West Kensington

“ Will you hold it feudally from the Provost of Hammersmith? You have only to do him homage by putting his left arm in his overcoat and then marching home in state."
"No, your Majesty; I'd rather not," said the Provost of West Kensington, who was a pale young man with a fair moustache and whiskers, who kept a successful dairy.
The King struck him heartily on the shoulder.
"The fierce old West Kensington blood," he said; "they are not wise who ask it to do homage." ”

“ He was scientific, and believed in his own powers as he believed in nothing else on earth. He had achieved some sort of success. It was not what he had hoped for; still, it was a living. It gave him food and raiment and a small bachelor flat—he was a bachelor, all self-made men are—in a spot that was Kensington, albeit West Kensington. ”

“ It can hardly be seen at all in summer on account of the extent of the grounds of 55 acres stretching around it, and making it a country place in the midst of a town. It has the largest private grounds of any house in London, not excepting Buckingham Palace, yet from the road all that can be seen is a rather dreary field. Oddly enough, there is a considerable hill on the west, though no trace of this hill is to be found in Kensington Road; it is, however, the same fall that affects Holland Park Avenue on the north. ”

“ Those who best know the character of modern Kensington are best able to appreciate the difficulty there is of gathering a strong evening congregation. With his previous successful experience at Exeter so fresh in his memory, it is no wonder that Mr. Symes felt, even more acutely than many do who are called to minister in the West of London, this grave discouragement to the preacher. ”

“ It is rather interesting to read the summary of John Timbs, F.S.A., writing so late as 1867: "Kensington, a mile and a half west of Hyde Park Corner, contains the hamlets of Brompton, Earl's Court, the Gravel Pits, and part of Little Chelsea, now West Brompton, but the Royal Palace and about twenty other houses north of the road are in the parish of St. Margaret's, Westminster." He adds that Brompton has long been frequented by invalids on account of its genial air. Faulkner, the local historian of all South-West London, speaks of the "delightful fruit-gardens of Brompton and Earl's Court." ”

“ The interior is disappointing, but there is a fine eastern window, divided by a transom, and having seven compartments above and below. Quite at the northern end of Holland Road is the modern church of St. John the Baptist; the interior is all of white stone, and the effect is very good. [Pg 86] There is a rose window at the west end, and a carved stone chancel screen of great height. The church ends in an apse, and has a massive stone reredos set with coloured panels representing the saints. All this part of Kensington which lies to the west of Addison Road is very modern. ”

“ She married Sir W. Cornwallis, and left one daughter, Anne, who married Archibald, Earl of Argyll, who joined with her in selling the manor to Sir Walter Cope in 1609. Sir Walter Cope had thus held at one time or another the whole of Kensington. He now possessed Earl's Court, West Town, and Abbot's Manor, having sold Notting Barns some time before. His daughter and heiress married Sir Henry Rich, younger son of the first Earl of Warwick. Further details are given in the account of Holland House (p. 76) . ”

“ Kensal Green, a cemetery in the NW. of London; celebrated as the burial-place of many eminent men, Thackeray in chief.
Kensington (166) , a West London parish, in which stand the Palace (Queen Victoria's birthplace) , the Albert Memorial and Hall, South Kensington Museum, the Royal College of Music, the Imperial Institute, and many other institutions: contains also Holland House, and has long been the place of residence of notably artistic and literary men. ”

“ The backs of the houses in Latimer Road are seen across the common on the west; these houses, however, lie without the Kensington boundary line. A road called St. Helen's Gardens bounds the common on the east, and leads to St. Helen's Church, which is a severely plain red-brick building. North of St. Quintin Avenue is another great stretch of common, and at its south-eastern [Pg 92] corner lies St. Charles's Square. The square was named after St. Charles's College, a Roman Catholic establishment, which forms an imposing mass at the east side. ”

“ The Kensington Gardens form one of the many beautiful public parks of London. They are located in the Kensington parish, a western suburb of the city, lying north of the Thames and four miles west-southwest of St. Paul's. In his poem Arnold contrasts the serenity of nature with the restlessness of modern life. "Not Lucan, not Vergil, only Wordsworth, has more beautifully expressed the spirit of Pantheism."—HERBERT W. PAUL.
4. The pine trees here mentioned are since dead.
14. What endless active life! Compare with Arnold's sonnet of this volume, entitled Quiet Work, ll. ”

