South Kensington

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South Kensington
London - Victoria and Albert Museum - panoramio (2).jpg
V&A Museum, South Kensington
Greater London UK location map 2.svg
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South Kensington
Location within Greater London
OS grid reference TQ265785
London borough
Ceremonial county Greater London
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town LONDON
Postcode district SW7
Dialling code 020
Police Metropolitan
Fire London
Ambulance London
UK Parliament
London Assembly
List of places
UK
England
London
51°29′28″N0°10′37″W / 51.4912°N 0.1769°W / 51.4912; -0.1769

South Kensington is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. [1] Its name was supplanted with the advent of the railways in the late 19th century and the opening (and shutting) and naming of local tube stations. [2] The area has many museums and cultural landmarks with a high number of visitors, such as the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Adjacent affluent centres such as Knightsbridge, Chelsea and Kensington, have been considered as some of the most exclusive real estate in the world.

Contents

Geography

As is often the case in other areas of London, the boundaries for South Kensington are arbitrary and have altered with time. This is due in part to usage arising from the tube stops and other landmarks which developed across Brompton. A contemporary definition is the commercial area around the South Kensington tube station and the adjacent garden squares and streets (such as Onslow Square and Thurloe Square, opposite the Victoria and Albert Museum). To the north is the Kensington Gore, to the south the winding Fulham Road and streets leading to Sloane Square and to the west, the residential and hotel area of Gloucester Road. South Kensington station lies on the junction of several thoroughfares: principally the Old Brompton Road, Harrington Road and Pelham Street and a stone's throw from the arterial Cromwell Road. It is furthermore criss-crossed by the Exhibition Road and the stately Queen's Gate and Prince Consort Road. Until road lay-out improvements in 2012, the area was afflicted with traffic congestion and likened to a series of traffic islands. [3]

The Geological Museum (1843) at its new location, Exhibition Road from 1935, now integrated with the Science Museum Natural History Museum, Exhibition Road, London SW7 - geograph.org.uk - 1128801.jpg
The Geological Museum (1843) at its new location, Exhibition Road from 1935, now integrated with the Science Museum
Natural History Museum ice rink PM Skating scimus2.JPG
Natural History Museum ice rink

Modern development of the area is the result of the creation of the temporary Albertopolis reached by Exhibition Road, whose terrain now includes the Natural History Museum, the Geological Museum, the Science Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London Oratory and since 1915, the Lycée Français. Other local institutions include the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, Polish Hearth Club, London Goethe-Institut, the Royal Albert Hall, Imperial College London, the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal College of Art, the Royal College of Music and between 1903 and 1991, the Royal College of Organists, West London Air Terminal, the Ismaili Centre, London and the late comer 1960s Baden-Powell House some of which are administratively within the City of Westminster, but considered to be "within range of South Kensington". Although the SW7 postcode mainly covers South Kensington, it goes into Knightsbridge. The only Royal Mail Post Office in South Kensington closed in 2019.

History

Exhibition Road, shared space Kensington, London, UK - panoramio (52).jpg
Exhibition Road, shared space
Royal Albert Hall, located on Kensington Gore BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall -26July2008.jpg
Royal Albert Hall, located on Kensington Gore
Imperial College, South Kensington, London London - Imperial College of Science and Technology.jpg
Imperial College, South Kensington, London
French Institute, housing Cine Lumiere, Queensberry, Place SW7 Cine Lumiere, South Kensington, SW7 (2477001202).jpg
French Institute, housing Ciné Lumière, Queensberry, Place SW7
The Ismaili Centre, South Kensington Ismaili Centre, London.JPG
The Ismaili Centre, South Kensington
Holy Trinity Brompton Holy Trinity Brompton-1.jpg
Holy Trinity Brompton

Following the 1851 Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, an 87-acre (35 ha) area, west of what is now Exhibition Road, was purchased by the commissioners of the exhibition, in order to create a base for institutions dedicated to the arts and sciences, leading to the foundation of the Royal Albert Hall, three museums, the Royal School of Mines later a world renowned technological university, the Royal College of Music and the Royal College of Organists there. The market gardens of the rural area began to make way for a series of hospitals, such as the Brompton Hospital and the New Cancer Hospital along nearby Fulham Road. [4] Adjacent landowners began to develop the land in the 1860s as a result of the transport hub and the general urbanisation boom west of London, and led to the eventual absorption of Brompton and its station into Kensington. It was sealed by the arrival of the Metropolitan and District Railways at Brompton, but for public relations reasons, it was re-named "South Kensington" in 1868. To facilitate public access to the museums, the railway company built a pedestrian tunnel directly from the station concourse to an exit halfway up Exhibition Road, next to the now defunct Royal Mail sorting office, to avoid crowds having to cross the Cromwell Road.

