Editing Paddington

{{short description|Area of central London, England}}
{{About|the district of London|the fictional character|Paddington Bear|the station|London Paddington station|the film|Paddington (film)|other uses|Paddington (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country = England
| map_type = Greater London
| region = London
| static_image_name = St Mary's Hospital old section 2003-08-22.jpg
| static_image_caption = [[St Mary's Hospital, London|St Mary's Hospital]]
| population = 
| official_name = Paddington
| coordinates = {{coord|51.5172|-0.1730|display=inline,title}}
| os_grid_reference = TQ267814
| london_borough = Westminster
| post_town = LONDON
| postcode_area = W
| postcode_district = W2, W9
| dial_code = 020
| constituency_westminster = [[Cities of London and Westminster (UK Parliament constituency)|Cities of London and Westminster]]
| constituency_westminster1 = [[Kensington and Bayswater]]
| london_distance = 
}}
'''Paddington''' is an [[List of areas of London|area]] in the [[City of Westminster]], in central London, England.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/LP2011%20Chapter%202.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120408162506/http://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/LP2011%20Chapter%202.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-08 |url-status=live|title=London's Places|work=[[The London Plan]]|publisher=[[Greater London Authority]]|year=2011|page=46|access-date=27 May 2014}}</ref> A medieval parish then a [[Metropolitan Borough of Paddington|metropolitan borough]] of the [[County of London]], it was integrated with Westminster and [[Greater London]] in 1965. [[London Paddington station|Paddington station]], designed by the engineer [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]] opened in 1847. It is also the site of [[St Mary's Hospital, London|St Mary's Hospital]] and the former [[Paddington Green Police Station]].

[[Paddington Waterside]] aims to regenerate former railway and canal land.  Districts within Paddington are [[Maida Vale]], [[Westbourne, London|Westbourne]] and [[Bayswater]] including [[Lancaster Gate]].

==History==
[[File:Paddington Met. B Ward Map 1916.svg|thumb|A map showing the wards of Paddington Metropolitan Borough as they appeared in 1916.]]

The earliest extant references to ''Padington'' (or "Padintun", as in the ''Saxon Chartularies'', 959<ref name=Surname />), [[Historic counties of England|historically]] a part of [[Middlesex]], appear in the documentation of purported tenth-century land grants to the monks of Westminster by [[Edgar the Peaceful]] as confirmed by [[Dunstan|Archbishop Dunstan]]. However, the documents' provenance is much later and likely to have been forged after the 1066 [[Norman Conquest]]. There is no mention of the place (or Westbourne or Knightsbridge) in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/paddingtonpasta00enggoog#page/n23/mode/2up Robins, pp 1–5]</ref>

It has been reasonably speculated that a Saxon settlement led by the followers of ''Padda'', an Anglo-Saxon chieftain, was located around the intersection of the northern and western Roman roads, corresponding with the [[Edgware Road]] ([[Watling Street]]) and the [[Harrow Road|Harrow]] and [[Uxbridge Road|Uxbridge]] Roads.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/paddingtonpasta00enggoog#page/n29/mode/2up Robins, pp 7–9]</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Weinreb |first=Ben |url=http://archive.org/details/londonencycloped00ias |title=The London Encyclopedia |publisher=Adler & Adler |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-917561-07-8 |location=Bethesda, Maryland |pages=572–573}}</ref> From the tenth century, Paddington was owned by [[Westminster Abbey]] which was later confirmed by the [[House of Plantagenet|Plantagenet]] kings in a charter from 1222. This charter mentions a chapel and a farm situated in the area.<ref name=":02" /> While a 12th-century document cited by the cleric [[Isaac Maddox]] (1697–1759) establishes that part of the land was held by brothers "Richard and William de Padinton".<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/paddingtonpasta00enggoog#page/n35/mode/2up Robins, p 12]</ref> They and their descendants carried out activities in Paddington; these were known by records dating from 1168 to 1485. They were the earliest known tenant farmers of the land.<ref name=":02" />

During King [[Henry VIII]]'s [[Dissolution of the monasteries|dissolution]], the property of Paddington was seized by the crown. However, King [[Edward VI]] granted the land to the [[Bishop of London]] in 1550. Successive bishops would later lease farmlands to tenants and city merchants. One such, in the 1540s, was [[Thomas North]], who translated Plutarch's ''[[Parallel Lives]]'' into English in 1579. Shakespeare would later use this work and was said to have performed in taverns along Edgware Road.<ref name=":02" />

In the later [[Elizabethan]] and early [[Stuart period|Stuart]] era, the rectory, manor and associated estate houses were occupied by the Small (or Smale) family. Nicholas Small was a clothworker who was sufficiently well connected to have [[Hans Holbein the Younger|Holbein]] paint a portrait of his wife, [[Jane Small]]. Nicholas died in 1565 and his wife married again, to Nicholas Parkinson of Paddington who became master of the [[Clothworkers' Company]]. Jane Small continued to live in Paddington after her second husband's death, and her manor house was big enough to have been let to Sir John Popham, the attorney general, in the 1580s. They left the building that became in this time ''Blowers Inn''.<ref>Holbein's Miniature of Jane Pemberton – a further note. Author: Lorne Campbell. Source: The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 132, No. 1044 (Mar. 1990), pp. 213–214.</ref>

