Maida Vale
TheGrand Union Canal at Little Venice
Maida Vale Location withinGreater London
Population	23,161 (2016Maida Vale andLittle Venice combined Ward populations)[1][2]
OS grid reference	TQ255825
London borough	Westminster
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	W9
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	Queen's Park and Maida Vale
London Assembly	West Central
List of places UK England London 51°31′48″N0°11′10″W / 51.530°N 0.186°W /51.530; -0.186

Maida Vale (/ˈmeɪdəveɪl/MAY-də vayl) is an affluent residential district inWest London, England, north ofPaddington, southwest ofSt John's Wood and south ofKilburn, onEdgware Road. It is part of theCity of Westminster and is three miles (five kilometres) northwest of Charing Cross.^[3] It has many lateVictorian andEdwardian blocks ofmansion flats. The area is home to theBBCMaida Vale Studios.^[4]

The name of the area is derived from a pub and an Italian battle during theNapoleonic Wars. The original pub calledThe Hero of Maida stood onEdgware Road near theRegent's Canal until it closed in 1992.^[5] In the early 19th century, itshanging board displayed the likeness of theGeorgian eraGeneralSir John Stuart, under which was the legendSir John Stuart, the hero of Maida.^[5][6] General Sir John Stuart was madeCount ofMaida (a town inCalabria) byKing Ferdinand IV of Naples and III of Sicily after the British victory at theBattle of Maida in 1806.^[7] As the expansion of London gathered pace, the name stuck as the farmland around the pub was used for urban development in the 1820s.^[8]

The area is bounded byMaida Avenue and the Regent's Canal to the south, Maida Vale (the road of the same name) to the north-east, Kilburn Park Road to the north-west, and Shirland Road andBlomfield Road to the south-west: an area of around one square kilometre (1⁄2 square mile). It makes up most of the W9 postal district.

The southern part of Maida Vale, at the junction ofPaddington Basin withRegent's Canal with manyhouseboats, is known as Little Venice.Paddington Recreation Ground is also located in Maida Vale.

The area to the west of Maida Vale, is known as "Maida Hill". It is a recognised postal district bounded by the Avenues on the west, the Regent's Canal to the south, Maida Vale to the east and Kilburn Lane to the north. Parts of Maida Vale were also included in this.^[9] The use of the name "Maida Hill" declined, but increased again since the mid-2000s as the414 bus route (from 2005 to 2021) gave its destination as Maida Hill,^[10][11] and a new Maida Hill market was introduced on the square at the junction of Elgin Avenue and Harrow Road.^[12] Maida Hill is also known as "West Kilburn", with the two names being used interchangeably.^[13]

Just to the east of Maida Vale isSt John's Wood, withLord's Cricket Ground.

The area was previously owned by the Church, initially as part ofSt Margaret's, Westminster, then later by theBishop of London after theDissolution of the Monasteries.^[14]

In 1742, a lease for future development was signed by Sir John Frederick. His daughter later married Robert Thistlethwaite, aHampshire landowner, whose Hampshire holdings includingWidley andWymering are commemorated in Maida Vale street names.^[14]

In 1816, an Act of Parliament allowed the trustees of Sir John Frederick's estate and the Bishop of London to begin developing the area. This began in the 1820s with development along Edgware Road. The area was first named on maps as Maida Vale in 1827.^[14] John Gutch, surveyor to the Bishop of London, produced a plan for the area in 1827, which roughly corresponds to current road alignments.^[14]

By 1868, a stretch of Edgware Road near the area had been officially named Maida Vale.^[14] In 1960, the ownership of the area's freehold passed from the Bishop of London to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, whose function was to administer the church's assets.^[14]

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Maida Vale was a significantSephardic Jewish district, to the extent that an 1878 magazine report reported that it was commonly called "New Jerusalem".^[14] The 1896Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue, a Grade IIlisted building and headquarters of the BritishSephardi community, is onLauderdale Road. The actorAlec Guinness was born on this road. The firstPrime Minister of Israel,David Ben-Gurion, lived within sight of this synagogue onWarrington Crescent.^[15] The pioneer of modern computing,Alan Turing, was born at what is now theColonnade Hotel in Warrington Crescent.