“ John Cull, curate of Knightsbridge, and Martha Turner, by Mr. Yearwood.
Mr. Cull was minister here twelve years. He died in 1683, and was buried at Kensington on the 21st September.
1682, Dec. 24. Sir John Hatton and Mary Hinton.
1683, July 3rd. Heale Hooke, Baronet, and Hester Underhill by Seyward of Kensington.
Sir Hele Hooke, for many years a resident in Kensington Square, died there in July, 1712, by which the title became extinct. Mr. Seward was curate there. (See Faulkner’s “History of Kensington.”)
1685, Sept. 12. David Gunter and Eliz. West. ”

“ Argyll terrace,
Foxley road, Kensington.
1 Woolf Mrs
2 Downing Mrs
3 Lamborn Mrs
4 Exton Miss
5 Dumbrell Charles
6 Jamieson Miss
8 Eckstein Mrs
Arthur mews,
London street, Paddington. Hall J., veterinary surgeon
Pickman J., job master
Rowe J. & Co. gas engineers
Arundel gardens,
Kensington park road, Kensington park.
1 Evans George
3 Paitch George
4 Elliott Mrs
5 Fry Thomas Henry
6 Fitzpatrick John
7 Welby Daniel
8 Thornicroft Thomas
9 Christie Jas. Robert
11 Fitzhugh Wm. Henry
12 Boddom Col. ”

“ The font, a handsome marble basin, stands in the north aisle. Near it is a marble bust of Dr. Rennell, a former vicar of Kensington, by Chantrey. In the north chapel there is a large marble tablet to the memory of William Murray, third son of the Earl of Dunmore. The pulpit is of dark carved oak, and stood in the old church. The west porch is very handsomely ornamented with stonework. In the churchyard are buried several persons of note, including Mrs. ”

“ At any time the destruction that had already singed the northwestern borders of the metropolis, and had annihilated Ealing and Kilburn, might strike among these houses and leave them smoking ruins. It was a city condemned and derelict....
In South Kensington the streets were clear of dead and of black powder. It was near South Kensington that I first heard the howling. It crept almost imperceptibly upon my senses. It was a sobbing alternation of two notes, "Ulla, ulla, ulla, ulla," keeping on perpetually. ”

“ Extensive grounds at Earl’s Court are open from time to time for various exhibitions. Further notable buildings in Kensington are the town-hall and free library in High Street, which is also much frequented for its excellent shops, and the Brompton Consumption Hospital, Fulham Road. In Holland Park Road is the house of Lord Leighton (d. 1896) , given to the nation, and open, with its art collection, to the public.
Kensington is a suffragan bishopric in the diocese of London. The parliamentary borough of Kensington has north and south divisions, each returning one member. ”

“ There was a Kensington world (I am writing of twenty years ago) somewhat apart from the big uneasy world surging beyond the turnpike—a world of neighbours bound together by the old winding streets and narrow corners in a community of venerable elm-trees and traditions that are almost levelled away. Mr. Awl, the bootmaker, in High Street, exhibited peculiar walking-shoes long after high-heels and kid brodekins had come into fashion in the metropolis. The last time I was in his shop I saw a pair of the old-fashioned, flat, sandalled shoes, directed to Miss Vieuxtemps, in Palace Green. ”

“ And now we have traversed Kensington from end to end, and in so doing have come across many notable men and many fair women. Kensington is royal among suburbs on account of its Palace, and its annals include history as well as the anecdotes of great men. Yet though old associations live in name and tradition, none of the buildings, as at present standing, date back further than the older parts of Holland House and Kensington Palace, and the greater part are much more modern. ”

“ Warwick square, Kensington.
1 Phillips David, Warwick lodge
2 Noble James, Florence villa
3 Jalland William Epsom, Clarendon house
4 King Miss, Clare Lodge
5 Gilbert Rev. Wm. Henry Long, M.A., Chichester lodge
6 Ledger Edward, Vernon house Wesleyan Chapel—Revs. G. Maunder & D. C. Ingram, ministers
Warwick place,
Warwick road, Maida hill.
1 Field William, fruiterer
2 Kershaw Benjamin, grocer
1a MARTIN JOHN, builder, upholsterer, and undertaker
4 Welford & Son, dairyman
5 Lowe Edward, baker
6 Mandy Mrs., Warwick Castle
7 O’Connell Peter, tailor
8 Cox Mrs
Warwick road,
Kensington road. ”

