Artists, authors and politicians moved into the houses
along Craven Hill and Porchester Terrace, attracted to
a district that was still "a little quiet piece of
Nature". The daughter of the Vincent Novellos, who
lived at 4 Craven Hill, wrote: "Our pretty homestead,
Craven Hill Cottage, Bayswater, was one of the last
lingering remains of the old primitive simplicity of
that neighbourhood, ere it became built upon with
modern houses, squares and terraces".
13-16 Craven Hill Gardens were designed as four separate
residences and built in about 1850. They shared a
garden, in which plane trees and lime trees were planted
- the same ones that are there today. The land was
still owned by the Craven family, who had granted
90-year leases for the buildings.
Large town houses were also constructed in Cleveland
Square; Westbourne, Eastbourne and Gloucester Terraces
were built in the 1840s and 1850s. The choice for
terraces instead of detached houses may have been made
to hide the new railway, or perhaps terraces were more
popular at the time; they were built along Queen's Road,
too, and soon lined Inverness Terrace and Queensborough
Terrace. The terraced houses along Lancaster Gate were
said to be the most handsome houses in London in 1868.
An article in The Times shows that the leasehold of 13
Craven Hill Gardens was auctioned in 1862 when its first
owner, Mr Ellis, died. The house at number 16 was
auctioned in 1875. Both leases were to expire in 1939.
Buildings soon covered the whole of Bayswater, including
the Westbourne River, which had become part of the
Ranelagh sewer. A "great aristocratic town" had appeared
with wealthy residents and luxurious shopping facilities
such as Whiteley's. Both Whiteley's and the railway
companies needed accommodation for their staff, and the
Paddington Station brought many visitors to London.
The number of hotels, boarding houses and apartments
grew rapidly, and the Bayswater population became
more cosmopolitan. Nevertheless, the area remained mainly
residential and prosperous.
By the late 1800s, Bayswater looked rather like it does
today. Occasionally, houses were repaired, altered or
replaced, and the infrastructure was further improved.
Bayswater Underground Station was opened in 1868,
followed by Queen's Road Underground Station in 1901.
Porchester Baths were built at the end of Queen's Road
and Whiteley's new building was completed in 1911.
