Editing Kensington

{{short description|District within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in central London}}
{{other uses}}
{{Distinguish|text=[[Kennington]], a similarly named London locality about 10 km away}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{infobox UK place
| country = England
| region = London
| official_name = Kensington
| coordinates = {{coord|51.500|-0.190|display=inline,title}}
| london_borough = Kensington and Chelsea
| constituency_westminster = [[Kensington and Bayswater (UK Parliament constituency)|Kensington and Bayswater]]
| post_town = LONDON
| postcode_district = W8, W14
| postcode_area = W
| dial_code = 020
| os_grid_reference = TQ255795
| static_image_name = Kensington High Street 2 Londres.jpg
| static_image_caption = [[Kensington High Street]]
| population = 64,681
| population_ref = <ref>{{cite web |title=Wards of Brompton, Courtfield, Campden, Earls Court, Holland, Queens Gate and Abingdon |url=http://www.ukcensusdata.com/kensington-and-chelsea-e09000020 |access-date=15 June 2017 |archive-date=16 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616040654/http://ukcensusdata.com/kensington-and-chelsea-e09000020#sthash.XHGxeCRe.dpbs |url-status=dead }}</ref>([[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 census]])
}}

'''Kensington''' is an area of [[London]] in the [[Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea]], around {{Convert|4.6|km|mi|order=flip}} west of [[Central London]].{{Efn|Measured from Kensington High St, outside the Underground station to [[Charing Cross]], following tradition.}}

The district's commercial heart is [[Kensington High Street]], running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by [[Kensington Gardens]], containing the [[Albert Memorial]], the [[Serpentine Gallery]] and [[John Hanning Speke|Speke]]'s monument. [[South Kensington]] and [[Gloucester Road, London|Gloucester Road]] are home to [[Imperial College London]], the [[Royal College of Music]], the [[Royal Albert Hall]], [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]], [[Victoria and Albert Museum]], and [[Science Museum, London|Science Museum]]. The area is also home to many embassies and consulates.

==Name==
The [[Manorialism|manor]] of ''Chenesitone'' is listed in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/details-result.asp?Edoc_Id=7576097|title=DocumentsOnline|website=www.nationalarchives.gov.uk}}</ref> which in the [[Old English language|Anglo-Saxon]] language means "Chenesi's [[List of generic forms in place names in Ireland and the United Kingdom|ton]]" (homestead/settlement).  One early spelling is  ''Kesyngton'', as written in 1396.<ref>{{citation |chapter-url=http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT6/R2/CP40no541a/bCP40no541adorses/IMG_0349.htm |chapter=CP 40/541; year 1396 |title=Plea Rolls |publisher=Court of Common Pleas}}—  with county margination "midd". Kesyngton is the place where the trespass (taking animals) occurred (line 3)</ref>

==History==
[[File:Kensington from the air in 1909.jpg|alt=B&W photo of Kensington from the air|thumb|Kensington photographed by scientist Sir Norman Lockyer in 1909 from a helium balloon. (This is a mirrored image of Kensington)]]
The [[Manorialism|manor]] of Kensington, in the county of [[Middlesex]], was one of several hundred granted by King [[William the Conqueror]] (1066–1089) to [[Geoffrey de Montbray]] (or Mowbray), [[Bishop of Coutances]] in Normandy, one of his inner circle of advisors and one of the wealthiest men in post-[[Norman conquest of England|Conquest England]]. He granted the tenancy of Kensington to his follower [[Aubrey de Vere I]], who was holding the manor from him as [[overlord]] in 1086, according to the [[Domesday Book]]. The bishop's heir, [[Robert de Mowbray]], rebelled against King [[William Rufus|William II]] and his vast [[English feudal barony|feudal barony]] was forfeited to the Crown.  [[Aubrey de Vere I]] thus became a [[tenant-in-chief]], holding directly from the king after 1095, which increased his status in feudal England.<ref>''Victoria County History of England'', Middlesex, vol. 1, pp. 116–7</ref> He granted the church and an estate within the manor to [[Abingdon Abbey]] in [[Oxfordshire]], at the deathbed request of his eldest son Geoffrey.<ref>''Chronicon Monasterii de Abingdon'', vol 2, pp. 55–6</ref> As the de Veres became [[Earl of Oxford|Earls of Oxford]], their principal manor at Kensington came to be known as Earl's Court, as they were not resident in the manor, and their manorial business was not conducted in the [[great hall]] of a [[manor house]] but in a courthouse. In order to differentiate it, the new sub-manor granted to Abingdon Abbey became known as ''Abbot's Kensington'' and the church ''[[St Mary Abbots]]''.

