63-577: Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth , running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark , a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between the Lambeth and St George's parishes of those boroughs respectively. It is located 1.4 miles (2.3 km) south of Charing Cross in Inner London and
126-402: A Conservation Area in 1968, the boundary of which was extended in 1979 and in 1997. Lambeth Council's emphasis on conserving and protecting Kennington's architectural heritage and enhancing its attractive open spaces for recreation and leisure is illustrated by restoration of the centre of the listed Cleaver Square in the last decade of the twentieth century. Originally grassed over in the 1790s,
189-723: A Neo-Georgian style. In 1922, Lambeth Hospital on Brook Drive was created from a former workhouse. Under the control of the London County Council, Lambeth Hospital, which had a capacity of 1,250 patients in 1939, was one of the largest hospitals in London. After the National Health Service was formed, Lambeth Hospital became an acute general hospital. In 1976, the North Wing of St. Thomas' Hospital opened; services transferred there, and Lambeth Hospital
252-464: A higher title in one of the other peerages are listed in italics . The ranks of the peerage are Duke , Marquess , Earl , Viscount , and Baron . Marquesses, earls, viscounts and barons are all addressed as 'Lord X', where 'X' represents either their territory or surname pertaining to their title. Marchionesses, countesses, viscountesses and baronesses are all addressed as 'Lady X'. Dukes and duchesses are addressed just as 'Duke' or 'Duchess' or, in
315-498: A morass of such intolerable poverty that they unite instinctively to save those known to them from falling into it". In an initiative to improve the district, from 1915, the Duchy of Cornwall set about an ambitious project to redevelop land. Courtenay Square, Courtenay Street, Cardigan Street, Denny Street and Denny Crescent were laid out to a design by architects Stanley Davenport Adshead , Stanley Churchill Ramsay and JD Coleridge, in
378-585: A new borough formed from the Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth and six wards and portions of two others from the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth. In the 2016 European Union referendum , Lambeth had the highest share of Remain votes in the United Kingdom at 78.62%, second to overseas territory Gibraltar 's 95.9%. Lambeth is a long, thin borough, about three miles (five kilometres) wide and seven miles (eleven kilometres) long. Brixton
441-674: A number of pubs and some bars. There are two theatres in Kennington: the White Bear Theatre and the Oval House Theatre and the area has an active residents' association called the Kennington Association. The Friends of Kennington Park is a local organisation, involved with the promotion of Kennington Park as a valuable resource for the community. Kennington is also home of The Cinema Museum –
504-530: A place for executions, a Speakers' Corner for public gatherings for political and religious purposes, and a place for entertainment and sporting events. London Borough of Lambeth Lambeth ( / ˈ l æ m b ə θ / ) is a London borough in South London , England , which forms part of Inner London . Its name was recorded in 1062 as Lambehitha ("landing place for lambs") and in 1255 as Lambeth . The geographical centre of London
567-500: A popular local venue for watching films and learning about the history of cinema. A weekly farmers' market takes place on a Saturday from about 10 am to 3 pm at St. Mark's Church opposite Oval tube station . The distillery of Beefeater Gin – the only premium gin still distilled in London – is situated in Montford Place, Kennington. The City and Guilds of London Art School , one of the longest-established art colleges in
630-536: A substantial property portfolio within the area. The eighteenth century saw considerable development in Kennington. At the start of the century, the area was essentially a village on the southern roads into London, with a common on which public executions took place. In 1746, Francis Towneley and eight men who had taken part in the Jacobite rising were hanged, drawn and quartered at Kennington Common. The area
693-418: A week for a moderate family". The map shows that there existed in the district a great disparity of wealth and comfort between near-neighbours. Two social forces were at work in Kennington at different times during the twentieth century: decline, and – later – gentrification. Decline began in the early part of the twentieth century. Middle-class households ceased to employ servants and no longer sought
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#1732773218654756-464: Is a fine example of the Gothic Revival style. The library was a gift to the people of Kennington from Jemina Durning Smith. A men's public convenience, which had been built opposite in 1898, is now preserved as an arts venue and is likely to have been used by a young Charlie Chaplin who writes in his autobiography of a night when he was locked out of the family room and listened all night to
819-583: Is also twinned with Bluefields , Nicaragua ; Brooklyn , New York; and Spanish Town , Jamaica. The borough's coat of arms is that of the former Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth , with two gold stars (mullets) in the second and third quarters of the shield indicating the addition of the districts of Clapham and Streatham . Its motto is " Spectemur agendo " ("Let us be judged according to our conduct"). Peerage of Great Britain The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in
