Kensington Church Street is a shopping street in Kensington, London, England, designated the A4204, and traditionally known for its art and antiques shops. Buildings at the southern end date back to the early 1700s. It is named after Kensington's original church of

St Mary Abbots St Mary Abbots is a church located on Kensington High Street and the corner of Kensington Church Street in London W8. The present church structure was built in 1872 to the designs of Sir George Gilbert Scott, who combined neo-Gothic and early- ...

. The south part was formerly called Church Lane, and the north part, Silver Street. Until 1864 there was a

toll gate Toll Gate or Tollgate may refer to: * Toll gate, a barrier across a toll road or toll bridge that is lifted when the toll is paid Entertainment * "Tollgate" (Hale single) * ''The Toll-Gate'', a 1954 novel by Georgette Heyer * ''The Toll Gate'', ...

at Campden Street. The street runs north to south from

Notting Hill Gate Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares of Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically the street was a location for toll gates, from which it derives its modern name. Location At Ossington Street/Ke ...

Kensington High Street Kensington High Street is the main shopping street in Kensington, London, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Kensington High Street is the continuation of Kensington Road and part ...

. There are several Grade II listed Georgian and Victorian buildings. '' Time Out'' calls it "eccentrically posh".

Bombing

On the night of the 29th August 1975, Joseph O'Connell and Eddie Butler, members of the IRA's

Balcombe Street Gang The Balcombe Street Gang was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) active service unit (ASU) (also known as the Balcombe Street Four or the Balcombe Street Unit) who carried out a bombing campaign in southern England in the mid-1970s. The ...

placed a bomb in the doorway of a shoe shop. The bomb later exploded, killing

Roger Goad Roger Goad (1538–1610) was an English academic theologian, Provost of King's College, Cambridge, and three times Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. Life He was born at Horton, Buckinghamshire, and was educated at Eton College and ...

, an explosives officer with the Metropolitan Police who was attempting to defuse it.

Notable residents

The composer

Muzio Clementi Muzio Filippo Vincenzo Francesco Saverio Clementi (23 January 1752 – 10 March 1832) was an Italian composer, virtuoso pianist, pedagogue, conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer, who was mostly active in England. Encourag ...

lived at Number 128 from 1820 to 1823, and is commemorated with a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

In fiction

The street is mentioned several times in

The Napoleon of Notting Hill ''The Napoleon of Notting Hill'' is a novel written by G. K. Chesterton in 1904, set in a nearly unchanged London in 1984. Although the novel is set in the future, it is, in effect, set in an alternative reality of Chesterton's own period, wit ...

by G. K. Chesterton.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kensington Church Street Kensington Shopping streets in London Streets in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Odonyms referring to a building Odonyms referring to religion