=== Early Modern period ===
As the regional population grew in the 17th century, Paddington's ancient [[Hundred (division)|Hundred]] of [[Ossulstone]] was split into divisions; [[Holborn division|Holborn Division]] replaced the hundred for most administrative purposes.<ref>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol6/pp1-5 Ossulstone Hundred] at [[British History Online]]</ref> A church, the predecessor of [[St Mary on Paddington Green Church|St Mary]] was built in Paddington in 1679.<ref name=":2" />
[[File:St Mary's Church, Paddington Green, W2 - geograph.org.uk - 351966.jpg|thumb|[[St Mary on Paddington Green Church|St Mary on Paddington]], a Georgian church commissioned in 1788]]
In 1740, John Frederick leased the estate in Paddington and it is from his granddaughters and their families that many of Paddington's street names are derived.<ref name=":02" /> The [[New Road, London|New Road]] was built in 1756–7 to link the villages of Paddington and Islington.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Inwood |first=Stephen |url=http://archive.org/details/historyoflondon0000inwo_z7b8 |title=A History of London |publisher=Macmillan |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-333-67153-5 |location=London }}</ref>{{Rp|page=260}} By 1773, a [[contemporary history|contemporary historian]] felt and wrote that "London may now be said to include two cities ([[City of London|London]] and [[City and Liberty of Westminster|Westminster]]), one borough ([[Southwark]]) and forty six antient [ancient] villages [among which]... Paddington and [adjoining] Marybone ([[Marylebone]])."<ref name=":2">[[John Noorthouck|Noorthouck, J.]], ''[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=46744 A New History of London]'' 1773; Online edition sponsored by Centre for Metropolitan History: (Book 2, Ch. 1: Situation and general view of London) Date accessed: 6 July 2009.</ref>
During the 18th century, several French [[Huguenots]] called Paddington village home. These included jewellers, nobility and skilled craftsmen; and men such as [[Claudius Amyand (surgeon)|Claudius Amyand]] (surgeon to King [[George III|George II]]). The French nobility built magnificent gardens that lasted up until the 19th century.<ref name=":02" />

Roman roads formed the parish's northeastern and southern boundaries from [[Marble Arch]]: [[Watling Street]] (later [[Edgware Road]]) and; (the) Uxbridge road, known by the 1860s in this neighbourhood as [[Bayswater Road]]. They were [[Toll gate#Early toll roads|toll roads]] in much of the 18th century, before and after the dismantling of the permanent [[Tyburn, London#Tyburn gallows|Tyburn gallows "tree"]] at their junction in 1759 a junction now known as Marble Arch.<ref name="Elrington">Elrington C. R. (Editor), Baker T. F. T., Bolton D. K., Croot P. E. C. (1989) ''[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=90&page=1&sort=1 A History of the County of Middlesex]'' (Access page number from the Table of Contents])</ref>{{rp|p.174}} The Tyburn gallows might have been a reason why expansion and urban development (from London) slowed in Paddington; as public execution was taking place there up until 1783.<ref name=":02" />[[File:Departure platforms Paddington station.jpg|thumb|Paddington station first opened in 1838]]Only in 1801 did major construction to Paddington occur. This happened when the bishops leased land to the [[Grand Junction Canal]], where a direct trade link could now take place between London and the [[Midlands]], bringing more employment to the area. The canal would remain dominant until [[Regent's Canal]] was built in 1820. Construction and building projects would take place from east to west and south to north throughout the 19th century; increasing its population in a rapid pace, overtaking the village scene of Paddington. This population increase would go from 1,881 to 46,305 between 1801 and 1851 respectively; with 10,000 new inhabitants added every decade thereafter.<ref name=":02" />
[[London Paddington station|Paddington station]] first opened in 1838, with the first underground line in 1863 ([[Metropolitan line|Metropolitan]]).<ref name=":02" /> Paddington was one of the few districts in London that had a migrant majority population by 1881.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=416}} With a thriving Greek and Jewish community present in the mid-19th century. During the period, several Victorian churches were demolished owing to structural decay. Victorian housing developed into slums, giving the area an unsavoury reputation.

However, in the 1930s massive rebuilding and improvements projects were made. However, even as late as the 1950s Paddington was a byword for overcrowding, poverty and vice. Between the 1960s and 1980s, the area would see vast improvements and redevelopments in city planning.<ref name=":02" />

===Tyburnia===
{{main|Tyburnia}}
The southeast section of Tyburnia used to be a shanty-town in the 1790s before the Canal was built and brought much needed employment to its inhabitants. The area was built up during the course of the [[Napoleonic Wars]].<ref name=":02" />

In the 19th century the part of the parish most sandwiched between Edgware Road and [[Westbourne Terrace]], [[Gloucester Terrace]] and [[Craven Hill]], bounded to the south by Bayswater Road, was known as Tyburnia. The district formed the centrepiece of an 1824 masterplan by [[Samuel Pepys Cockerell]] to redevelop the Tyburn Estate (historic lands of the Bishop of London) into a residential area to rival [[Belgravia]].<ref name="Tyburnia">{{cite web|last=Walford|first=Edward|title=Tyburn and Tyburnia|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45231|work=Old and New London: Volume 5|publisher=British History Online|access-date=27 September 2013}}</ref>

