Notting Hill Gate

Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares of Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically the street was a location for toll gates, from which it derives its modern name.

At Ossington Street/Kensington Palace Gardens, the Bayswater Road becomes Notting Hill Gate, continuing westward until it becomes Holland Park Avenue, just before it reaches Ladbroke Grove.

Notting Hill Gate is distinct from Notting Hill, although the two are often confused, with "Notting Hill" being used as an abbreviation of "Notting Hill Gate" and "Notting Hill Gate" suggesting to outsiders that it is the full description of Notting Hill. In fact, however, the street named Notting Hill Gate is well to the south of the hill (with its summit at the junction of Ladbroke Grove and Kensington Park Gardens) which gives its name to the area known (long before the establishment of the Notting Hill toll gate) as Notting Hill.

Notting Hill Gate is home to a variety of stores, restaurants, cafés and estate agents as well as more specialist stores which include rare records and antiques, as well as two historic cinemas, the Coronet (originally opened as a theatre in 1898) and the Gate, as well as also several bars and clubs. It is the location of the legendary Record and Tape Exchange shops (now Music and Video) presided over by multi-millionaire eccentric Brian Abrams.

Much of the street was redeveloped in the 1950s with two large tower blocks being erected on the north and south sides of the street. At this time Notting Hill Gate tube station was also redeveloped linking two stations on the Circle and District and Central lines which had previously been accessed on either side of the street with an entirely underground station enabling interchange between the deep level Central Line and the sub-surface Circle and District Lines. The new tube station also acts as a pedestrian subway under the widened Notting Hill Gate, the subway leading to the ticket office, a toilet (now closed) and a newsagent (now closed).

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