Paddington South (UK Parliament Constituency) - Description

Description

Although the boundaries were slightly changed during its history, the principal areas of the constituency remained the same. In the east, the Hyde Park Estate had been built on land owned originally by the Bishop of London and later by the Church Commissioners in the 1820s starting with Connaught Square; it was originally known as Tyburnia after the River Tyburn. This area was always a prosperous one and no longer had the problem of the Tyburn gallows which were removed in 1783. However, the early 20th century saw some of the houses divided into flats and a wholescale redevelopment was undertaken under the Church Commissioners in the 1950s.

West of this estate, on the north side of Kensington Gardens, is Lancaster Gate, built in 1856 but with many later buildings including those to replace bomb damage. The Barrie Estate, built by the London County Council in the 1950s, was one of the few social housing blocks to be built near the park. In later years, many of the terraces were replaced with or converted to hotels. Further west and beyond Queensway came apartment blocks such as Orme Court. North of this area the stuccoed terraces were built in the mid-19th century to provide good quality accommodation although not of the very highest class.

On Queensway, Whiteleys Department Store had been founded in 1863 and steadily expanded, having a major rebuilding in 1908-12. Between this area and Westbourne Terrace was an area redeveloped as the Hallfield Estate after 1947 by Paddington Borough Council using Denys Lasdun as architect. To the west was Westbourne Grove which developed as a shopping street in the 1860s and leading to Notting Hill. Between Westbourne Grove and the railway line which led to Paddington railway station were smaller houses and garden squares. Although originally developed as a residential area of some quality, this area swiftly declined.

In the very last years of the constituency, disused railway sidings north of Westbourne Park Road were developed by Westminster City Council as the high-density Brunel Estate. North of the railway line, and between the canal and Harrow Road, was an industrial area which included the London Lock Hospital. The area added to the constituency after 1918 included some poor quality housing around the northern end of Westbourne Terrace, which was the scene for much of the 1950 film The Blue Lamp before being cleared and redeveloped by the London County Council as the Warwick Estate in the 1960s. The changes in 1918 also brought into the constituency the Paddington Railway station and Paddington Basin.

Overall, this made for a constituency which moved slowly but perceptibly down the social scale during the years, although the preponderance of the electorate were still prosperous at all times.