The area was laid out in the mid-1800s when grand squares and cream-[[stucco (material)|stuccoed]] terraces started to fill the acres between Paddington station and Hyde Park; however, the plans were never realised in full. Despite this, Thackeray described the residential district of Tyburnia as "the elegant, the prosperous, the polite Tyburnia, the most respectable district of the habitable globe."<ref>{{cite web|last=Brewer|first=E. Cobham|title=Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898)|url=http://www.bartleby.com/81/16894.html|publisher=Bartleby.com|access-date=27 September 2013}}</ref>

===Etymology===
Derivation of the name is uncertain. Speculative explanations include ''Padre-ing-tun'' (explained as "father's meadow village"), ''Pad-ing-tun'' ("pack-horse meadow village"),<ref>Robins, William. [https://archive.org/stream/paddingtonpasta00enggoog#page/n9/mode/2up ''Paddington Past and Present'']. Caxton Steam Printing (1853), pp. iv–v.</ref> and ''Pæding-tun'' ("village of the race of Pæd")<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/paddingtonpasta00enggoog#page/n133/mode/2up/ Robins], pp. 110–111.</ref> the last being the cited suggestion of the Victorian Anglo-Saxon scholar [[John Mitchell Kemble]].

There is another Paddington in [[Surrey]], recorded in the ''[[Domesday Book]]'' as "Padendene"<ref>[http://www.domesdaymap.co.uk/place/TQ1047/paddington/ Place: Paddington] at ''Open Domesday''.</ref> and later as "Paddingdon", perhaps to be derived from [[Old English]] ''dene, denu'' "valley", whereas Paddington in Middlesex is commonly traced back to Old English ''tūn'' "farm, homestead, town". Both place names share the same first part, a personal name rendered as ''Pad(d)a'', of uncertain origin, giving "Padda's valley" for the place in Surrey and "homestead of Padda's people" for the place in Middlesex.<ref name=Surname>Brooks, C. [http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Paddington "Paddington"], in: ''Internet Surname Database''.</ref> That both place names would refer to the same individual or ancient family,<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/paddingtonpasta00enggoog#page/n137/mode/2up/ Robins], p. 114</ref> is pure speculation. A lord named Padda is named in the Domesday Book, associated with [[Brampton, Suffolk]].<ref>[http://www.domesdaymap.co.uk/name/398550/padda/ Name: Padda] at ''Open Domesday''.</ref>

===Colloquial expressions===
An 18th-century dictionary gives "Paddington Fair Day. An execution day, Tyburn being in the parish or neighbourhood of Paddington. To dance the Paddington frisk; to be hanged."<ref>Grose, Francis [https://archive.org/stream/aclassicaldicti01grosgoog#page/n170/mode/2up Paddington] in ''A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue'', 3rd edn, Hooper and Wigstead, London 1796. Online copy at archive.org</ref> Public executions were abolished in England in 1868.<ref>Brewer, Rev. E. Cobham ''A Dictionary of Phrase and Fable'' p.869, revised edn., Cassell 2001</ref>

==Geography==
The Paddington district is centred around [[London Paddington station|Paddington railway station]].  The conventional recognised boundary of the district is much smaller than the longstanding pre-mid-19th century parish. That parish was virtually equal to the borough abolished in 1965.  It is divided from a northern offshoot [[Maida Vale]] by the [[Regent's Canal]]; its overlap is the artisan and touristic neighbourhood of [[Little Venice]].  In the east of the district around [[Paddington Green, London|Paddington Green]] it remains divided from [[Marylebone]] by Edgware Road (as commonly heard in spoken form, the [[Edgware]] Road).  In the south west it is bounded by its south and western offshoot [[Bayswater]].  A final offshoot, [[Westbourne, London|Westbourne]], rises to the north west.

==Governance==
[[File:LONDON, MARYLEBONE by BARTLETT, F.A. and B.J. DAVIES.jpg|260px|thumb|An 1834 map of the Parliamentary Borough of St Marylebone, showing Paddington in (green) and [[St Pancras, London|St Pancras]] (yellow). These Parliamentary Boroughs, like the subsequent Metropolitan Boroughs used the ancient parish boundaries.]]
[[File:Paddington Town Hall, Kilburn.jpg|thumb|The former [[Paddington Town Hall, London|Paddington Town Hall]]]]
Paddington was part of the [[Metropolitan Borough of Paddington]], the headquarters of which was at [[Paddington Town Hall, London|Paddington Town Hall]], until 1965 when the area became part of the enlarged [[City of Westminster]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1963/33/contents|title=Local Government Act 1963|publisher=Legislation.gov.uk|access-date=25 April 2020}}</ref>

==Landmarks==

===Browning's Pool===
A lagoon created in the 1810s at the convergence of the [[Paddington Arm]] of the [[Grand Union Canal]], the [[Regent's Canal]] and the [[#Paddington Basin|Paddington Basin]].  It is an important focal point of the [[Little Venice, London|Little Venice]] area.  It is reputedly named after [[Robert Browning]], the poet.  More recently known as the "Little Venice Lagoon" it contains a small islet known as Browning's Island.  Although Browning was thought to have coined the name "Little Venice" for this spot there are strong arguments [[George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron|Lord Byron]] was responsible.<ref name="LVteleGletterLC">{{cite news|url=http://www.londoncanals.co.uk/lvenice/images/kinross.jpg|title=Letter to the Daily Telegraph|publisher=London Canals|date=1966|access-date=1 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202080435/http://www.londoncanals.co.uk/lvenice/images/kinross.jpg|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 February 2017}}</ref>

===London Paddington Station===
{{Main|London Paddington station}}
[[London Paddington station|Paddington station]] is the iconic landmark associated with the area.  In the station are statues of its designer, [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]], and the [[Children's literature|children's fiction]] character [[Paddington Bear]].

