History

And so how did Paddington get its name? It is thought by many to be derived from the old Sussex word “Pad” meaning pack-horse, which before the advent of motorised transport and the canals was the only means of bringing goods to the city. The pack-horses would be grazed in what was farm land outside the City of London. Hence it is suggested that Paddington might mean “the village of the pack-horse meadows”.In the late 1700’s paddington was just a few houses with Westbourne Green and Bayswater neighbouring hamlets. The rivers fleete, the tybourn and the Brent flowed through the vast Middlesex forest which in the early 13th century was “disafforested” by Henry III

Most of this land was church land owned by the Bishop of London. In 1801 in this area now known as Paddington there were only 357 houses and a population of 1,881 people. Paddington is bordered by Edgware road(formerly the Roman Watling Street) to the east and to the south by Bayswater road. It is near to the junction of these two roads that the infamous Tyburn Tree(or group of trees) stood where public hangings of upto 21 people at a time took place. Hangings ceased here when public executions were moved to Newgate in 1783.

This area known for some time as Tyburnia would in the early part of the 19th century become transformed into the magnificent terraces and gardens, squares and crescents examplified by the magnificent Sussex Gardens, Westbourne Terrace, Gloucester Terrace and further west Leinster Gardens. At this time there was great wealth and social awareness which attracted lawyers, bankers and other professional people.