South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of
Central London in the
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is an Inner London, Inner London boroughs, London borough with Royal borough, royal status. It is the List of English districts by area, smallest borough in London and the second smallest Districts of ...
. Historically it settled on part of the scattered
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbourin ...
village of
Brompton.
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. The area has many museums and cultural landmarks with a high number of visitors, such as the
Natural History Museum
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more ...
, the
Science Museum
A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in ...
and the
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and ...
. Adjacent affluent centres such as
Knightsbridge
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.
Toponymy
Knightsbridge is an ancient ...
,
Chelsea and
Kensington, have been considered as some of the most exclusive real estate in the world.
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
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and ...
). To the north is the
Kensington Gore
Kensington Gore is the name of a U-shaped thoroughfare on the south side of Hyde Park in central London, England. The streets connect the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal College of Art, the Royal Geographical Society, and in Kensington Ga ...
, 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.
Modern development of the area is the result of the creation of the temporary ''
Albertopolis
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 is in South Kensington, split between the Royal Bor ...
'' reached by Exhibition Road, whose terrain now includes the
Natural History Museum
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more ...
, the
Geological Museum, the
Science Museum
A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in ...
, the Victoria and Albert Museum,
London Oratory
The London Oratory ("the Congregation of the Oratory of St Philip Neri in London") is a Catholic community of priests living under the rule of life established by its founder, Philip Neri (1515-1595). It is housed in an Oratory House, next to ...
and since 1915, the
Lycée Français. Other local institutions include the
Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum,
Polish Hearth Club, London
Goethe-Institut
The Goethe-Institut (, GI, en, Goethe Institute) is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange an ...
, the
Royal Albert Hall,
Imperial College London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a ...
, the
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
, the
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It of ...
, the
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...
and between 1903 and 1991, the
Royal College of Organists,
West London Air Terminal
The West London Air Terminal was a check-in facility for British European Airways flights from Heathrow Airport. It was located on Cromwell Road in Kensington, London, and was in operation from 6 October 1957 to 1 January 1974. After passenger ...
, the
Ismaili Centre, London and the late comer 1960s
Baden-Powell House some of which are administratively within the
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a city and borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of central Greater London, including most of the West En ...
, but considered to be "within range of South Kensington". Although the SW7
postcode mainly covers South Kensington, it goes into
Knightsbridge
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.
Toponymy
Knightsbridge is an ancient ...
. The only
Royal Mail Post Office in South Kensington closed in 2019.
History
Following the 1851
Great Exhibition
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took pl ...
in
Hyde Park, an 87-acre (352,000 m
2) area, west of what is now Exhibition Road, was purchased by the commissioners of the exhibition, in order to create a home for institutions dedicated to the arts and sciences, resulting in the foundation of the museums and of the technological university 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. 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 London. It was sealed by the arrival of the
Metropolitan
Metropolitan may refer to:
* Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories
* Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England
* Metropolitan county, a typ ...
and
District Railway
The Metropolitan District Railway, also known as the District Railway, was a passenger railway that served London from 1868 to 1933. Established in 1864 to complete an " inner circle" of lines connecting railway termini in London, the first par ...
s at Brompton, but for public relations reasons, it was 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
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buck ...
, the
West End
West End most commonly refers to:
* West End of London, an area of central London, England
* West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England
West End may also refer to:
Pl ...
and the
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
, but owing to under use, it was shut in 1934. During 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
it was used by the
26th (London) Anti-Aircraft Brigade
26th (London) Anti-Aircraft Brigade (26 AA Bde) was an Air Defence formation of the British Army during the Second World War. It defended London during the Blitz.
Origin
German air raids by Zeppelin airships and Gotha bombers on London and othe ...
.
Since the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...
it has become a cosmopolitan area attracting Belgian and French refugees, but also Poles during 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
and after, as well as latterly Spanish, Italian, 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, hosting the Ciné
Lumière and the
Alliance française
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
, as well as the Consulate General of France, not far from the
French Embassy in
Knightsbridge
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.
Toponymy
Knightsbridge is an ancient ...
, among other diplomatic residences. With a French bookshop and many international cafés in the area, it has been called "Paris's 21st arrondissement".
Iranian Embassy siege
In April and May 1980 a group of six
Iranian Arabs
Iranian Arabs ( ar, عرب إيران ''ʿArab Īrān''; fa, عربهای ايران ''Arabhāye Irān'') are the Arab inhabitants of Iran who speak Arabic as their native language. In 2008, Iranian Arabs comprised about 1.6 million peop ...
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
SAS or Sas may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers
* ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series
* Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...
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.
Places of worship
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
Alfred Pott (30 September 1822 – 28 February 1908) was an English churchman, Archdeacon of Berkshire from 1870 until 1903.
Life
Pott was educated at Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was president of the Oxford Union. He was ordaine ...
, vicar of the neighbouring Kensington parish.