===Paddington Basin===
{{Main|Paddington Basin}}
The terminus of the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal was originally known as the Paddington Basin and all the land to the south was developed into housing and commercial property and titled The Grand Junction Estate. The majority of the housing was bounded by Praed Street, [[Sussex Gardens]], Edgware Road and Norfolk Place. Land and buildings not used for the canal undertaking remained after 1929 with the renamed Grand Junction Company, which functioned as a property company. While retaining its own name, it was taken over in 1972 by the Amalgamated Investment and Property Company, which went into liquidation in 1976. Prior to the liquidation the Welbeck Estate Securities Group acquired the entire estate comprising 525 houses 15 shops and the Royal Exchange public House in Sale Place.

The surrounding area is now known as Merchant Square. A former [[transshipment]] facility, the surrounds of the [[canal basin]] named Merchant Square have been redeveloped to provide {{convert|2000000|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} of offices, homes, shops and leisure facilities.<ref name=Basin>{{cite web | url=http://www.paddingtonwaterside.co.uk/the-developments/paddington-basin/default.aspx | title=Paddington Basin / Merchant Square | publisher=Paddington Waterside Partnership | access-date=1 October 2017 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719023011/http://www.paddingtonwaterside.co.uk/the-developments/paddington-basin/default.aspx | archive-date=19 July 2011 }}</ref> The redeveloped basin has some innovative features including [[The Rolling Bridge|Heatherwicks Rolling Bridge]], the Merchant Square Fan Bridge and the Floating Pocket Park.<ref name="CoolSkip">{{cite web|url=http://www.thisispaddington.com/article/paddington-water-taxi-service-launched|title=Paddington Water Taxi service launched|publisher=The Paddington Partnership|date=6 June 2017|access-date=1 October 2017}}</ref>

===Paddington Central===
{{further|Paddington Waterside#PaddingtonCentral}}
Situated to the north of the railway as it enters Paddington station, and to the south of the Westway flyover and with the canal to the east the former railway goods yard has been developed into a modern complex with wellbeing, leisure, retail and leisure facilities.<ref name="PadCen1">{{cite web|url=https://www.paddingtoncentral.com/eat-drink-sleep|title=Explore Paddington Central|access-date=2 October 2017|publisher=British Land}}</ref> The public area from the canal to Sheldon Square with the amphitheatre hosts leisure facilities and special events.<ref name="PadCenEvents">{{cite web|url=https://www.paddingtoncentral.com/events|title=Events|access-date=2 October 2017|publisher=British Land}}</ref>

===Paddington Green===
{{Main|Paddington Green, London}}
A green space and conservation area in the east of the Paddington district immediately to the north of the [[Westway (London)|Westway]] and west of Edgware Road.  It includes [[St Mary on Paddington Green Church]].  The Paddington Green campus of the [[City of Westminster College]] is adjacent to the Green.  [[Paddington Green Police Station]] is immediately to the north west of the intersection of Westway and Edgware Road.

==Transport==
[[File:Paddington Station.jpg|right|thumb|[[Paddington railway station]]]]

=== Rail ===
[[Paddington railway station|Paddington station]] is on the [[London Underground]] and [[National Rail]] networks. It is in [[London fare zone 1]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://content.tfl.gov.uk/london-rail-and-tube-services-map.pdf|title=London's Rail & Tube services|website=[[Transport for London]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511111245/http://content.tfl.gov.uk/london-rail-and-tube-services-map.pdf|archive-date=11 May 2019}}</ref>

==== National Rail ====
[[Great Western Railway (train operating company)|Great Western Railway]] services from Paddington run towards [[Slough railway station|Slough]], [[Maidenhead railway station|Maidenhead]] and [[Reading railway station|Reading]], with intercity services continuing towards destinations in [[South West England]] and [[South Wales]], including [[Oxford railway station|Oxford]], [[Worcester Shrub Hill railway station|Worcester]], [[Bristol Temple Meads railway station|Bristol]], [[Cardiff Central railway station|Cardiff]], [[Exeter St Davids railway station|Exeter]], [[Plymouth railway station|Plymouth]] and [[Penzance railway station|Penzance]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/static/documents/content/routemaps/nationalrailoperatorsmapzoom5811December.pdf|title=National Rail Train Operators|website=[[Rail Delivery Group]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204014426/https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/static/documents/content/routemaps/nationalrailoperatorsmapzoom5811December.pdf|archive-date=4 February 2019}}</ref>

The [[Elizabeth line]], operated by [[Transport for London]] (TfL), runs a stopping service from Paddington to Reading, either as part of through-running services from the central and eastern parts of the Elizabeth line or starting from Paddington. These trains mostly depart from the deep-level Elizabeth line platforms underneath the western side of the mainline station. These deep-level Elizabeth line tracks emerge above ground adjacent to the mainline tracks just west of [[Royal Oak tube station]] and join them at that point, thereafter sharing the relief line tracks with some [[Great Western Railway (train operating company)|Great Western Railway]] stopping services as far as the Elizabeth line terminus at Reading. Elizabeth line services link the Paddington area both to destinations in west London and [[Berkshire]] and to the centre and eastern side of London.