The original [[Kensington Barracks]], built at Kensington Gate in the late 18th century, were demolished in 1858 and new barracks were built in Kensington Church Street.<ref>{{citation|url=http://collage.cityoflondon.gov.uk/view-item?i=85700&WINID=1474797132944|title=Kensington Barracks|publisher=London Picture Archive|access-date=25 September 2016|archive-date=27 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927055043/http://collage.cityoflondon.gov.uk/view-item?i=85700&WINID=1474797132944|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Geography==

[[File:Kensington Met. B Ward Map 1916.svg|thumb|A map showing the wards of Kensington Metropolitan Borough as they appeared in 1916.]]
The focus of the area is [[Kensington High Street]], a busy commercial centre with many shops, typically upmarket. The street was declared London's second best shopping street in February 2005 due to its wide range and number of shops.<ref>{{citation| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4289237.stm |title=Best shopping street' in London  |access-date=2008-10-23 |work=BBC News |publisher=news.bbc.co.uk |date=23 February 2005 }}</ref> However, since October 2008 the street has faced competition from the [[Westfield London|Westfield]] shopping centre in nearby White City.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/rbkcdirect/rdcouncilpriorities/cp1001_core.asp|title=Core Strategy:Putting the neighbourhood first|publisher=Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea|access-date=2010-05-14}}</ref>

Kensington's second group of commercial buildings is at [[South Kensington]], where several streets of small to medium-sized shops and service businesses are situated close to [[South Kensington tube station]]. This is also the southern end of [[Exhibition Road]], the thoroughfare which serves the area's museums and educational institutions.

The boundaries of Kensington are not well-defined; in particular, the southern part of Kensington has conflicting and complex borders with Chelsea (another ancient manor) whether electoral or postal definitions are used, and has similar architecture. To the west, a border is clearly defined by the line of the Counter Creek marked by the [[West London Line|West London railway line]]. To the north, the only obvious border line is Holland Park Avenue, to the north of which is the district of Notting Hill (another ancient manor), usually classed as within "North Kensington".

[[Image:Kensington Gardens Of London Summer.jpg|right|thumb|[[Kensington Gardens]] in the summer]]
In the north east is situated the large public [[Royal Parks of London|Royal Park]] of [[Kensington Gardens]] (contiguous with its eastern neighbour, [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]]). The other main green area in Kensington is [[Holland Park]], on the north side of the eastern end of Kensington High Street. Many residential roads have small communal [[Parks and open spaces in London#Garden squares|garden squares]], for the exclusive use of the residents.

The sub districts of Kensington: [[South Kensington]] and [[Earl's Court]] also consist largely of private housing. [[North Kensington]] and [[West Kensington, London|West Kensington]] are largely devoid of features to attract the visitor.

[[File:Location map Kensington.png|thumb|left|Map of central Kensington ([//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Location_map_Kensington.png click to enlarge])]]
Kensington is, in general, an extremely affluent area, a trait that it shares with Chelsea, its neighbour to the south. The area has some of London's most expensive streets and garden squares, and at about the turn of the 21st century the Holland Park neighbourhood became particularly high-status. In early 2007 houses sold in Upper Phillimore Gardens, immediately east of [[Holland Park]], for over £20 million. [[Brompton, Kensington|Brompton]] is another definable area of Kensington.

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea forms part of the most densely populated local government district in the United Kingdom. This high density has come about through the subdivision of large mid-rise [[Georgian era|Georgian]] and [[Victorian era|Victorian]] terraced houses (generally of four to six floors) into flats. The less-affluent northern extremity of Kensington has [[high-rise]] residential buildings, while this type of building in the southern part is only represented by the [[Holiday Inn]]'s London Kensington Forum Hotel in [[Cromwell Road]], a 27-storey building.

