Ossington Street is a quiet one-way street in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, W2, leading from Moscow Road at its north end to the Bayswater Road

Bayswater Road

Bayswater Road is the main road running across the north of Hyde Park, London. To the east Bayswater Road becomes Oxford Street . It is where the fictional upper middle class Forsyte family live in the BBC series the Forsyte Saga...

 / Notting Hill Gate

Notting Hill Gate

Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares of Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically the street was a location for toll gates, from which it derives its modern name.- Location :...

 at its south end.

Ossington Street forms part of the border between the borough

Borough

A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....

s City of Westminster

City of Westminster

The City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...

 and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

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....

, with the east side of the street belonging to Westminster and the west side to Kensington. It is possible that the street was named after Viscount Ossington.

Despite its minor nature, Ossington Street is one of the more notable 'runs' of The Knowledge in the area, as a route for taxi

Hackney carriage

A hackney or hackney carriage is a carriage or automobile for hire...

 drivers to get from 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...

 to Notting Hill Gate

Notting Hill Gate

Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares of Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically the street was a location for toll gates, from which it derives its modern name.- Location :...

.

The nearest Tube

London Underground

The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...

 station to Ossington Street is Notting Hill Gate

Notting Hill Gate tube station

Notting Hill Gate tube station is a London Underground station in the street known as Notting Hill Gate. On the Central Line, it is between Holland Park to the west and Queensway to the east. On the District Line and Circle Line it is between High Street Kensington and Bayswater stations...

, followed by Queensway

Queensway tube station

Queensway is a London Underground station on the Central Line, just inside the boundary of the City of Westminster with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is at the junction of Queensway and Bayswater Road, and is northwest of Kensington Gardens...

 and Bayswater

Bayswater tube station

Bayswater is a London Underground station in the Bayswater area of the City of Westminster. It is served by the Circle and District lines, but is closed until 23rd of August for engineering works. It's between Notting Hill Gate and Paddington stations, in Travelcard Zone 1...

.

History

Ossington Street was originally laid out from the then Uxbridge Road

Uxbridge Road

Uxbridge Road is the name of the A4020 road in London. It starts at Shepherd's Bush Green and goes west towards Uxbridge. It passes through Acton, Ealing Broadway and Hanwell....

 to Moscow Road on part of Gravel Pit field in the 1830s. It was known at the time as Victoria Grove, and was renamed to Ossington Street in 1837 and transferred to Kensington. The buildings to the west side were in the form of terraced cottages of two storeys and basement, with a mews behind. Victoria Grove Mews retains its name to this day.

Several of the terraced houses to the south were leased to William Ward, a Marylebone builder, who also filled a space along the Uxbridge Road between Victoria Grove and the then boundary of Paddington with an inn and five shops, nos. 1 to 6 Wellington Terrace, around 1840. The inn is that shown in the present day photograph above.

By 1865, almost all of Bayswater

Bayswater

Bayswater is an area of west London in the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to the west . It is a built-up district located 3 miles west-north-west of Charing Cross, bordering the north of Hyde Park over Kensington Gardens and having a population density of...

 had been built up and the only sites for infilling were south of Moscow Road and in particular along the east side of Victoria Grove. This was built up as Palace Court, whose west side backs on Ossington Street and offers some of the most interesting late Victorian domestic architecture in the area.