita Dobson is an English television actress and singer. She gained her highest profile while playing Angie Watts in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders...
and her husband Brian May
Brian May
Brian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
.
In popular culture
The BBC sitcom As Time Goes ByAs Time Goes By (TV series)
As Time Goes By is a British sitcom that aired on BBC One from 1992 to 2005. Starring Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer, it follows the relationship between two former lovers who meet unexpectedly after not having been in contact for 38 years....
is primarily set in Holland Park.
Edina Monsoon's house in Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a British sitcom created by Jennifer Saunders, based on an original idea by her and Dawn French, and written by Saunders, who plays the leading character. It also stars Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha, along with June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks...
is in Holland Park, and she is eager to disavow assumptions that it is located in Shepherds Bush.Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Jane Saunders is an English comedienne, screenwriter, singer and actress. She has won two BAFTAs, an International Emmy Award, a British Comedy Award, a Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival Award, two Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards, and a Peoples Choice Award.She first came into...
used to live at 67 Holland Park.
External links
- Map of Holland Park - the word "Kensington" is printed across the middle of Holland Park. KensingtonKensingtonKensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
is a large district and Holland Park is a subsection of it. The heart of London is off the map to the right. - The local council's page on the park
- Friends of Holland Park
- Opera Holland Park