Notable attractions and institutions in Kensington include [[Kensington Palace]] in Kensington Gardens, the [[Royal Albert Hall]] opposite the [[Albert Memorial]] in Hyde Park, the [[Royal College of Music]], the [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]], the [[Science Museum (London)|Science Museum]], the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]], [[Heythrop College]], [[Imperial College London|Imperial College]], the [[Royal College of Art]], and [[Kensington and Chelsea College]]. The [[Olympia, England|Olympia]] Exhibition Hall is just over the western border in [[West Kensington, London|West Kensington]].

==Administration==
[[File:Kensington and Chelsea Town Hall 2005.jpg|thumb|[[Kensington Town Hall, London|Kensington Town Hall]], completed in 1976]]
Kensington is administered within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and lies within the [[Kensington (UK Parliament constituency)|Kensington]] parliamentary constituency.

==Media sector==

The head office of newspaper group [[Daily Mail and General Trust|DMGT]] is located in Northcliffe House off Kensington High Street<ref>"[http://www.dmgt.co.uk/contact Contacts] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809140931/http://www.dmgt.co.uk/contact |date=9 August 2011 }}." [[Daily Mail and General Trust]]. Retrieved 6 September 2011. "Northcliffe House 2 Derry Street London W8 5TT Great Britain"</ref> in part of the large [[Barkers of Kensington|Barkers]] department store building. In addition to housing the offices for the DMGT newspapers ''[[Daily Mail]]'', ''[[Mail on Sunday]]'' and ''[[Metro (British newspaper)|Metro]]'', Northcliffe House also accommodates the offices of the newspapers owned by [[Evgeny Lebedev]]: ''[[The Independent]]'', ''[[The Independent on Sunday]]'', and the ''[[London Evening Standard|Evening Standard]]''.<ref name="Ponsford">Ponsford, Dominic. "[https://archive.today/20121223202214/http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=42559&c=1 Sharing with Mail 'will safeguard future of Independent']." ''[[Press Gazette]]''. 28 November 2008. Retrieved 6 September 2011. "Under a deal signed today, the Independent titles will share back office functions with the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Metro and Evening Standard at Northcliffe House in Kensington."</ref> The [[i (British newspaper)|''i'']] newspaper, sold to Johnston Press in 2016,<ref>{{citation|last1=Mackie|first1=Gareth|title=Johnston Press agrees £24m deal for i newspaper|url=https://www.scotsman.com/business/companies/media-leisure/johnston-press-agrees-24m-deal-for-i-newspaper-1-4028692|newspaper=The Scotsman|publisher=Johnston Press|access-date=14 December 2017|language=en}}</ref> is still produced from offices in Northcliffe House. Most of these titles were for many decades produced and printed in [[Fleet Street]] in the [[City of London]].

The building also houses Lebedev's TV channel [[London Live (TV channel)|London Live]], with its news studio situated in part of the former department store, using [[St Mary Abbots]] church and Kensington Church Street as live backdrop.

==Transport==
[[File:High Street Kensington tube station, platform 1 - geograph.org.uk - 809853.jpg|thumb|left|[[High Street Kensington tube station]] is served by the [[Circle line (London Underground)|Circle]] and [[District line]]s]]

Kensington is crossed east–west by three main roads, the most important of which is the [[A4 road (Great Britain)|A4]] ''Cromwell Road'' which connects it to [[Central London]] on the east and to [[Hounslow]] and [[London Heathrow Airport|Heathrow Airport]] on the west. Parallel to the north is Kensington Road (of which Kensington High Street forms the eastern part), linking central London and Hammersmith and [[Hounslow]] to the area. To the south is Fulham Road, which connects South Kensington with [[Fulham]] to the south-west. North-south connections are not as well-developed and there is no obvious single north–south route through the area.