Trains to [[Heathrow Airport]] also depart from Paddington, operated both by the Elizabeth line (stopping services via [[Ealing Broadway station|Ealing Broadway]]) and the [[Heathrow Express]] (no intermediate stops).<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

==== London Underground ====
There are two London Underground (tube) stations in the Paddington station complex.

The [[Bakerloo line|Bakerloo]], [[Circle line (London Underground)|Circle]] and [[District line|District]] lines call at the [[Paddington tube station (Bakerloo, Circle and District lines)|station on Praed Street]] (which, from the main concourse, is opposite platform 3). This links Paddington directly to destinations across [[Central London|Central]] and West London, including [[Baker Street tube station|Baker Street]], [[Earl's Court tube station|Earl's Court]], [[Oxford Circus tube station|Oxford Circus]], [[South Kensington tube station|South Kensington]], [[Victoria tube station|Victoria]], [[Waterloo tube station|Waterloo]], [[Westminster tube station|Westminster]] and [[Wimbledon station|Wimbledon]].<ref name=":0" />

The Circle and [[Hammersmith & City line|Hammersmith & City]] lines call at the station near the [[Paddington Basin]] (to the north of platform 12). Trains from this station link the area directly to Hammersmith via [[Shepherd's Bush Market tube station|Shepherd's Bush]] to the west. Eastbound trains pass through Baker Street, [[King's Cross St Pancras tube station|King's Cross St Pancras]], [[Liverpool Street station|Liverpool Street]] in the [[City of London|City]], [[Whitechapel station|Whitechapel]] and [[Barking station|Barking]].<ref name=":0" />

[[Lancaster Gate tube station]] is also in the area, served by [[Central line (London Underground)|Central line]] trains.<ref name=":0" />

==== Heritage ====
Paddington station was designed by [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]]. The permanent building opened in 1854.

[[Paddington Bear]] was also named after the station; in [[Michael Bond]]'s 1958 book ''A Bear Called Paddington'', Paddington is found at the station by the Brown family. He is lost, having just arrived in London from "darkest [[Peru]]."

=== Buses ===
[[London Buses]] [[London Buses route 7|7]], [[London Buses route 23|23]], [[London Buses route 27|27]], [[London Buses route 36|36]], [[London Buses route 46|46]], [[London Buses route 205|205]] and [[London Buses route 332|332]], and night buses [[London Buses route N7|N7]] and [[London Buses route N205|N205]] serve Paddington station. Buses 23, 27 and 36 operate 24 hours, daily.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://content.tfl.gov.uk/bus-route-maps/paddington-a4.pdf|title=Buses from Paddington|website=[[Transport for London]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190515235358/http://content.tfl.gov.uk/bus-route-maps/paddington-a4.pdf|archive-date=15 May 2019}}</ref>

Routes [[London Buses route 94|94]] and [[London Buses route 148|148]] serve Lancaster Gate station to the south of Paddington. Both routes operate 24 hours, daily, supplemented by route N207 at nights.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://content.tfl.gov.uk/bus-route-maps/lancastergate-a4-0517.pdf|title=Buses from Lancaster Gate|website=[[Transport for London]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516145258/http://content.tfl.gov.uk/bus-route-maps/lancastergate-a4-0517.pdf|archive-date=16 May 2018}}</ref>

=== Road ===
Several key routes pass through or around the Paddington area, including:

* '''[[A40 road|A40]] ([[Westway (London)|Westway]]/Marylebone Flyover)''' – westbound towards [[White City, London|White City]], [[Acton, London|Acton]] and the [[M40 motorway]] (towards [[Oxford]] and [[Birmingham]]).
* '''[[A402 road|A402]] ([[Bayswater Road]])''' – eastbound towards [[Marble Arch]], [[Oxford Street|Oxford Circus]] and [[Holborn]] (via A40/[[Oxford Street]]), and [[Park Lane]]. Westbound towards [[Notting Hill]], [[Shepherd's Bush]] and [[Chiswick]].
* '''[[A404 road|A404]] ([[Harrow Road]])''' – northeast towards [[Kensal Green]], [[Wembley]] and [[Harrow, London|Harrow]].
* '''A4205 ([[Praed Street]]/[[Westbourne Terrace]])''' 
* '''A4206 ([[Bishop's Bridge|Bishop's Bridge Road]])''' – southwest towards Notting Hill.
* '''A4209 (Sussex Gardens)'''
* '''[[A5 road (Great Britain)|A5]] ([[Edgware Road]])''' – southbound to Marble Arch and Park Lane. Northbound to [[Kilburn, London|Kilburn]], [[Hendon]], the [[M1 motorway]] and [[Edgware]]. Forms part of the '''[[London Inner Ring Road]]'''.
* '''[[A501 road|A501]] (Marylebone Flyover/[[Marylebone Road]])''' – eastbound towards [[Regent's Park]], [[Kings Cross, London|King's Cross]] and the [[City of London|City]]. Forms part of the '''London Inner Ring Road'''.

=== Cycling ===
[[Cycling infrastructure]] is provided in Paddington by [[Transport for London]] (TfL) and the [[Canal & River Trust]].

