Kensington is a small suburb of the New Zealand city of

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

, 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 simply as "The Flat". The suburb is a mix of industrial, retai ...

, to the south of the city centre. The suburb was named for the leafy London suburb, possibly by John Hyde Harris, 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 Princes Street () is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three quar ...

. 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 () is an area in the north-west of Glasgow in Scotland. A former independent burgh and the heart of an eponymous local authority ward, its territory is bisected by Maryhill Road, part of the A81 road which runs for a distance of ro ...

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 of mathematics (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.), it is given a more precise definition, which may inc ...

. 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 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, Roslyn, Maori Hill, 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, ...

. 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 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 numbered S ...

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, usi ...

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