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A real house (left) and a fake house (right). |
Leinster Gardens, Bayswater, is a wonderful place to find mid-Victorian terraced houses, lining the majority of one side of the road. Some of these buildings are listed as Grade II or Grade II*, including the 'Leinster Arms' public house.
However, midway along the western side there are some false houses, which are barely distinguishable from the other homes along the street. It is not until you get up close to them that these false facades are more noticeable.
Unlike the homes either side of numbers 23-24, these buildings have fake doors with no letter boxes and the windows are painted a grey colour.
The facades match perfectly with the rest of the terrace, including balustraded balconies, above columned porches, that are shared with their neighbours.
"But, why are they here?", I hear you ask. Well, I shall tell you.
Brief History
In 1867 the Metropolitan Railway was expanding westward, through Bayswater, using the cut-and-cover method. This resulted in many roads, buildings and gardens being demolished.
As London's underground was operated by steam locomotives, at this point, condensers were fitted to the locomotives to collect the smoke from the furnaces.
But, the drivers had to vent the accumulated smoke and condensation, from the condensers, in areas that were open to the elements, so this part of the line was left uncovered.
As this was an upmarket area the Metropolitan Railway had these 1.5 metre (5 foot) thick facades constructed, with their 18 windows and fake doors, thus hiding the open railway line from those living here.
Support struts, behind the façade, give extra strength to the structure.
These buildings are now maintained by Transport for London.
Below is a short video of my daughter, Keilyn, seeing if anyone is home (I hadn't told her these were fake houses), before I took her to see the back of the properties and the open railway lines.
Yet to see these facades.
ReplyDeleteIt is a great area to wander through, especially being so close to Kensington Gardens and plenty of transport links. Lots of coffee shops, too.
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