Hippodrome & Potteries

Before the top of Notting Hill was full of homes for toffs, it was a racecourse. The hippodrome was only in operation for about 6 years in the early 1800s. Jockeys refused to race on the track due to the heavy clay soil, which caused the horses to slip and get stuck when it was sodden. While the clay was horrid for horses, it was good for making bricks and ceramics, and pigs loved to wallow in it.. "The Piggeries and Potteries," just down the hill from where the hippodrome was and the toffs lived, was one of the most wretched slums in London in the mid 19th century.

See where this picture was taken. [?]