The Location & History of Maida Vale & Little Venice

Maida Vale lies to the west of St Johns Wood, north of Clifton Gardens, south of Carlton Vale and east of Fernhead Road.

The whole area belonged to the bishop of London in 1647 and was predominantly tenanted farmland until 1795 when the law changed. It was then developed by the Church Commissioners in the early 1800's as middle class housing. It acquired its name at around the same time from "The Hero of Maida" a public house which opened on the Edgware Road soon after the Battle of Maida in 1806. Subsequent developments and building work give us very much of what we see today or at least the facades, a mix of large mansion block flats along the Edgware Road and behind along with sweeping tree lined avenues with impressive four and five story Georgian terraces.

During the mid 20th century much of the area had deteriorated and plans were drawn to demolish some of the slums and studios - however this was blocked by the government of the day and a comprehensive repair program was instigated and in 1981 it was decided to sell the entire Maida Vale Estate consisting of circa 200 acres with more than 2,000 properties. The sale was the most valuable yet undertaken by the Church Commissioners, who offered tenants a 20 per cent discount on the assessed market value of their houses and flats. Disagreement over the valuations, particularly in Little Venice, 'Maida Vale's most desirable part', was such that less than a quarter of the properties had been sold by mid 1982. In 1985 it was expected that two thirds would be sold by the end of the year. There were, however, complaints about gentrification, after a steep rise in the value of houses bought by companies for conversion into flats.

Today, Maida Vale is a residential suburb, served by some small groups of shops. Houses in the southern quarter are expensive, as are most of the private flats along Edgware Road. The large central area, around Sutherland and Elgin Avenues, is less fashionable but well cared for. Municipal tenants are nearly all in the north. Each part bears its own character, with stuccoed villas, ornate blocks beside the main road, red-brick avenues, and austere council housing. A conservation area, created for the oldest streets in 1967, has been extended northward along Randolph Avenue as far as Elgin Avenue.

The triangle-shaped intersection formed at Little Venice, where the Regents and Grand Union Canals meets was once a pivotal intersection in London transportation. The area, accordingly named for its resemblance to the famous canals of Venice, Italy, is believed to be coined by the English poet Robert Browning and is an extremely desirable residential spot south of the Warwick Avenue tube station, with neighbouring districts all bidding for association with the Little Venice name. The Regent's Canal was originally built to link the Grand Junction Canal's Paddington arm with the Thames. It was named after the Prince Regent, later King George IV. It was opened in 1820 at a total cost of £772,000, twice the original budget. It faced several engineering glitches in its first year, but later became an important artery for cargo passing through London.