Kensington is well served by [[public transport]]. Most of Kensington is served by three stations in the [[Travelcard Zone 1]]: [[High Street Kensington tube station|High Street Kensington]], [[Gloucester Road tube station|Gloucester Road]] and [[South Kensington tube station|South Kensington]]. All three are served by the [[Circle line (London Underground)|Circle line]] which connects them to London's railway terminals. The [[District line]] also serves all three stations, albeit on different branches; it links the latter two to [[City of Westminster|Westminster]] and the [[City of London|City]]. The [[Piccadilly line]] also links South Kensington and Gloucester Road to the [[West End of London|West End]] in about 10 minutes, and in the other direction to [[Chiswick]], [[Ealing]], [[Hounslow]] and [[Heathrow Airport]] in around 20–40 minutes, depending on the area of choice. In addition [[Kensington (Olympia)]] in [[Travelcard Zone 2]] serves the western part of Kensington, with District line trains to [[Earl's Court tube station|Earl's Court]] and High Street Kensington. Nearby [[West Kensington station]] takes its name from the former boundaries with Hammersmith and is not in the Borough.

A number of local bus services link Kensington into the surrounding districts, and key hubs are Kensington High Street and South Kensington station. These bus services were improved in frequency and spread from 2007 until 2010 when the western extension of the [[London congestion charge]] area existed (which required drivers of cars and vans during the charging hours Monday-Friday to pay a daily fee of £8).

In 2020 a temporary cycle lane on Kensington High Street caused a nationwide media stir.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-01-09|title=Council to 'revisit' removal of cycle lane on Kensington High Street|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/kensington-cycle-lane-review-rbkc-sadiq-khan-b1784855.html|access-date=2021-05-28|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Residents back 'ripped out' cycle lanes, Khan says – The Transport Network|url=http://www.transport-network.co.uk/Residents-back-ripped-out-cycle-lanes-Khan-says/17180|access-date=2021-05-28|website=www.transport-network.co.uk}}</ref> The temporary cycle lane was installed by the local council in September 2020 with £700,000 in funding from central government grants, but it was removed in December 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Council to scrap £700k Kensington High Street bike lane – The Transport Network|url=http://www.transport-network.co.uk/Council-to-scrap-700k-Kensington-High-Street-bike-lane/16997|access-date=2021-05-28|website=www.transport-network.co.uk}}</ref>

==Sports==
Kensington has one football team, [[Kensington Borough F.C.]], which currently plays in the [[Combined Counties Football League]].

==Notable people==
[[File:George Cohen.jpg|thumb|180px|[[George Cohen]]]]
[[File:Daniel Day Lewis 26 May 2013.jpg|thumb|180px|[[Daniel Day-Lewis]]]]
[[File:Natasha Hausdorff.jpg|thumb|180px|[[Natasha Hausdorff]]]]
[[File:Freddie Mercury performing in New Haven, CT, November 1977.jpg|thumb|180px|[[Freddie Mercury]]]]
*[[Renée Asherson]] (1915–2014), actress<ref>[https://www.the-independent.com/news/obituaries/renee-asherson-actress-renowned-for-her-grace-and-beauty-9844850.html "Renée Asherson: Actress renowned for her grace and beauty,"] ''Independent''.</ref>
*[[Shaun Bailey, Baron Bailey of Paddington]]  (born 1971), politician and former journalist
*[[Jeremy Bamber]] (born 1961), convicted mass murderer
*[[Ivan Berlyn]] (1867–1934), film and stage actor
*[[Antonia Bird]] (1951–2013), film director<ref>[https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-108219 "Bird, Antonia Jane,"] ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''.</ref>
*[[Howard Blake]] (born 1938), composer, conductor and pianist<ref>[https://crosseyedpianist.com/2018/12/25/meet-the-artist-howard-blake-composer/ "Meet the Artist – Howard Blake, composer,"]  ''The Cross-Eyed Pianist''.</ref>
*[[Betty Boo]] (born 1970), singer and songwriter
*[[Frank Boys]] (1918–2003), first-class cricketer
*[[Les Champelovier]] (1933–2023), amateur footballer
*[[Lady Sarah Chatto]] (born 1964), member of the British royal family
*[[George Cohen]] (1939–2022), professional footballer 
*[[Frank Cadogan Cowper]] (1877–1958), artist 
*[[Daniel Day-Lewis]] (born 1957), [[Academy Award]]-winning actor
*[[Dido (singer)|Dido]] (born 1971), singer and songwriter
*[[Carmen Ejogo]] (born 1973), actress and singer
*[[Evangeline Florence]] (1867–1928), soprano
*[[Justine Frischmann]] (born 1969), musician
*[[Percival Gale]] (1865–1940), cricketer
*[[Michael Gove]] (born 1967), Scottish journalist and politician
*[[Carey Harrison]] (born 1944), novelist and dramatist
*[[Natasha Hausdorff]] (born 1989), barrister, international law commentator, and Israel advocate
*[[Tom Holland]] (born 1996), actor
*[[William Leach (cricketer, born 1883)|William Leach]] (1883–1969), first-class cricketer
*[[Rotha Lintorn-Orman]] (1895–1935), fascist activist<ref>{{Cite ODNB | last=Gottlieb | first=Julie V. | doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/93720|title=Orman, Rotha Beryl Lintorn Lintorn|year=2008|orig-year=2005}}</ref>
*[[Montague MacLean]] (1870–1951), cricketer
*[[Freddie Mercury]] (1946–1991), frontman of the British rock band [[Queen (band)|Queen]]
*[[Jimmy Page]] (born 1944), guitarist of the British rock band [[Led Zeppelin]]
*[[Una-Mary Parker]] (1930–2019), journalist and novelist
*[[Frank de Pass]] (1887–1914), officer in the British Indian Army, recipient of the Victoria Cross 
*[[Reginald Popham]] (1892–1975), cricketer and footballer
*[[Sir John Richard Robinson]], journalist and editor
*[[Christopher Stanger-Leathes]] (1881–1966), rugby union international
*[[Jason Vale]] (born 1969), lifestyle coach and author
*[[Frank Ward (cricketer, born 1888)|Frank Ward]] (1888–1952), first-class cricketer
*[[Frank Westerton]] (1866–1923), stage and silent-film actor 
*[[Dennis Wise]] (born 1966), footballer and manager

