Campden Hill
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Campden Hill is a hill in
Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
, West
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, bounded by Holland Park Avenue on the north, Kensington High Street on the south, Kensington Palace Gardens on the east and Abbotsbury Road on the west. The name derives from the former ''Campden House'', built by
Baptist Hicks, 1st Viscount Campden Baptist Hicks, 1st Viscount Campden (1551 – 18 October 1629) was an English cloth merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons between 1621 and 1628. King James I knighted Hicks in 1603 and in 1620 he ...
whose country seat was ''Campden House'' in the Gloucestershire town of
Chipping Campden Chipping Campden is a market town in the Cotswold (district), Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. It is notable for its terraced High Street, dating from the 14th to the 17th centuries. A wool trading centre in the Middle Ages, Chipp ...
. The hill contains
Holland Park Holland Park is an area of Kensington, on the western edge of Central London, that lies within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and largely surrounds its namesake park, Holland Park. Colloquially referred to as 'Millionaire's Row', ...
, the former deer-park of Holland House; after being bombed in the
London Blitz London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...
in 1940, the surviving parts of the mansion house can be seen in the south-west corner of the park. To the east of Holland House, the south-west side of the hill is characterized by large Victorian houses which are part of the Phillimore estate. Aubrey House is situated on top of Campden Hill. Campden Hill Square on the north-west side is formed of large Regency houses. The small street called Campden Hill runs from Campden Hill Road westward into Holland Park. It was built on part of the grounds of the former Bute House. Bute House was built c.1812, and was named after the second
Marquess of Bute Marquess of the County of Bute, shortened in general usage to Marquess of Bute, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1796 for John Stuart, 4th Earl of Bute. Family history John Stuart was the member of a family that ...
who lived there from 1830 until 1842. The next occupant was Hon. William Sebright Lascelles, the brother of the third
Earl of Harewood Earl of Harewood (), in the County of York, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The title was created in 1812 for Edward Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood, a wealthy sugar plantation owner and former Member of Parliament fo ...
; his widow Lady Lascelles lived there until 1856. The sixth
Duke of Rutland Duke of Rutland is a title in the Peerage of England, named after Rutland, a county in the East Midlands of England. Earldoms named after Rutland have been created three times; the ninth earl of the third creation was made duke in 1703, in whos ...
lived there from 1865 until his death in 1888. The last owner was Blundell Charles Weld, a Lancashire landowner, who renamed the house Blundell House. After he left the house in 1912 or 1913 it was demolished. 1 Campden Hill was built in 1915 by Colonel Edmond Hills, President of the
Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charitable organisation, charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, planetary science, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its ...
and his wife Juliet, to the designs of Edward P. Warren. A street named Observatory Gardens is situated nearby. From the 1950s to 2001, it was the residence of the Ambassador of
Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
and has since been marketed by the Phillimore Estate as a private home. Campden Hill Gate, a mansion block of flats, was used for the filming of the ITV dramatization of the Agatha Christie short story, "The Adventure of the Cheap Flat" (1990) in their ''
Agatha Christie's Poirot ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'', or simply ''Poirot'' (), is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2020. The ITV show is based on many of Agatha Christie's famous crime fiction series, wh ...
'' series. Earlier Campden Hill had been the setting for a popular mystery story by Victor Bridges: ''The Red Lodge: A Mystery of Campden Hill'' (1924). 50 Campden Hill Square, was the home, from 1907 to 1939, of
Evelyn Underhill Evelyn Underhill (6 December 1875 – 15 June 1941) was an English Anglo-Catholic writer and pacifist known for her numerous works on religion and spirituality, spiritual practice, in particular Christian mysticism. Her best-known work is ''Myst ...
the Christian philosopher, teacher and pacifist. It is marked with a blue plaque. The
Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...
public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...
is a
Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
building at 114 Campden Hill Road, dating from 1826. The top of the hill was the site of water-tower reservoirs established in the 19th century by the
Grand Junction Waterworks Company The Grand Junction Waterworks Company was a utility company supplying water to parts of west London in England. The company was formed as an offshoot of the Grand Junction Canal Company in 1811 and became part of the publicly owned Metropolit ...
and the West Middlesex Waterworks Company. Writer, poet and philosopher G. K. Chesterton wrote in his
autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...
that he was born on Campden Hill, Kensington and mentioned the water-tower, as well. Educator and
suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...
Margaret Emily Hodge was also born in Campden Hill.


References

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