Several cycle routes pass through the area, including:

* '''[[Cycle Superhighway 3]] (CS3)''' – part of the "East–West Superhighway," CS3 begins just south of Paddington at Lancaster Gate and carries cyclists southbound through [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]] to [[South Kensington]]. The route continues eastbound, passing [[Hyde Park Corner]], [[Charing Cross|Embankment]], [[Blackfriars, London|Blackfriars]], [[Tower Hill]] and [[Canary Wharf]] ''en route'' to [[Barking, London|Barking]] in the [[East End of London|East End]]. The route runs predominantly on traffic-free [[cycle track]]. The route is also unbroken and signposted.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://content.tfl.gov.uk/east-west-cs-overview-map-18-12-17.pdf|title=East–West Cycle Superhighway (CS3): Tower Hill to Lancaster Gate|website=[[Transport for London]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190127094053/http://content.tfl.gov.uk/east-west-cs-overview-map-18-12-17.pdf|archive-date=27 January 2019}}</ref>
* '''[[Quietway|Quietway 2]] (Q2)''' – runs on traffic-free paths or residential streets. Westbound, the route runs unbroken and signposted to [[Bayswater]] and [[Ladbroke Grove]] ''en route'' to [[East Acton]]. Eastbound, the route is incomplete, but will run unbroken to [[Bloomsbury]] via [[Marylebone]] and [[Fitzrovia]]. As the route runs on traffic-free or low-traffic routes, it is indirect.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://content.tfl.gov.uk/quietway-2-east-acton-to-notting-hill.pdf|title=Quietway 2 (West): East Acton to Notting Hill|website=[[Transport for London]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001031253/http://content.tfl.gov.uk/quietway-2-east-acton-to-notting-hill.pdf|archive-date=1 October 2018}}</ref>
* '''[[Grand Union Canal]] [[towpath]]''' – a [[Shared use path|shared-use path]] running direct to [[Little Venice, London|Little Venice]], [[Westbourne, London|Westbourne Park]] and [[Willesden]], and eventually [[Hayes, Hillingdon|Hayes]]. The route is managed by the Canal & River Trust.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/cycling|title=Cycling|website=[[Canal & River Trust]]}}</ref>
* '''[[Regent's Canal]] towpath''' – runs alongside the Regent's Canal on residential streets from Little Venice to [[Lisson Grove]]. The route then joins the towpath, heading eastbound which provides Paddington with a direct connection to [[Regent's Park]], [[Camden Town]] and [[Kings Cross, London|King's Cross]]. The route is managed by the Canal & River Trust.

[[Sustrans]] also propose that [[National Cycle Route 6]] (NCR 6) will begin at Paddington and run northwest along the Grand Union Canal towpath. The route, when complete, will run signposted and unbroken to [[Keswick, Cumbria]]. Within the M25, the route will pass through Hayes, [[Uxbridge]] and [[Watford]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sustrans.org.uk/ncn/map/route/route-6|title=Route 6|website=[[Sustrans]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190516000216/https://www.sustrans.org.uk/ncn/map/route/route-6|archive-date=16 May 2019}}</ref>

Santander Cycles, a London-wide bike sharing system, operates in Paddington, with several docking stations in the area.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/cycling/santander-cycles/find-a-docking-station|title=Find a docking station|website=[[Transport for London]]}}</ref>

=== Canal ===
[[File:The Rolling Bridge by Thomas Heatherwick, Paddington Basin2.jpg|alt=The Rolling Bridge at Paddington is lifted. It is in an unusual curved shape, with one end lifted into the air.|thumb|[[The Rolling Bridge]] at Paddington, designed by [[Thomas Heatherwick]].]]
The [[Paddington Arm]] of the [[Grand Union Canal]] runs from Paddington to [[Hayes, Hillingdon|Hayes]], via [[Westbourne, London|Westbourne Park]] and [[Willesden]]. Beyond Hayes, onward destinations include [[Slough]], the [[Colne Valley]], and [[Aylesbury]]. The [[Paddington Basin]] is in the area, as is [[Little Venice, London|Little Venice]]. A towpath runs unbroken from Paddington to Hayes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/canal-and-river-network/paddington-arm-grand-union-canal|title=Paddington Arm (Grand Union Canal) {{!}} Canal & River Trust|website=canalrivertrust.org.uk|language=en|access-date=2019-05-16}}</ref>

[[The Rolling Bridge]] at the Paddington Basin was designed by [[Thomas Heatherwick]], who wanted to create a bridge that, instead of breaking apart to let boats through, would "get out of the way" instead. Heatherwick's website cites the  "fluid, coiling tails of the animatronic dinosaurs of [[Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park]]" as the initial influence behind the Bridge.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.heatherwick.com/project/rolling-bridge/|title=Heatherwick Studio {{!}} Design & Architecture {{!}} Rolling Bridge|website=Heatherwick Studio {{!}} Design & Architecture|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-16}}</ref>

The [[Regent's Canal]] begins at Little Venice, heading east towards [[Maida Vale]], [[Regent's Park]], [[Camden Town]], [[Kings Cross, London|King's Cross]], [[Old Street]] and [[Mile End]] ''en route'' to [[Limehouse]]. A towpath runs along the canal from Paddington to Limehouse, broken only by the [[Maida Hill Tunnel|Maida Hill]] and [[Islington Tunnel|Islington]] tunnels.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/canal-and-river-network/regents-canal|title=Regent's Canal {{!}} Canal & River Trust|website=canalrivertrust.org.uk|language=en|access-date=2019-05-16}}</ref>

