Maida Vale history

Sir John Stuart defeated a French army in southern Italy in 1806 at the Battle of Maida. A pub opened in the Edgware Road shortly afterwards called “The Hero of Maida” and when houses were built nearby the area came to be known as Maida Hill and then Maida Vale. The name now covers the whole area around the canal towards Paddington. In the 1840s onwards very grand houses were built here, particularly in the Warwick Avenue area. From the 1860s onwards less prestigious houses were built for the middle classes. There was a recreation ground in the north part of the area, and this was saved for the public in 1888, partly due to pressure by Winston Churchill’s father. Roger Bannister trained there for his four minute mile.