Wymering Mansions

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We Know Wymering Mansions

Mansion blocks did not arrive in Maida Vale until just before the turn of the century. Following the construction of the first block in 1897, the area welcomed a swathe of new developments with eight blocks constructed in an incredibly busy decade. In 1901 flats 1-20 of Wymering Mansions were built, followed by the remaining blocks in 1903 when tenants first appeared in the street directory.

The locality had been secured some years earlier in 1893 when joint developers of the Paddington Estate, the Fredrick family and the Bishops of London were granted approval for the development of the Recreation Ground and Wymering Road. Wymering Road took its name from a country estate connected with the Fredrick family located near Havant in Hampshire.

According to a previous resident of the block, Wymering Mansions’ comparatively late development ensured that it “benefited from lessons in good planning and construction that had been learned over the previous half century.”

Popular with well-established families between the wars, residents included writers Vera Brittain and Winifred Holtby who lived at Wymering Mansions between 1923 and 1927. Brittain is best known for her memoirs Testament of Youth (about the horrors of World War One), Testament of Friendship (about her friendship with Holtby) and Testament of Experience. She is also the mother of Shirley Williams. Holtby is best known for her novel South Riding.

Over the years Wymering Mansions have attracted a host of famous, as well as infamous residents. In 1966, Harry Roberts set out from Wymering Mansions (where he was staying with a girlfriend) to steal a car for a robbery. He and two cohorts made their way to Shepherds Bush where police suspicious of their behaviour approached them. A shoot-out ensued and Roberts killed three policemen. He was eventually caught and jailed for life. The story of Harry Roberts passed through popular folklore and throughout the 1970s and early 80s, a common football chant on the terraces was “Harry Roberts is our friend, is our friend, is our friend, he killed three coppers…” Punk band, Chumbawamba also have a song Happiness Is Just A Chant Away, based on the football chant.

As the ground landlord the Church Commissioners adopted a policy of disposal after World War II and Wymering Mansions was sold off to development and management companies over the preceding decades. It wasn’t until the 1990s that leasehold reform saw Wymering Mansions owned by the tenants of its flats for the first time.

Today, comprising of 200 apartments, Wymering Mansions is one of Maida Vales’ most sought after addresses. Properties range from £310,000 - £420,000 depending on decorative state, apartment level and number of bedrooms.

We Know Mansion Blocks

The first mansion blocks were built in the early 19^th Century, providing luxurious residences for the growing urban upper middle classes. As the Industrial Revolution spread throughout Europe it brought about a population boom in the major cities, and mansion blocks were devised to provide luxurious housing for wealthy white collar workers. As the centre of the cities became increasingly crowded the blocks provided this growing class with housing that boasted impressive entrances, generous elevations and balconies reminiscent of mansions. They were a particularly popular innovation in polite Parisian society.

In spite of their popularity on the continent, Londoners were initially sceptical about this new style of accommodation. In the 1850s a spacious mansion flat would set back the buyer somewhere in the order of £50-200 per annum, but the idea of living in such a communal manner was entirely contradictory to the dominant Victorian social ideals of the age. Firstly, and most importantly, apartment dwellings were simply not considered ‘proper’, but it was not just a case of old English snobbery. There was also widely held fear that this new type of residence would increase the risk of burglary and the spread of infection and disease.

By the 1880s London society had gradually warmed to the idea and the decade was marked by a flurry of mansion block construction across the city.

We Know Maida Vale

Starting life as an indistinguishable section of the Middlesex Forest in 1086, Maida Vale has certainly developed from the small hamlet, which in those days was not even significant enough to merit a mention.

The name Maida Vale can be traced back to an impressive military victory against the French army in Sicily in 1806. In recognition of his role in the attack General John Stuart, commander of the British forces, was ennobled Count of Maida. Three years later a tavern on the Edgware Road was named the Hero of Maida tavern and by 1810 maps designated the area surrounding the tavern as Maida.

The canal system linking Maida Vale to the Thames was completed in the early 19th Century and in 1827 plans requested by the Bishop of London were designed for the layout of roads now recognised as Maida Vale. As the centre of the city became overcrowded with an ever increasing population and new roadways developed, improvements to public transport enabled the middle classes to move outwards to new suburbs. By 1832 ninety buses were operating on route between Paddington Green and the Bank, each carrying up to twelve passengers inside and three outside. By 1839 thirteen omnibuses were licensed to carry passengers from Maida Hill into London, dramatically speeding up the pace of building in the district.

Today Maida Vale offers an enormous range of vistas, from the canal and the predominantly stuccoed houses in the south to the park and the predominantly red brick flats in the north. As stated by John Julius Norwich, Writer, Broadcaster and Resident of Maida Vale, “though obviously changed beyond recognition, it remains, in all London, the most agreeable place to live”.