Bayswater

Area in the Paddington district of City of Westminster borough, in London, England, lying west of Edgware Road and north of Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. A mainly residential, and increasingly exclusive, neighbourhood, it offers an interesting mix of tranquil Georgian houses lining tree-shaded streets, with lively clubs and shopping areas nearby.

Bayswater was originally a hamlet in the parish of Paddington owned by the Abbot of Westminster, and derives its name from Bayard's Watering Place, the area's main water source in medieval times. The area is rich in 19th-century architecture, with classic urban squares and stuccoed terraces. On Sundays, Bayswater Road is transformed into a large outdoor art gallery, with artists, painters, and photographers showing their artwork on the railings beside Kensington Gardens. Other places of interest include the London Toy and Model Museum; the Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum, where Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928; the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St Sophia, a classical Byzantine-style church; and Paddington Station, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1851.

Queensway is Bayswater's main thoroughfare, lined with busy cafés, clothes shops, and restaurants, while nearby Whiteley's Shopping Centre – the first department store in London (established in 1863) – is still one of London's most popular shopping centres, and has retained much of its grandeur with fine staircases and an original top-lit atrium.