BAYSWATER

neighbourhood in the Paddington district of Westminster, London. It lies west of Edgware Road and north of Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. The name Bayswater is a derivation of Bayards Watering Place, which was first recorded in 1380. The area was largely rural and isolated until the 1830s, when road development and residential building were initiated around Hyde Park. Areas farther to the north and west were developed soon afterward. Among the notable residential squares are Sussex, Gloucester, Connaught, and Hyde Park. The author and naturalist W.H. Hudson was a resident of the neighbourhood, as was the sociologist and philosopher Herbert Spencer. Bayswater is the site of the London Toy and Model Museum.