882-519: Is at Frazier Street near Lambeth North tube station , though nearby Charing Cross on the other side of the Thames in the City of Westminster is traditionally considered the centre of London. The area of the modern borough had historically been part of the county of Surrey , and generally corresponds to the three ancient parishes of Lambeth , Clapham and Streatham . The parish of Lambeth included
945-628: Is essentially a multi-ethnic area with a mixed and varied population, all falling within different geodemographic strands. The area attracts young and affluent incomers who fall within the ABC1 demographic strand of the NRS social grade spectrum. Kennington is within the Division bell zone for the Houses of Parliament . This means that, at least in theory, it is within eight minutes from the division lobbies of
1008-489: Is identified as a local centre in the London Plan . It was a royal manor in the parish of St Mary, Lambeth in the county of Surrey and was the administrative centre of the parish from 1853. Proximity to central London was key to the development of the area as a residential suburb and it was incorporated into the metropolitan area of London in 1855. Kennington is the location of three significant London landmarks:
1071-457: Is its civic centre, and there are other town centres. The largest shopping areas are (in order of size) Streatham , Brixton , Vauxhall , Clapham and West Norwood . In the northern part of the borough are the central London districts of the South Bank , Vauxhall and Lambeth ; in the south are the suburbs of Gipsy Hill , Streatham , West Dulwich and West Norwood . In between are
1134-502: Is now in the London Borough of Southwark. The poverty map of London, created by Charles Booth in 1898–99, identifies a mixture of classifications for the streets of the district; Kennington Park Road, for example, corresponds with the description "Middle class. Well-to-do". Most streets are classified as "Mixed. Some comfortable, others poor". There are also several scattered streets which are considered to be "Poor. 18s. to 21s.
1197-620: Is that it means "place of the King", or "town of the King". The presence of a tumulus , and other locally significant geographical features, suggest that the area was regarded in ancient times as a sacred place of assembly. According to the Domesday Book it was held by Teodric (Theodoric) the Goldsmith . It contained: 1 hide and 3 virgates ; 3 ploughs , 4 acres (16,000 m) of meadow . It rendered £3 annually. The manor of Kennington
1260-593: Is the home of Surrey County Cricket. The Basaveshwara statue at the Albert Embankment erected by the former Mayor of Lambeth Neeraj Patil was unveiled by the Prime Minister of India on 14 November 2015. The local authority is Lambeth Council, which meets at Lambeth Town Hall in the Brixton area of the borough and has its main offices at the nearby Civic Centre. Since 2000, for elections to
1323-654: The House of Lords . Some peerages of Great Britain were created for peers in the Peerage of Scotland and Peerage of Ireland as they did not have an automatic seat in the House of Lords until the Peerage Act 1963 which gave Scottish Peers an automatic right to sit in the Lords. In the following table of peers of Great Britain, holders of higher or equal titles in the other peerages are listed. Those peers who are known by
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#17327732186541386-584: The Kingdom of Great Britain between the Acts of Union 1707 and the Acts of Union 1800 . It replaced the Peerage of England and the Peerage of Scotland , but was itself replaced by the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1801. The ranks of the Peerage of Great Britain are Duke , Marquess , Earl , Viscount and Baron . Until the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999 , all peers of Great Britain could sit in
1449-566: The London Assembly , the borough forms part of the Lambeth and Southwark constituency. The borough has three Parliamentary constituencies: Dulwich and West Norwood (shared with Southwark ), Streatham , and Vauxhall . Lambeth is the local authority with the highest relative gay or lesbian population in the UK, at 5.5%, with the borough containing the gay village of Vauxhall and
1512-797: The South Bank , a tourist area has developed around the former Greater London Council headquarters of County Hall and the Southbank Centre and National Theatre . Also on the river is the London Eye and Shell Centre . Nearby is St Thomas' Hospital , Lambeth Palace and the Florence Nightingale Museum . Nearby is Brixton , home of Lambeth Town Hall and the Brixton Murals . Landmark church buildings include: The Oval cricket ground in Kennington
1575-486: The 1770s, the development of Kennington into its modern form was well underway. Terraces of houses were built on the east side of Kennington Road and Cleaver Square (then called Prince's Square) was laid out in 1788. Michael Searles , architect and developer, built semi-detached houses along Kennington Park Road in the 1790s. A fraudster from Camberwell , named Badger, was the last person to be hanged at Kennington Common, in 1799. The modern street pattern of Kennington
