Primrose Hill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Primrose Hill is a hill located on the north side of Regent's Park in north London, and also the name for the surrounding district. The hill has a clear view of central London. Like Regent's Park the area was once part of a great chase appropriated by Henry VIII and became Crown property in 1841. In 1842 an Act of Parliament secured the land as public open space.
The built up part of Primrose Hill consists mainly of Victorian terraces. It has always been one of the more fashionable districts in the urban belt that lies between the core of London and the outer suburbs, and remains expensive and prosperous.
In October 1678 Primrose Hill (then known as Greenberry Hill) was the scene of the mysterious murder of Edmund Berry Godfrey.
In August 2006 the area became the subject of media attention when a empty multi-million pound house was taken over by a group of squatters. The property, adjacent to Primrose Hill Park and owned by a Russian Corporation, became host to weekly all-night psychedelic trance raves. The events were highly publicised and attracted hundreds of revellers, causing outrage amongst the local residents, who complained of open drug abuse, noise pollution and littering.
Nearest places:
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[edit] Primrose Hill in fiction
- In H.G. Wells' book The War of the Worlds, Primrose Hill was the site of the final Martian encampment.
- In Dodie Smith'sThe Hundred and One Dalmatians, the Dearly family live near the district, on Regent's Park's Outer Circle, with Primrose Hill itself forming an excellent location for Pongo to engage in the 'twilight barking'.
- Primrose Hill is referred to in the Blur song For Tomorrow. The lyrics "and the view's so nice", from the song, have been painted on a path leading to the top of Primrose Hill.
- Primrose Hill is mentioned in the Appleton single "Everything Eventually", with the line "Let's go fly a kite on Primrose Hill". The video for the song was shot there too.
- Oasis took the photo for the cover of the single "Wonderwall" here where a girl is shown through a frame.
- Primrose Hill is referred to in "Emit Remmus" ('summer time' backwards), a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, which is off of their 1999 album Californication.
- Primrose Hill is referred to by Herman Melville in his "Cock-A-Doodle-Doo!" short story. It refers to "all London, from Mile End (which is no end) to Primrose Hill (where there ain't any primroses..."
- It is referred to in a poem by William Blake: "...The fields from Islington to Marylebone/To Primrose Hill and Saint John's Wood/Were builded over with pillars of gold/And there Jerusalem's pillars stood..."
- In "The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul," by Douglas Adams, Kate Schecter lives in a flat on Primrose Hill.
- Primrose Hill is referred by Beverley Martyn in her song "Primrose Hill" on the 1970 John & Beverley Martyn album Road to Ruin, later sampled in "North West Three", a tune by Fatboy Slim, on his 2004 album "Palookaville".
- The English ska group Madness has a song named "Primrose Hill". It starts with the line "A man opened his window and stared up Primrose Hill..."
- Primrose Hill is an underground station on the North London System in the novel The Horn of Mortal Danger (1980).
- A murder is committed in Primrose Hill by "The Avenger" in Marie Belloc Lowndes's 1913 mystery, The Lodger.
- Top of Primrose Hill shown in opening scene of "Bridget Jones Edge of Reason".
- Musician Billy bragg mentions seeing Angels up on primrose hill in his song Upfield "I dreamed I saw a tree full of angels, up on Primrose Hill". Bragg says he was inspired to write this song from William Blake.
- The Emilíana Torrini song "Unemployed in Summertime" begins with the lyrics "Let's get drunk on Saturday, Walk on Primrose Hill until we lose our way".
[edit] Residents
Famous Primrose Hill residents past and present include:
- Joan Bakewell, journalist and broadcaster
- Alan Bennett, author
- Simon Callow, actor
- Sadie Frost, actress and co-owner of fashion label Frost French
- Jude Law, actor
- Sean Pertwee, actor
- John McCririck, horse racing pundit
- Meg Matthews, ex-wife of Oasis member Noel Gallagher
- Sienna Miller, actress
- Kate Moss, fashion model
- Jamie and 'Jools' Oliver, celebrity chef and wife
- Gavin Rossdale and Gwen Stefani, musicians
- Glenn Herweijer, Drum And Bass Producer and painter.
- Neneh Cherry, Singer and songwriter
- Cameron McVey, Producer (Massive Attack, Sugababes, All Saints)
[edit] Primrose Hill venues
Popular public houses include "The Princess of Wales", "The Engineer", "The Pembroke Castle" and "The Lansdowne".
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Article on Primrose Hill Farmers' markets
- Primrose Hill Local Website
- Primrose Hill and Regent's Park in Literature and Music, a bibliography
- The story behind the Blur lyrics on Primrose Hill
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- Mapping from Multimap or GlobalGuide or Google Maps
- Aerial image from TerraServer
- Satellite image from WikiMapia
