Kensington is a small suburb of the New Zealand city of

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, nestled to the south of a hilly spur between the central city and the major suburb of

South Dunedin South Dunedin is a major inner city suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located, as its name suggests, to the south of the city centre, on part of a large plain known locally simply as "The Flat". The suburb is a mix of industrial ...

, some to the south of the city centre. The suburb was named for the leafy London suburb, possibly by

John Hyde Harris John Hyde Harris (24 November 1826 – 24 July 1886) was a 19th-century New Zealand politician. Born in England, he came to Dunedin as a young man and practised as a lawyer, and was then a judge. He entered provincial politics and was elected as ...

, who subdivided the area in the 1860s. Kensington is located on and around King Edward Street, close to the point at which it becomes Princes Street. This is one of Dunedin's main arterial routes, with King Edward Street stretching south to become the main road through South Dunedin, and Princes Street heading north to Dunedin's city centre. The suburb lies at the foot of a spur off

Maryhill Maryhill ( gd, Cnoc Màiri) is an area of the City of Glasgow in Scotland. Maryhill is a former burgh. Maryhill stretches over along Maryhill Road. The far north west of the area is served by Maryhill railway station. History Hew Hill, ...

officially referred to as Montecillo Ridge, and close to the inner city sports ground, the

Oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.) it is given a more precise definition, which may include either one ...

. This ground, originally called the Southern Recreation Ground, is now referred to as the Kensington Oval, so as to distinguish it from the University Oval in the north of the city. This ground is actually triangular, but at one time contained a separate oval cricket ground, which gave it its name.

Dunedin Southern Cemetery The Southern Cemetery in the New Zealand city of Dunedin was the first major cemetery to be opened in the city. The cemetery was opened in 1858, ten years after the founding of the city in an area known as Little Paisley. This area lies at the ...

sits on the slope of Montecillo Ridge immediately above Kensington, separated from it by South Road, a main route to Caversham, which joins with Princes Street close to the Oval. These two green areas mark the southernmost extreme of Dunedin's Town Belt, which sweeps around the central city in a broad crescent through the suburbs of Mornington,

Belleknowes City Rise is an inner suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. One of the city's older suburbs, it is, as its name suggests, centred on the slopes which lie close to the city centre, particularly those closest to the city's original heart of ...

, Roslyn,

Maori Hill Māori Hill is a residential suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located at the northern end of the ridge which runs in a crescent around the central city's western edge, to the northwest of the city centre, immediately above and w ...

, Woodhaugh, and

Dunedin North Dunedin North, also known as North Dunedin, is a major inner suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin, located northeast of the city centre. It contains many of the city's major institutions, including the city's university, polytechnic, ma ...

. The lower slopes of Montecillo Ridge were at one time the site of "Hillside", the home of Dunedin city's founding father Captain William Cargill. Though the house is long gone, its name lives on in that of South Dunedin's Hillside Road. Kensington is largely separated from South Dunedin by an overbridge and railway embankment carrying the

South Island Main Trunk The Main North Line between Picton and Christchurch and the Main South Line between Lyttelton and Invercargill, running down the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand, are sometimes together referred to collectively as the South Isl ...

railway. The long-closed Kensington railway halt was located immediately to the east of the bridge, and accessed by a flight of stairs in one of the bridge's supports, long since sealed up. A newer flyover 200 metres to the north carries

State Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbere ...

through Kensington, though there are no

slip road In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, usin ...

s connecting the suburb with the highway. This flyover separates Kensington into two distinct parts, a light industrial zone to the south of the flyover, and a residential zone to the north, at the foot of the ridge. A notable feature of Kensington is the city's army

drill hall A drill hall is a place such as a building or a hangar where soldiers practise and perform military drills. Description In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, the term was used for the whole headquarters building of a military reserve unit, ...

, located in Bridgman Street immediately to the south of State Highway 1.New Zealand Cadet Forces.
Otago-Southland locations
. Retrieved 4 May 2009.

References

;Bibliography *Herd, Joyce, and Griffiths, George J., (1980) ''Discovering Dunedin.'' Dunedin: John McIndoe. * {{coord, -45.8904, 170.4958, region:NZ-OTA_type:city, display=title Suburbs of Dunedin