== Development ==
{{main|Paddington Waterside}}
Commercial traffic on the [[Grand Junction Canal]] (which became the [[Grand Union Canal]] in 1929) dwindled because of railway competition in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, and freight then moved from rail to road after World War II, leading to the abandonment of the goods yards in the early 1980s. The land lay derelict until the [[Paddington Waterside]] Partnership was established in 1998 to co-ordinate the regeneration of the area between the Westway, Praed Street and Westbourne Terrace. This includes major developments on the goods yard site (now branded Paddington Central)<!-- originally no space but asof 2017 current branding seems with a space--> and around the canal ([[Paddington Basin]]).  {{As of|October 2017}} much of these developments have been completed and are in use.<ref name="PaddingtonNow Bid4">{{cite web|url=http://paddingtonnow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/PaddingtonNow_BID_Renewal_Report_web.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002085959/http://paddingtonnow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/PaddingtonNow_BID_Renewal_Report_web.pdf |archive-date=2017-10-02 |url-status=live|publisher=PaddingtonNow|date=2017|access-date=2 October 2017|title=Paddington Renewal Proposal 2018–2013}}</ref>

===Renewal proposal, 2018–2023===
PaddingtonNow BID put forward a renewal bid in 2017 covering the period April 2018 to March 2023, which would be supported by a levy on local businesses. Development schemes for St. Mary's Hospital and Paddington Square are likely to commence in this period, and the impact of the opening of the [[Elizabeth line]] in 2018 would be soon felt.<ref name="PaddingtonNow Bid4"/>

==Religion==
Paddington has a number of [[Anglican]] churches, including [[St James' Church, Paddington|St James's]], [[St Mary Magdalene, Paddington|St Mary Magdalene]], St David's Welsh Church and St Peter's. In addition, there is a large Muslim population in and around Paddington.

==People from Paddington==
{{more citations needed|section|date=June 2018}}
{{See also|Category:People from Paddington|St Mary's Hospital, London#Notable births}}

{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|
* [[Kriss Akabusi]], athlete
* [[Edward Bailey Ashmore]], Army officer
* [[Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell|Robert Baden-Powell]], Army officer<ref>{{cite book |first=Tim |last=Jeal |author-link=Tim Jeal |title=[[Baden-Powell (book)|Baden-Powell]] |publisher=[[Hutchinson (publisher)|Hutchinson]] |location=London |year=1989 |isbn=0-09-170670-X}}</ref>
* [[Merton Barker]], cricketer and field hockey player
* [[George Butterworth]], classical music composer
* [[Joe Cole]], professional footballer
* [[Joan Collins]], actress
* [[Elvis Costello]], pop musician
* [[George Thomas Dorrell]], recipient of the [[Victoria Cross]]
* [[Paul Eddington]], actor
* [[Les Ferdinand]], professional footballer
* [[Andy Fraser]], professional songwriter and bass guitarist
* [[Ray Galton]], comedy writer
* [[Simon Hawk]], cricketer
* [[Edward Thomas Heron|Edward Thomas ("E. T.") Heron]] (1867–1949), [[Cine film|cine]] trade publisher
* [[William Rees Jeffreys]], transport campaigner
* [[Alan Johnson]], politician
* [[Paddington Tom Jones]], boxer
* [[Patrick Macnee]], actor
* [[Norman Mischler]], cricketer
* [[Rhona Mitra]], actress
* [[Alfred Molina]], actor
* [[Steve New]], pop musician
* [[Hermione Norris]], actress
* [[Paul Onwuanibe]], business magnate
* [[George Osborne]], politician
* [[Michael Page]], professional boxer and mixed martial artist<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/ufc/11949653/Bellator-144-Michael-Page-aiming-to-be-the-new-face-of-mixed-martial-arts-in-the-UK.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/ufc/11949653/Bellator-144-Michael-Page-aiming-to-be-the-new-face-of-mixed-martial-arts-in-the-UK.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Bellator 144: Michael Page aiming to be the new face of mixed martial arts in the UK|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|date=23 October 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
* [[William Page (historian)|William Page]], historian
* [[Mark Pougatch]], radio and television broadcaster, journalist and author
* [[Seal (musician)|Seal]], pop musician
* [[David Suchet]], actor
* [[John Suchet]], [[ITN]] newsreader, journalist
* [[Kiefer Sutherland]], actor
* [[Emma Thompson]], actress
* [[Alan Turing]], mathematician, engineer
* [[Ferdinand Maurice Felix West]], recipient of the [[Victoria Cross]]
}}

==Notable residents==
Between 1805 and 1817, the great actress [[Sarah Siddons]] lived at Desborough House,<ref>From differences in the following two sources, it may be inferred that Mrs Siddons lived in ''Desborough House'', not Desborough Lodge. The former was destroyed before 1853, the latter a few years later when Cirencester and Woodchester streets were built.</ref> (which was demolished before 1853 to make way for the Great Western Railway) and was buried at [[Paddington Green, London|Paddington Green]], near the later graves of the eminent painters [[Benjamin Haydon]] and [[William Collins (painter)|William Collins]].<ref name=Robins>Robins, William [https://archive.org/stream/paddingtonpasta00enggoog#page/n205/mode/2up Paddington Past and Present] Caxton Steam Printing (1853)</ref>{{rp|p.183}} Her brother [[Charles Kemble]] also built a house, Desborough Lodge, in the vicinity—in which she may have lived later.<ref name=Elrington />{{rp|p.230}} In later years, the actress [[Yootha Joyce]], best known for her part in the classic television comedy [[George and Mildred]], lived at 198 Sussex Gardens.<ref>[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/48622/pages/7369/page.pdf Page 7369] entry in ''London Gazette'', 28 May 1981</ref>