Maida Vale tube station was opened on 6 June 1915 on theBakerloo line.Warwick Avenue tube station on the same line had been opened a few months earlier.

Maida Vale is home to some ofBBC network radio's recording and broadcast studios. The building on Delaware Road is one of the BBC's earliest premises, pre-dating Broadcasting House, and was the centre of the BBC radio news service during World War II. The building houses seven music and radio drama studios. Most famously it was home toJohn Peel'sBBC Radio 1Peel Sessions and theBBC Radiophonic Workshop.

In 2018 the BBC announced plans to close the Maida Vale studios and relocate its functions to East London.^[16]

Little Venice is a comparatively recent name for parts of Maida Vale andPaddington in theCity of Westminster. It consists of the area surrounding the Little Venicebasin and its canals. It is known for itsRegency style whitestucco buildings and its canals and moored boats. The name Little Venice is applied to Maida Avenue,Warwick Crescent and Blomfield Road, and the streets in the south of Maida Vale overlooking Browning's Pool, including the section ofRandolph Avenue south of Warrington Crescent.^[17]

According to one story, the poetRobert Browning, who lived in the area from 1862 to 1887, coined the name.^[18] However, this was disputed byLord Kinross in 1966^[19] and by London Canals.^[20] Both assert thatLord Byron (1788–1824) humorously coined the name, which now applies more loosely to a longer reach of the canal system. Browning's Pool is named after the poet. It forms the junction ofRegent's Canal and thePaddington Arm of theGrand Union Canal.

South Maida Vale, a prime residential area,^[21] also has a reputation for shops and restaurants and for theCanal Cafe Theatre, thePuppet Theatre Barge, theWaterside Café and theWarwick Castle pub. Awaterbus service operates from Little Venice eastwards roundRegent's Park, calling atLondon Zoo and on towardsCamden Town. The Inland Waterways Association has hosted since 1983 aCanalway Cavalcade in Little Venice.^[22]

Maida Vale is noted for wide tree-lined avenues, large communal gardens and red-brick mansion blocks from the lateVictorian andEdwardian eras. The first mansion blocks were completed in 1897, with the arrival of the identically designedLauderdale Mansions South, Lauderdale Mansions West and Lauderdale Mansions East in Lauderdale Road. Others followed in neighbouring streets: Elgin Mansions (Elgin Avenue) and Leith Mansions (Grantully Road) in 1900, Ashworth Mansions (Elgin Avenue and Grantully Road) and Castellain Mansions (Castellain Road) in 1902, Elgin Court (Elgin Avenue) and Carlton Mansions (Randolph Avenue) in 1902, Delaware Mansions (Delaware Road) and Biddulph Mansions (Elgin Avenue and Biddulph Road) in 1907^[14] and Randolph Court in 1910.^[23]

Among the buildings of architectural interest is theCarlton Tavern, a pub onCarlton Vale. Built in 1920–1921 forCharrington Brewery, it is thought to be the work of the architectFrank J. Potter and is noted for its 1920s interiors andfaience tiled exterior. The building was being considered byHistoric England forGrade II listing when it was unexpectedly demolished in March 2015 by theproperty developer CLTX Ltd to make way for a block of flats.^[24] The pub was subsequently rebuilt and re-opened following a community campaign and planning appeals.^[25]

Maida Vale has a namesakeelectoral ward and in the 2022 local election returned three Labour councillors for Westminster City Council. The 2011 census counted a population of 10,210 in the ward. Ethnicity-wise, 62.4% of the population were White (38% British, 3% Irish, 22% Other), 11.7% were Asian, and 7.1% were Black. Maida Vale also had a largeArab community, who formed 9.2% of the population, and by far the most spoken foreign language was Arabic. Of the 4,480 households, the number of homes owned or privately rented were about even, with socially rented a bit less but still significant. Properties are predominantly in the flats/maisonettes/apartments category (over 90 percent of the households). The median age was 33. Being in the inner city, the majority of residents do not own a car or van.^[26]

