Emslie Horniman’s Pleasance is the traditional starting point for the Notting Hill Carnival.
During a meeting of the London County Council on the 14 March 1911, the chairman read out a letter containing an offer from politician and ex-council member Emslie J. Horniman:
"Recently I have been able to secure nearly one acre of land, which I consider suitable to lay out as a public garden, with sand-pit, etc., and, having now completed the purchase, I have much pleasure in offering the same to your council, and am ready to make over the freehold, the only condition being that the land be dedicated in perpetuity to the people of London as a recreation-ground. I propose to clear the land and lay out same at my own expense."
Emslie Horniman lived in Chelsea but was inspired to create the park which today bears his name in North Kensington by Sister Ruth, a local nun who worked with the poor of Kensal Town. Emslie Horniman was interested in the arts and gave the commission to design the park to the architect Charles Voysey hence the name ‘Voysey Garden’.
Nowadays the park hosts 20,000 people over the August bank holiday when it becomes the official launch pad of the Notting Hill Carnival.
Emslie Horniman’s Pleasance opened in 1914.
After the northern end of East Row was demolished in 1960, the park was extended in size to cover the whole block between East Row and Bosworth Road.
The park also contains tennis courts, five-a-side football pitches, a hard play area and a children’s playground.