One of [[Napoleon]]'s nephews, Prince [[Louis Lucien Bonaparte]] (1813–1891), a notable [[Comparative linguistics|comparative linguist]] and [[Dialectology|dialectologist]], who spent most of his adult life in England, had a house in Norfolk Terrace, Westbourne Park.<ref name=Elrington />{{rp|p.200}}

The eccentric philanthropist [[Ann Thwaytes]] lived at 17 Hyde Park Gardens between 1840 and 1866.<ref>Bundock, Mike (2000). ''Herne Bay Clock Tower: A Descriptive History''. Herne Bay: Pierhead Publications. {{ISBN|9780953897704}}</ref><ref name="Friends of Broadwater">[http://www.fbwc.co.uk/Newsletters.asp Friends of Broadwater and Worthing Cemetery: ''Broadsheet'', Issue 10, Spring 2011] "Ann Thwaytes" by Rosemeary Pearson, p.11.</ref>

The [[Victorian era|Victorian]] poet [[Robert Browning]] moved from No. 1 Chichester Road to Beauchamp Lodge, 19 [[Warwick Crescent]], in 1862 and lived there until 1887.<ref name=Elrington />{{rp|pp.199}}  He is reputed to have named that locality, on the junction of two canals, "[[Little Venice London|Little Venice]]". But this has been disputed by Lord Kinross in 1966<ref>[http://www.londoncanals.co.uk/lvenice/images/kinross.jpg Letter] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202080435/http://www.londoncanals.co.uk/lvenice/images/kinross.jpg |date=2 February 2017 }} to the ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'', 1966</ref><ref name="LVteleGletterLC" /> and more recently by londoncanals.uk<ref>[http://www.londoncanals.co.uk/lvenice/lv00.html The history of the place name known as 'Little Venice'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309110611/http://www.londoncanals.co.uk/lvenice/lv00.html |date=9 March 2012 }}</ref> who both assert that [[George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron|Lord Byron]] humorously coined the name. The name is now applied, more loosely, to a longer reach of the canal system.

[[St Mary's Hospital, London|St Mary's Hospital]] in [[Praed Street]] is the site of several notable medical accomplishments. In 1874, [[Charles Romley Alder Wright|C. R. Alder Wright]] synthesised [[heroin]] (diacetylmorphine). Also there, in 1928, Sir [[Alexander Fleming]] first isolated [[penicillin]], earning the award of a Nobel Prize. The hospital has an Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum<ref>[http://www.imperial.nhs.uk/aboutus/museumsandarchives/history Fleming Museum] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091011080628/http://www.imperial.nhs.uk/aboutus/museumsandarchives/history |date=11 October 2009 }}</ref> where visitors can see Fleming's laboratory, restored to its 1928 condition, and explore the story of Fleming and the discovery and development of penicillin through displays and video.

[[Edward Adrian Wilson|Edward Wilson]], physician, [[naturalist]] and [[ornithologist]], who died in 1912 on [[Robert Falcon Scott|Captain Robert Scott]]'s ill-fated [[Terra Nova Expedition|British Antarctic expedition]], had earlier practised as a doctor in Paddington. The former Senior Street primary school was renamed the ''Edward Wilson School'' after him in 1951.<ref name=Elrington />{{rp|pp.266}}

British painter [[Lucian Freud]] had his studio in Paddington, first at Delamere Terrace from 1943 to 1962, and then at 124 Clarendon Crescent from 1962 to 1977.<ref>Debray, C. ''Lucian Freud: The Studio'' (2010)</ref>

==Education==
{{About||education in Paddington|List of schools in the City of Westminster}}

==In popular culture==
{{See also|Paddington Green, London}}
Timothy Forsyte of [[John Galsworthy]]'s ''[[The Forsyte Saga]]'' and other relatives resided in Bayswater Road.<ref>Galsworthy, J. [https://archive.org/stream/forsytesaga00gals#page/440/mode/2up/search/%22Bayswater+Road%22 The Forsyte Saga] p.441, Heinemann edn 1922</ref>

[[Paddington Bear]], from "deepest, darkest [[Peru]]", emigrated to England via Paddington station.<ref>[http://www.paddington.com/us/history/paddington/ (History) All about Paddington] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006104211/http://www.paddington.com/us/history/paddington/ |date=6 October 2014 }} at paddington.com</ref>

==Image gallery==
<gallery>
File:PaddBasin.jpg|Paddington Basin, Grand Union Canal
File:EdgwRd.JPG|Edgware Road
File:SussGdns.jpg|[[Sussex Gardens]]
File:VictPubPadd.jpg|Victoria pub, Gloucester Square
</gallery>

== See also ==
{{Portal|London}}
* [[Paddington Green, London|Paddington Green]]
* [[Bishop's Bridge|Paddington Bridge]]
* [[Paddington Basin]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wikivoyage|London/Paddington-Maida Vale|Paddington – Maida Vale}}
* {{Commons category-inline|Paddington, London}}

{{LB City of Westminster}}
{{London Districts}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Paddington| ]]
[[Category:Areas of London]]
[[Category:Districts of the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Tyburnia]]
[[Category:District centres of London]]
[[Category:Places formerly in Middlesex]]