Local places of worship include St Saviour's Church,Warwick Avenue, a building constructed in 1972–1976 in a "modern" style. The latter building was referred to by some local residents as "the God Box".^[27] St Luke's Church on Fernhead Road was built in 1877, but destroyed in anair raid in 1940 and subsequently rebuilt.^[28] The church featured inGraham Greene's 1955 novellaLoser Takes All.^[29][30] It is an active church.^[31]

Lauderdale Road Synagogue, aSephardic Jewish place of worship, is in Maida Vale.

• Edward Ardizzone (1900–1979), artist and illustrator, at 130 Elgin Avenue.^[32]
• Roger Bannister (1929–2018), English athlete and neurologist, trained to break the4-minute mile at the track inPaddington Rec while a medical student atSt Mary's hospital.
• David Ben-Gurion (1886–1973), first prime minister ofIsrael, at 75 Warrington Crescent.^[33]
• Lennox Berkeley (1900–1989), composer, lived at 8 Warwick Avenue.^[34]
• Ambrose Fleming (1849–1945), English electrical engineer and physicist, at 9 Clifton Gardens.^[35]
• Alec Guinness (1914–2000), English actor, born at 155 Lauderdale Mansions.^[36]
• Henry Hall (1898–1989),British dance band leader, at 8 Randolph Mews in 1959–1981.^[37]
• Andreas Kalvos (1792–1869), Greek poet and patriot, at 182Sutherland Avenue.^[38]
• Lupino Lane (1892–1959), theatre and film star, at 32 Maida Vale.^[39]
• Arthur Lowe (1915–1982), English actor, famed for his role asCaptain George Mainwaring in the television showDad's Army, at 2 Maida Hill West in 1969–1982.^[40]
• Tony Meehan (1943–2005), founder member of the guitar groupThe Shadows, lived at 34 Lauderdale Mansions on Lauderdale Road in 1977–2005.^[41]
• Alan Turing (1912–1954), code-breaker and pioneer of computer science, at 2 Warrington Crescent.^[42]

