Kensington High Street is the main shopping street in
Kensington
Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensington Garden ...
,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, England. The area is identified in the
London Plan as one of 35 major centres in
Greater London
Greater may refer to:
*Greatness
Greatness is a concept of a state of superiority affecting a person or object in a particular place or area. Greatness can also be attributed to individuals who possess a natural ability to be better than al ...
.
Kensington High Street is the continuation of
Kensington Road
Kensington Road is a section of road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the A315 road. It runs along the south edge of Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. To the west it becomes ...
and part of the
A315. It starts by the entrance to
Kensington Palace
Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has been a residence of the British royal family since the 17th century, and is currently the official L ...
and runs westward through central Kensington. Near
Kensington (Olympia) station, where the
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
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 ...
ends and
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham begins, it ends and becomes
Hammersmith Road. The street is served by
High Street Kensington underground station.
History
In 1682, Francis Barry purchased land in Kensington and began to develop houses.
From the 1690s to 1893, Kensington High Street was developed around a residential terrace, with large houses occupied by a number of distinguished residents. The Terrace was located roughly between present day Wrights Lane and Adam and Eve Mews.
Residents included:
* Sir
Graham Berry
Sir Graham Berry, (28 August 1822 – 25 January 1904),
Australian colonial politician, was the 11th Premier of Victoria. He was one of the most radical and colourful figures in the politics of colonial Victoria, and made the most determin ...
, Premier of Victoria, Australia
* Sir
Henry Cole, museum founder
* Reverend
George Davys, tutor to Queen Victoria
*
Kenelm Digby, writer
* Lady Christiana Gayer, daughter of
Robert Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury
*
John Leech, cartoonist
* Sir
David Wilkie, artist.
Retail centre
Kensington High Street is one of western London's most popular shopping streets, with upmarket shops serving a wealthy area. From the late 19th century until the mid-1970s the street had three classic
department store
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appe ...
s:
Barkers of Kensington
Barkers of Kensington was a department store in Kensington High Street, Kensington, London.
It began as a small drapery business, John Barker & Company, founded by John Barker and James Whitehead in 1870.
Barkers grew rapidly to become one ...
,
Derry & Toms
Derry & Toms was a London department store that was founded in 1860 in Kensington High Street and was famous for its Roof Garden which opened in 1938. In 1973 the store was closed and became home to Big Biba, which closed in 1975. The site was ...
and
Pontings. Barkers bought Pontings in 1906 and Derry & Toms in 1920, but continued to run all three as separate entities. In a big building project which started in 1930 and was not complete until 1958 (the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
halted the project), the company made Derry & Toms and Barkers into
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...
palaces. On top of Derry & Toms, Europe's largest
roof garden area () was created, consisting of three different gardens with 500 species of plants, fountains, a stream, duck, flamingos and a restaurant – said to serve the best high tea in Kensington.
In 1957
House of Fraser
House of Fraser (also operating as Frasers) is a British department store group with 44 locations across the United Kingdom, which is now part of Frasers Group. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser. By 1891, it ...
bought the Barkers Group and started to dismantle it. Pontings was closed in 1971, Derry & Toms in 1973, and a much condensed Barkers (from over seven floors to on less than four floors) was allowed to continue until January 2006, when the 135-year-old department store was closed for good.
Part of the Barker premises has now been taken over by American
Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods Market IP, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon, is an upscale American multinational supermarket chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from hydrogenated fats and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. A ...
, which has opened the UK's first
organic
Organic may refer to:
* Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity
* Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ
Chemistry
* Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...
superstore there in June 2007.
The rest was added to existing office space used by the headquarters of
Associated Newspapers.
Kensington High Street was also the site of
Biba in the 1960s and early 1970s. When Derry & Toms closed, the iconic store took the building and accentuated its Art Deco style further. But the 1970s recession, coupled with idealistic business ideas, killed Biba in 1975. The Derry & Toms roof gardens still remain, now known as the
Kensington Roof Gardens
Kensington Roof Gardens (formerly known as Derry and Toms Roof Gardens and later The Roof Gardens) is a private roof garden covering on top of the former Derry & Toms building on Kensington High Street in central London.
Originally opened i ...
which
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Branson expressed ...
's
Virgin
Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
occupied as a tenant from 1981 to 2018.
Kensington High Street's future as a shopping street has been threatened by the large
Westfield London
Westfield London is a large shopping centre in White City, west London, England, developed by the Westfield Group at a cost of £1.6bn,
on a brownfield site formerly the home of the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition. The site is bounded by the W ...
, which opened a short distance away in
Shepherd's Bush
Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan.
Although primarily residential in character ...
in late 2008. However, these factors may be offset to some extent – or even outweighed – by recent changes to the road layout, intended to make the street a more pleasant place to shop. The
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
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 ...
decided to experiment with the concept of
shared space
Shared space is an urban design approach that minimises the segregation between modes of road user. This is done by removing features such as kerbs, road surface markings, traffic signs, and traffic lights. Hans Monderman and others have sugg ...
, which deputy leader Daniel Moylan had studied abroad. Railings and pedestrian crossings were removed, thereby enabling pedestrians to cross the street wherever they choose. Bicycle racks were placed on the central reservation. The effect over two years was a dramatic cut in accidents, down 44% against a London average of 17%.
Kensington High Street is also home to a large part of the British
music industry
The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...
, with the UK offices of
major labels
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
such as
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
,
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...
,
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and th ...
and
EMI all situated in the area. The only
Bristol Cars
Bristol Cars were manufacturers of hand-built luxury cars headquartered in Bristol, England. After being placed in receivership and being taken over in 2011, it entered liquidation in February 2020.
After the Second World War, the car division ...
dealership in all of the UK is located on this street as well.
Furthermore, the second
Kahn Design boutique in London is also located on this street.
It is also the site of the former
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
Pro-Cathedral of England,
Our Lady of Victories, now a parish church;
Kensington Arcade
The Kensington Arcade is a shopping centre in Kensington, London, England. It is located on Kensington High Street. The entrance to High Street Kensington tube station is within The Kensington Arcade.
History
In August 2000 it was revealed that ...
; and a building housing the
Consulate of Romania and the
Embassy of Paraguay.
Transport links
Kensington High Street is served by bus routes
9,
23,
27,
28,
49,
52,
70,
328
__NOTOC__
Year 328 ( CCCXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Ianuarinus and Iustus (or, less frequently, year 1081 ' ...
,
452
__NOTOC__
Year 452 ( CDLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Herculanus and Sporacius (or, less frequently, year 1205 ' ...
,
C1, night routes
N9,
N27,
N28,
N31 and
Greenline routes 701 and 702. It is also served by
High Street Kensington Underground station, on the
Circle
A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is cons ...
and
District
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...
lines.
References
External links
Kensington High Street websiteThe story of John Barker & Co Ltd, Kensington, London from Michael Moss and Alison Turton, ''A Legend of Retailing: House of Fraser'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1989.
Remembering Barkers of Kensington 1870–2006Images from the Barker & Co archives
{{Areas of London
Streets in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Shopping streets in London
Art Deco architecture in London
Major centres of London
High Street