1638-490: The 1920s St. Mark's became known as the "tramwayman's church", and Kennington was referred to as the " Clapham Junction of the southern roads". By 1926, construction of the Belgrave Hospital for Children , designed by Henry Percy Adams and Charles Holden , was complete. The hospital was subsumed within the King's College Hospital Group and closed in 1985. It was restored and converted to apartments in 1994. In
1701-456: The 1930s, the Duchy of Cornwall continued to redevelop its estate in the district and employed architect Louis de Soissons to design a number of buildings in a Neo-Georgian style. On 15 October 1940, the large trench air-raid shelter beneath Kennington Park was struck by a 50 lb bomb. The number of people killed remains unknown; it is believed by local historians that 104 people died. Forty-eight bodies were recovered. The Brandon Estate
1764-488: The Black Prince in 1337, and the prince then built a large royal palace in the triangle formed by Kennington Lane, Sancroft Street and Cardigan Street, near to Kennington Cross. In 1377, according to John Stow , John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster came to Kennington to escape the fury of the people of London . Geoffrey Chaucer was employed at Kennington as Clerk of Works in 1389. He was paid 2 shillings. Kennington
1827-672: The Divine, Kennington , which was to be described by the poet John Betjeman as "the most magnificent church in South London", was designed by George Edmund Street (architect of the Royal Courts of Justice on Strand, London ), and was built between 1871 and 1874. The Durning Library , at Kennington Cross , was designed in 1889 by S. Sidney R. J. Smith, architect of the Tate Gallery (as it then was; now Tate Britain ), and
1890-573: The Houses of Parliament. A large number of members of parliament and civil servants live within the area. An article in The Sunday Times described Kennington as "the politicians' enclave across the Thames from Westminster"; and The Times observed that "Kennington ... is the suburb that has featured the most in the MPs' expenses scandal. Hazel Blears and Alistair Darling are only two of
1953-617: The London Underground, metro, light rail or tram (21.4 percent of residents aged 16–74); bus, minibus or coach (10 percent); train (10 percent); automobile (8.6 percent); bicycle (5.7 percent), or walking (5.4 percent). A small percentage (3.2 percent) worked mainly at—or from—home. The former Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth and its successor have been twinned with the Vincennes district of Paris in France since 1955. Lambeth
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2016-490: The MP since December 2019. It is within the Lambeth and Southwark London Assembly constituency. Kennington has no official boundaries but the ancient manorial boundaries are easily discerned and for historical purposes, this article has confined itself to them although estate agents use the term more loosely so as to promote any particular property they wish to act in disposal of, and modern classifications of which areas fall within
2079-661: The Oval cricket ground, the Imperial War Museum , and Kennington Park . Its population at the United Kingdom Census 2011 was 15,106. Kennington appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Chenintune . It is recorded as Kenintone in 1229 and Kenyngton in 1263. Mills (2001) believes the name to be Old English meaning "farmstead or estate associated with a man called Cēna". Another explanation
2142-603: The archiepiscopal Lambeth Palace , and formed part of the Hundred of Brixton . It was an elongated north–south parish with two miles (three kilometres) of River Thames frontage opposite the cities of London and Westminster . Lambeth became part of the Metropolitan Police District in 1829. From 1856 the area of the modern borough was governed by the Metropolitan Board of Works , which
2205-524: The area around Clapham Common. The borough covers London Waterloo railway station , the Waterloo tube station network and (until 2007) the London terminus for Eurostar . National Rail service in Lambeth is provided by South Western Railway , Southeastern , Southern , Thameslink and London Overground . In March 2011, the primary forms of transport borough residents used to travel to work were
2268-406: The centre of Cleaver Square had by the 1870s become a garden circumscribed by a formal path, but by 1898 it had been cultivated as a nursery with greenhouses. In 1927 the centre of Cleaver Square was acquired by the London County Council to forestall a proposal to build on it, and more trees were then planted and the garden was gravelled over as a recreation ground. During the war years, in particular,
2331-542: The church was opened by the Archbishop of Canterbury . In 1852, at the initiative of the minister of St. Mark's Church, the Common was enclosed and became the first public park in south London. Pockets of land between the main roads were built upon in the early nineteenth century. Walcot Square and St Mary's Gardens were laid out in the 1830s on land formerly used as a market garden. Imperial Court, on Kennington Lane,
2394-577: The class of family for whom they had first been built"; and "Chambers London Gazetteer" observes the "reuniting of formerly subdivided properties" as "decline is being reversed". It is difficult to identify a single defining reason for this change. The principal factors are location and transport. The good architectural and structural quality of many properties in Kennington ;– characterised by Georgian and Victorian terraces of yellow London stock brick , typically three storeys or higher, fronting
