Be sure to visit Notting Hill gardens when exploring this exciting area of London. When Notting Hill was initially developed in the 1800s, houses were designed to have direct access to secluded communal gardens in the rear, to which people on the street did not have access and generally could not see. These communal garden areas continue to provide the area with much of its attraction for the wealthiest homeowners.

A communal garden is often a formal garden shared by a number of local residents, typically in an urban setting. These gardens are normally privately or jointly owned with sharing of maintenance costs, despite the name and the fact that they frequently look like small public parks. Many visitors are curious about the reason for the fences around the beautiful gardens, but it’s because they are private gardens for residents, or they may only be unlocked during daytime.

In the film Notting Hill, released in 1999, one scene involves the two main characters, Anna (Julia Roberts) and William (Hugh Grant), breaking into locked communal gardens after a dinner party by climbing over the wall at night. The communal gardens used in this scene were Rosmead Gardens on Rosmead Road.