Summary
Between 1809 and 1811 Linnell shared lodgings with his close friend and mentor the painter William Mulready (1786–1863) in the village of Kensington Gravel Pits, at the junction of present-day Bayswater Road and Kensington Church Street, now known as Notting Hill Gate in west London. The name referred to the gravel quarries which lay to the south, between the village itself and the town of Kensington, bordering the gardens of Kensington Palace. Kensington at this time was still rural, a resort for Londoners seeking fresh air and a pleasant environment. The village of Kensington Gravel Pits was said by Thomas Faulkner in his History of Kensington (1820) to enjoy ‘excellent air, and beautiful prospects to the North’ (quoted in Pasmore, p.1335). Gravel had been dug in the area from at least the early sixteenth century, supplying the building trade in London’s West End… (read more)
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