Frestonia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frestonia was the name adopted by Freston Road, a street in Notting Hill Dale, West London, when it attempted to [[Secession|secede from the United Kingdom in 1977. The state consisted of a 1.8 acres triangle of land (including communal gardens)formed by Freston Road, Bramley Road and Shalfleet Drive, W10.[1]
Actor David Rappaport was once the "Foreign Minister".
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[edit] Origins
Most of the residents of Freston Road were squatters, who moved into empty houses in the early 1970s. When the Greater London Council planned to redevelop the area, the 120 residents first all adopted the same surname of Bramley with the aim that the council would then have to re-house them collectively.
[edit] Independence
The Council threated formal eviction, so at a public meeting attended by 200 people, resident Nick Albery - inspired by both the Ealing comedy film Passport to Pimlico and a previous visit to Freetown Christiania in Copenhagen - suggested that they declare the street independent of the rest of the UK. A referendum returned 94% of residents in favour of the plan, and 73% in favour of joining the European Economic Community. Independence was declared on 31 October 1977.
The state adopted the Latin motto Nos Sumus Una Familia - We are All One Family - and applied to join the United Nations, at the same time warning that peacekeeping troops may be needed to keep the GLC at bay.[2]
[edit] Culture, communications, transport and economy
Frestonia had it's own newspaper - The Tribal Messenger - and also a "National Theatre," which performed Heathcote Williams's The Immortalist. The Frestonian National Film Institute was also formed, it's first screening being - appropriately - Passport to Pimlico and film of The Sex Pistols. Local transport was served by the Number 295 bus, and the London Underground, Latimer Road tube station being at the north end of Bramley Road. There were Frestonian postage stamps (honoured by the GPO), as well as plans to introduce a currency.[3]
When the state celebrate its fifth anniversary in 1982, the population numbered 97 people occupying 23 houses.
[edit] Decline and fall
Following international press coverage, the residents formed the Bramleys Housing Co-operative Ltd., but some people moved out to new homes provided by the Council, although many were drawn back to Frestonia later. Eventually, however, the more compentent residents drifted away, leaving those who were least capable of maintaining either the properties of the ideals of the "nation," and the street went into decline. It was demolished in the late-1980s.
[edit] Cultural reactions
Frestonia was the name of the final album from Aztec Camera.
[edit] References
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