It was followed by:
*
St Mary The Boltons (1849–1850)
*
All Saints' Church,
Ennismore Gardens (1849) by
Lewis Vulliamy; in 1978 this became the Russian Orthodox Dormition Cathedral
* The
Brompton Oratory (1853), an architecturally imposing
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 letter ...
church
*
St Paul's, Onslow Square (consecrated in 1860)
*
St Peter's,
Cranley Gardens (1866–1867), since 1973 the
Armenian cathedral in London
*
St Stephen's, Gloucester Road (1866–1867)
*
St Augustine's, Queen's Gate (1877), a "
High church
The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originat ...
project"
*
Holy Trinity Prince Consort Road (1899)
*
Deutsche Evangelische Christuskirche (1904–1905)
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
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is owned by Groupe Artémis, t ...
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.
Tim Waterstone opened his first eponymous
Waterstones
Waterstones, formerly Waterstone's, is a British book retailer that operates 311 shops, mainly in the United Kingdom and also other nearby countries. As of February 2014, it employs around 3,500 staff in the UK and Europe. An average-sized W ...
bookshop in 1982 in Old Brompton Road. It has given way to a
Little Waitrose.
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.
Supposed home of the Pencil Mark, a locally legendary solver of puzzles.
Notable residents
Residents have included:
*
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
(1909–1992), Irish-born British artist, lived at 17 Queensberry Mews and 7 Reese Mews.
*
Charles Booth (1840–1916), pioneer of social research, lived at 6 Grenville Place.
*
Henry Cole (1808–1882), campaigner, educator and first director of the South Kensington Museum (later the
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and ...
), inventor of the Christmas card, lived at 33 Thurloe Square.
*
Angela Delevingne
Angela Margo Hamar Delevingne (''née'' Greenwood; 8 July 1912 – 30 December 2014) was an English aristocrat and socialite. The daughter of Hamar Greenwood, 1st Viscount Greenwood, she was a prominent debutante in the late 1920s and was presen ...
(1912–2004), socialite, was born in South Kensington
*
Robert FitzRoy
Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy (5 July 1805 – 30 April 1865) was an English officer of the Royal Navy and a scientist. He achieved lasting fame as the captain of during Charles Darwin's famous voyage, FitzRoy's second expedition to Tierra d ...
(1805–1865), commander of
HMS Beagle, on board which the naturalist
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
(1809–1882) also sailed, lived at 38 Onslow Square.
*
Nicholas Freeman,
OBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
, (1939–1989) controversial Leader of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, lived in
Harrington Gardens
Harrington Gardens is a street which has a communal garden regionally sometimes known as a garden square in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. The street runs from Collingham Gardens and Collingham Road in the east to Glouces ...
.
*
Dennis Gabor (1900–1979), electrical engineer and physicist, most notable for inventing holography, 1971 Nobel Prize in Physics. Lived in No. 79, Queen's Gate.
*
Hyam Greenbaum
Hyam 'Bumps' Greenbaum (12 May 1901 – 13 May 1942) was an English conductor, violinist and composer, who, in 1936, became the world's first conductor of a television orchestra. He was friendly with many of his English music contemporaries, incl ...
(conductor) and
Sidonie Goossens
Annie Sidonie Goossens OBE (19 October 1899 – 15 December 2004) was one of Britain's most enduring harpists. She made her professional debut in 1921, was a founder member of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and went on to play for more than half ...
(harpist) lived at 5, Wetherby Gardens from the beginning of 1929.
*
Benny Hill (1924–1992), comedian, lived at 1 & 2 Queen's Gate.
*
John Lavery
Sir John Lavery (20 March 1856 – 10 January 1941) was a Northern Irish painter best known for his portraits and wartime depictions.
Life and career
John Lavery was born in inner North Belfast, baptised at St Patrick's Church, Belfast a ...
(1856-1951), Irish painter, lived at 5 Cromwell Place.
*
Erna Low
Erna Low (28 July 1909 – 12 February 2002) was an Austrian Jewish businesswoman who settled in England and is best known for her work in the ski travel industry.
Low has been cited as a pioneer in the development of the package holiday and ...
(1909–2002), Vienna-born businesswoman who pioneered the
package holiday, lived in Reece Mews.
*
Clementina Maude, Viscountess Hawarden, Victorian photographer, lived from 1859 until her death in 1865 at 5 Princes Gardens.
*
William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his Satire, satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel ''Vanity Fair (novel), Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portra ...
(1811–1863), novelist, lived at 36 Onslow Square from 1853 to 1860.
William Makepeace Thackeray: 1853 — Onslow Square, London
, University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...
Libraries.
* Herbert Beerbohm Tree (1853–1917), actor-manager, lived at 31 Rosary Gardens.
* George Wallis, FSA, (1811–1891), artist, museum curator and art educator, first Keeper of Fine Art Collection at South Kensington Museum.
**His children, including Whitworth Wallis and Rosa Wallis
Nearby places
* Brompton
* Chelsea
* Earls Court
* Kensington
*Knightsbridge
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.
Toponymy
Knightsbridge is an ancient ...
References
External links
*
What's on in South Kensington – the home of science, arts and inspiration
South Kensington Web site
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Web site
City of Westminster Web site
Exploring South Kensington
Architecture and history
{{authority control
South Kensington
Areas of London
Districts of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Districts of the City of Westminster
District centres of London