In 1906 the new Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway company opened the Brompton Road tube station in the vicinity, thus adding a link directly to the political, commercial and financial heart of the capital in Westminster, the West End and the City of London, but owing to under use, it was shut in 1934. During the Second World War it was used by the 26th (London) Anti-Aircraft Brigade. [5]

Since the First World War it has become a cosmopolitan area attracting Belgian and French refugees, but also Poles during the Second World War and after, as well as latterly Spanish, Italian, and American expatriates. Some residents also have a Middle Eastern origin. The French presence is emphasised by the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, the French Institute, housing a theatre now used as the Ciné Lumière with nearby the Alliance française, as well as the Consulate General of France, not far from the French Embassy in Knightsbridge. [6] With a French bookshop and many international cafés in the area, it has been called "Paris's 21st arrondissement". [7]

Iranian Embassy siege

In April and May 1980 a group of six Iranian Arabs entered the Iranian Embassy in South Kensington and took the staff, visitors and a diplomatic policeman hostage. There followed a six-day siege during which one of the hostages was killed. The British SAS finally stormed the building in a 17-minute operation, bringing out the hostages and the one surviving gunman who was subsequently sentenced to 27 years in prison for his part in the offences. [8]

Places of worship

The Brompton Oratory Brompton oratory2.jpg
The Brompton Oratory

The first church to rise among the fields at Brompton was the socially notable, but widely considered architecturally ugly, Holy Trinity Brompton in 1829. It served a wide area from the Kensington Canal in the west to the Kensington Turnpike in the north. The first incumbent, one Percival Frye, just happened to be the nephew of Archdeacon Alfred Pott, vicar of the neighbouring Kensington parish. [1] It was followed by:

Trivia

The area is the subject of Donovan's song "Sunny South Kensington", about the area's reputation as the hip part of London in the 1960s.

Roman Polanski's film, Repulsion (1965) was partly filmed in South Kensington.

Morgan cars, a British family-owned hand built sportscar company operates a main dealership out of Astwood Mews in South Kensington.

Christie's auction house had a second London salesroom in the Old Brompton Road, South Kensington from 1975, which primarily handled the middle market. Christie's permanently closed the South Kensington salesroom in July 2017 as part of their restructuring plans announced March 2017. The closure was due in part to a considerable decrease in sales between 2015 and 2016 in addition to the company expanding its online presence. [9] [10]

Tim Waterstone opened his first eponymous Waterstones bookshop in 1982 in Old Brompton Road. It has given way to a Little Waitrose. [11]

Caffè Nero also started life as a single coffee shop in Old Brompton Road, opened by Ian Semp in 1990. It was subsequently bought out and became a chain. [12]

Notable residents

The Queen's Tower, Imperial College Queen's Tower.jpg
The Queen's Tower, Imperial College

Residents have included:

Nearby places

Related Research Articles

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Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around 2.9 miles (4.6 km) west of Central London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea</span> Place in United Kingdom

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is an Inner London borough with royal status. It is the smallest borough in London and the second smallest district in England; it is one of the most densely populated administrative regions in the United Kingdom. It includes affluent areas such as Notting Hill, Kensington, South Kensington, Chelsea, and Knightsbridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knightsbridge</span> District in central London, England

Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End. Knightsbridge is also the name of the roadway which runs near the south side of Hyde Park from Hyde Park Corner.

Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the sub-districts of South Kensington to the east, Chelsea to the south and Kensington to the northeast. It lent its name to the now defunct eponymous pleasure grounds opened in 1887 followed by the pre–World War II Earls Court Exhibition Centre, as one of the country's largest indoor arenas and a popular concert venue, until its closure in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albertopolis</span> Area in South Kensington, London

Albertopolis is the nickname given to the area centred on Exhibition Road in London, named after Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria. It contains many educational and cultural sites. It lies in the former village of Brompton in Middlesex, renamed as South Kensington, split between the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster, and the area bordered by Cromwell Road to the south and Kensington Road to the north.

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The Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, usually referred to as the Lycée or the French Lycée, is a French co-educational primary and secondary independent day school, situated in South Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. It is managed by the Agency for French Teaching Abroad, AEFE, with its curriculum accredited by the French National Ministry of Education and overseen by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brompton Road</span> Street in Knightsbridge district in West London

Brompton Road is a street located in the southern part from Knightsbridge and in the eastern part from Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and partly the City of Westminster in London.

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, an Inner London borough, has responsibility for some of the parks and open spaces within its boundaries. Most of them are relatively small: many are the typical London square, built to service the houses around that square. Two of the larger open spaces both form part of the "Magnificent Seven" cemeteries, being those at Brompton and Kensal Green. The parks are policed by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Parks Police.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloucester Road, London</span> Street in London

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Tames, Richard (2000). Earl's Court and Brompton Past. London: Historical Publications. ISBN   0-948667-63-X.
  2. "The western suburbs: Knightsbridge | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  3. "The Exhibition Road Project". RBKC. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  4. "West Brompton and the South Kensington Museum | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  5. Cooper, Nick (2014). London Underground at War. Amberley Books. ISBN   978-1-4456-2201-9.
  6. Faucher, Charlotte; Rauch, Olivier; Zuniga, Floriane; Simon, Éric (2015). Le Lycée français Charles de Gaulle de Londres, 1915–2015 (in French). London: Association des anciens de Lycée français de Londres. ISBN   978-0-9930-9770-6.
  7. "Brexit vote puts brake on flow of French bankers to London". www.ft.com. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  8. Adie, Kate (2002). The Kindness of Strangers. London: Headline Publishing Group. ISBN   9780755310739.
  9. Spero, Josh (9 March 2017). "Christie's to close South Kensington sale room" . Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022.
  10. Media, ATG. "Christie's South Kensington to close sooner than expected". www.antiquestradegazette.com.
  11. Walker, Tim (14 March 2011). "Do bookshops have a future?" . The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  12. "Caffè Nero takeover deal completes returning the b..." The Caterer. 19 January 2007.
  13. Richard Jones, A London Walk in Chelsea, London Walking Tours.
  14. Rosen, Carole. The Goossens: A Musical Century (1993), p. 92
  15. "Blue Plaques - LAVERY, Sir John (1856-1941)". English Heritage. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  16. William Makepeace Thackeray: 1853 — Onslow Square, London Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine , University of Pennsylvania Libraries.