“ Such a disproportion between outlay and outcome has led some to regard South Kensington as a peculiarly fortunate institution; but there has been no luck in its history. Success, as Friar Bacon reminds us, is a flower that implies a soil of many virtues. If magnificent collections and invaluable separate donations have steadily streamed to this museum, so that its buildings are unceasingly expanding for their reception, it is because the law of such things is to seek such protection and fulfil such uses as individuals can rarely provide for them. ”

“ Harrington Elizabeth, Countess of, & Stanhope Lady Geraldine, Harrington house
14 Antrobus Edmund Edw.
15 Moore George
15a Carthew Peter
16 Sperling John
17 De Bergue Charles
18 Reuter Julius
19 Harcourt Hon. Mrs Vernn
20 Leech Mrs
21 Larnach Donald
22 Ingram Mrs
23 Moses Isaac
24 Hastings Lord
25 Greene Benjamin Buck
26 Heywood James F.R.S.
Kensington palace green.
3 Clark C.
Kensington park gardens,
Kensington park road, Notting hill. ”

“ Little Dolly Vanborough, Lady Sarah's niece, thought each special hour had its voice. The church clock is silent now, but the rooks caw on undisturbed from one spring to another in the Old Kensington suburb. There are tranquil corners still, and sunny silent nooks, and ivy wreaths growing in the western sun; and jessamines and vine-trees, planted by a former generation, spreading along the old garden-walls. But every year the shabby stream of progress rises and engulfs one relic or another, carrying off many and many a landmark and memory. ”

“ The Church has been distinguished for its readiness of adjustment to new opportunities and occasions. The development of modern London has drawn Kensington from its position of a secluded proximity to the City, into actual organic union with it. All the problems of London to-day are ours. We are no longer outside of it. Our life is Metropolitan. The change has been faced by the Church with a frank recognition and a cheerful courage. ”

“ Nothing but old saucepans and tannin—or worse—as signs of modern civilization.
‘But how fine it is to have iron skewers for our fences; and no trespassing, (except by lords of the manor on poor men’s ground,) and pretty legs exhibited where they can be so without impropriety, [98] and with due advertisement to the public beforehand; and iron legs to our chairs, also, in the style of Kensington!’ Doubtless; but considering that Kensington is a school of natural Science as well as Art, it seems to me that these Kirby representations of the Ophidia are slightly vague. ”

“ The winter came closing in, and the snow fell thick upon the lanes and the gardens, on the Kensington house-tops and laurel-trees, on the old church tower, and the curate's well-worn waterproof cape, as he trudged to and fro. It fell on the old garden walls and slanting roof of Church House, with little Dolly, safe sheltered within, warming herself by the baked Dutch tiles. ”

“ Many new attendants gradually sought sittings on the old spot; some of them long since entered a better world and a better Church, and others still remain, who kindly greet the retired shepherd whenever, happily for himself, he comes in their way.
It may be mentioned that Kensington, on many accounts, has long been a favourite place of residence for artists and literary men, and a few of these became some occasional, others regular hearers. ”

“ Dolly's heart beat at the thought of her mother's return. But meanwhile she was very happy. Robert used to come not unfrequently. Rhoda liked coming when he was there; they would all go out when dinner was over, and sit upon the terrace and watch the sun setting calmly behind the medlar-tree and the old beech walk. Kensington has special tranquil hours of its own, happy jumbles of old bricks and sunset. The pigeons would come from next door with a whirr, and with round breasts shining in the light; the ivy-leaves stood out green and crisp ”

“ The heart and core of Kensington is the district gathered around Kensington Square; this is the most redolent of interesting memories, from the days when the maids of honour lived in it to the present time, and in itself has furnished material for many a book. Close by in Young Street lived Thackeray, and the Square figures many times in his works. Further northward the Palace and Gardens are closely associated with the lives of our kings, from William III. onward. Northward above Notting Hill is a very poor district, poor enough to rival many an East-End parish. ”