See alsoPeople from Maida Vale

• Hardy Amies (1909–2003), fashion designer, dressmaker toQueen Elizabeth II.^[43]
• George Arliss (1868–1946), actor, at 1 Clifton Villas.^[44]
• Marc Bolan (b. 1947) lived at 31 Clarendon Gardens in the late 1960's^[45]
• Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary (b. 1991), suspected Islamist militant.^[46]
• Björk (b. 1965), Icelandic singer, resident in the 1990s and early 2000s.^[47]
• Joanna Mary Boyce (1831–1861), portrait painter, born in Maida Vale.^[48]
• Vera Brittain (1893–1970), writer, at 111 Wymering Mansions, Wymering Road.^[49]
• Helen Clare (1916–2018), singer, was living at 88 Maida Vale in 1939.^[50]
• Ernest Clark (1912–1994), actor, born and raised in Maida Vale.^[51]
• Charles Coborn (1852–1945), music hall entertainer, lived at 27 Elgin Mansions.^[52]
• Jarvis Cocker (b. 1963) ofPulp was living in the area in 1997.^[53]
• Joan Collins (b. 1933) grew up in Maida Vale.^{[citation needed]}
• Delia Derbyshire (1937–2001), in Clifton Road during her time with theBBC Radiophonic Workshop.^[54]
• Elizabeth Emanuel (b. 1953), fashion designer, lives in the area.^[55]
• Mohammed Emwazi (1988–2015), alleged executioner for Islamic State known as "Jihadi John", attended St Mary Magdalene Church of England Primary School in Maida Vale.^[56]
• Terence Fisher (1904–1980), film director, born in Maida Vale.
• Michael Flatley (b. 1958), dancer and creator ofRiverdance etc., owned a house in Park Place Villas, near the Regent's Canal, until 2004.^[57][58]
• Edward Fox (b. 1937), film actor, has lived in Maida Avenue, by the Regent's Canal, from the 1970s to the present-day.^[59][60][61]
• Alan Freeman (1927–2006), broadcaster.^[62]
• Noel Gallagher (b. 1967), singer, songwriter and guitarist.^[63]
• SirEdward German (1862–1936), composer, lived at 5 Biddulph Road from 1921 until his death in 1936.^[64]
• Victor Gollancz (1893–1967), publisher and humanitarian, born at 256 Elgin Avenue, Maida Vale.^[65]
• Eva Green (b. 1980), actress.^[66]
• Leslie Green (1875–1908), architect, was born in Maida Vale.^[67]
• Clifford Grey (1887–1941), musical theatre composer, at 38 Sandringham Court.^[68]
• Philip Guedalla (1889–1944), writer, politician and barrister, born in Maida Vale.^[69]
• LieutenantLeonard KeysorVC (1885–1951), Australian soldier, born in Maida Vale.^[70]
• Irene Handl (1901–1987), character actress, born in Maida Vale.^[71]
• John Inman (1935–2007), actor, lived in a mews house in Little Venice for 30 years.^[72]
• Walter Kolarz (1912–1962), communist scholar, in Maida Vale from 1940 until his death.^[73]
• Philip Lawrence (1947–1995), head teacher atSt George's Catholic School in Maida Vale at the time of his murder in December 1995.
• Eddie Linden (b. 1935), poet and founder ofAquarius magazine, which he edited from his home in Maida Vale.^[74]
• James MacColl (1908–1971), Labour MP forWidnes, at 21 Randolph Road.
• John Masefield (1878–1967), novelist, playwright and Poet Laureate from 1930, at 30Maida Avenue.^[5]
• Jimmy McCulloch (1953–1979) of the rock bandWings died at his flat there.^[75]
• Ben Miller (b. 1966), comedian and actor.^[76]
• Nancy Mitford (1904–1973), author, at 13 Blomfield Road in the 1930s.^[77]
• James Payn (1830–1898), novelist and journal editor, died at his home, 43 Warrington Crescent, on 25 March 1898.^[78]
• Esmé Percy (1887–1957), actor, at 30 Warrington Crescent.^[79]
• Lou Preager (1906–1978),British dance band leader, at 198 Wymering Mansions, Wymering Road in the 1930s.^[80]
• Raphael Ravenscroft, (b.1954) Saxophonist who played the solo onGerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" lived at 27A Bristol Gardens 2011–2014^[81]
• Ruth Rendell (1930–2015), Baroness Rendell of Babergh, the English crime novelist, lived in the area.^[82]
• Daisy Ridley (b. 1992), actress.^[83]
• Mstislav Rostropovich (1927–2007), cellist, at 18 Randolph Crescent.^[84]
• Julia Smith (1927–1997), television producer, was born at 174 Sutherland Avenue.^[85]
• Enrica Soma (1929–1969), Italian-American socialite and ballerina, one-time wife ofJohn Huston and mother ofAnjelica Huston, moved there with her children in 1962 after separating from her husband.^[86]
• Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer (b. 1964), peer, author and younger brother ofDiana, Princess of Wales, has a residence in Maida Vale.
• Joe Strummer (1952–2002) of punk rock bandthe Clash lived there.^[87]
• Kate Stewart (b. 1995), singer-songwriter.^[88]
• SirJohn Tenniel (1820–1914), artist and cartoonist, at 10 Portsdown Road (subsequently renamedRandolph Avenue), Maida Hill in 1854–1909.^[89]
• John Lawrence Toole (1830–1906), comic actor, lived in Maida Vale.^[90]
• Alexander Walker (1930–2003),Evening Standard film critic, at 1 Marlborough, 38–40 Maida Vale.^[91]
• Bradley Wiggins (b. 1980), cyclist.^[92]

• Konni Zilliacus (1894–1967),Labour MP forManchester Gorton and author.

• Richard Tames.St. John's Wood and Maida Vale Past, London: Historical Publications, 1998.ISBN 978-0-94866-753-4

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