==See also==
{{Portal|London}}
* [[Little Australia]]
* [[Earl's Court]]
* [[Kensington, Brooklyn]]
* [[Kensington, Philadelphia]]
* [[Kensington Roof Gardens]]
* [[Kensington, Saskatoon]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==Further reading==
* {{citation|ref=none |title=[[Chambers's Encyclopaedia]] |location=London |chapter-url= https://archive.org/stream/chamberssency06lond#page/412/mode/1up |chapter= Kensington |year=1901 }}
* {{cite EB1911|mode=cs2|ref=none |wstitle=Kensington |volume=15 |pages=733–744 |short=x}}
* {{Citation|ref=none  |last=Lysons  |first=Daniel |author-link=Daniel Lysons (antiquarian) |publication-date = 1792 |chapter-url= https://archive.org/stream/environsoflondon03lyso#page/170/mode/2up |chapter= Kensington |title = Environs of London |year=1792 |publication-place = London |publisher = T. Cadell   |volume=3: County of Middlesex }}
*{{citation|ref=none |last=Mitton |first=Geraldine Edith |year=1903  |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21643 |title=The Fascination of London: The Kensington District |editor-last=Besant |editor-first=Sir Walter |location=London |publisher=Adam and Charles Black}}
* {{citation|ref=non |title=London Kensington Market (destroyed) | website=geocities.com | date=2008-02-11 | url=http://www.geocities.com/londondestruction/kensington.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080211193805/http://www.geocities.com/londondestruction/kensington.html | archive-date=11 February 2008| url-status=dead}}
* Mary Cathcart Borer, ''Two Villages: The Story of Chelsea and Kensington''. London: W. H. Allen, 1973.

== External links ==
* {{commonscat-inline}}
* {{wiktionary-inline}}

{{LB Kensington and Chelsea}}
{{Geographic Location
|Northwest = [[White City, London|White City]]
|North     = [[Notting Hill]], [[North Kensington]]
|Northeast = <small>Across Kensington Gardens: </small>[[Bayswater]], [[Paddington]]
|West      = <small>Across [[Earls Court]] (within Kensington): </small><br>[[Hammersmith]]
|Centre    = Kensington
|East      = [[Knightsbridge]]/[[Brompton, Kensington|Brompton]]<br>[[Belgravia]], Westminster
|Southwest = [[West Brompton]]
|South     = [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]]
|Southeast = [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]]
}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Kensington| ]]
[[Category:Areas of London]]
[[Category:Districts of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea]]
[[Category:Places formerly in Middlesex]]