2457-511: The country, has been at Kennington Park Road since 1879. Kennington in literature and film Kennington Park , laid out by Victorian architect James Pennethorne , and St Mark's Churchyard now cover the site of Kennington Common. The Park was originally designated one of the Royal Parks of London (today, management of the Park is undertaken by Lambeth Council). The Park, historically, was
2520-462: The developed and inner-city districts of Brixton , Brixton Hill , Streatham Hill , Clapham , Clapham Park , Herne Hill , Stockwell , Tulse Hill and Kennington , each at different stages of gentrification with suburban and urban elements. Vauxhall and South Lambeth are central districts in the process of redevelopment with high-density business and residential property. Streatham lies between suburban London and inner-city Brixton , with
2583-631: The district vary. The modern layout of Kennington reflects development as a linear settlement . Within the London post town , the postcode district for Kennington is SE11. The SE11 postcode captures most of the district, although the peripheries of Kennington are within the SE17, SE1, SW8 and SW9 postcodes. The south-western part of the district – Kennington Oval – protrudes towards Vauxhall. Nearest places: Vauxhall , Waterloo , Walworth , Newington (usually known as Elephant and Castle ), Stockwell , Camberwell , Brixton , and Lambeth North . Kennington
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2646-409: The eighteenth century, by the nineteenth century, the Common was no longer used for grazing cattle and other agricultural purposes. It became a rubbish dump, a meeting place for radical crowds and an embarrassment to the area. Common rights were extinguished over one corner of the land and in 1824, St. Mark's Church was built on the site of the gallows. One of the four "Waterloo Churches" of south London,
2709-478: The government was drafting the boundaries for the London boroughs in the early 1960s, it initially suggested that the Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth and the Metropolitan Borough of Southwark be merged into a new borough; the southern and eastern sections of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth (including Clapham , Streatham and Tooting ) would form another. South Shields town clerk R.S. Young
2772-404: The large houses of Kennington, preferring the suburbs of outer London. Houses in Kennington were suited to multiple occupation and were divided into flats and bedsits, providing cheap lodgings for lower-paid workers. Kennington ceased to be the administrative centre for the Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth (as it then was) in 1908. The Old Town Hall , built on Kennington Road as a vestry hall for
2835-614: The local parish, was not large enough for the Council to properly carry out its functions and a new town hall was built in Brixton. The Old Town Hall was the registered office of the Countryside Alliance until September 2015. In 1913, Maud Pember Reeves selected Kennington for Round About a Pound a Week , which was a survey of social conditions in the district. She found "respectable but very poor people [who] live over
2898-548: The lower tier was reorganised into metropolitan boroughs . The parish of Lambeth became the Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth , and the old Wandsworth District became the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth . The modern London borough was created in 1965 under the London Government Act 1963 . It was a merger of the old borough of Lambeth and the Clapham and Streatham areas from the old Wandsworth borough. When
2961-592: The main roads and squares – has unquestionably contributed to the gentrification of the area. Nevertheless, a significant proportion of housing in the area is council-owned, including some council estates adjacent to Kennington Lane, leading up to Elephant and Castle, and around the Kennington Park area. In the twenty-first century there has been an ongoing programme by Lambeth Council of upgrading its stock of housing and in many cases improving its external appearance. The area's varied social texture demonstrates
3024-405: The ministers with Kennington second homes". Kennington Road and Kennington Lane, south of Kennington Cross, could properly be described as the "shopping area" of Kennington. This area is identified as a "Local Centre" in the London Plan . There is a range of local shops, restaurants, cafés and estate agents, and there is a post office. There is a Tesco supermarket on Kennington Lane. The area has
3087-491: The music in the newly opened White Hart pub, now The Tommyfield. When his mother fell on hard times he was taken with his brother Sydney to another Kennington landmark the old Lambeth Workhouse now the home of the Cinema Museum . Kennington station was opened as "Kennington (New Street)" in 1890 by the City of London and Southwark Subway, but is in fact on the boundary of Newington, Surrey and Kennington and as such
3150-490: The other empty properties and established a Rastafari temple. The street became London's longest-running squat. From 1977, Lambeth Council sought to evict the squatters and eventually succeeded at the High Court in 2005. The houses and the temple were declared to be unfit for human habitation and were pulled down in 2007. The Kennington Park Extension now covers much of the site. Lambeth Council designated much of Kennington
3213-671: The people of Kennington. In the summer months many people from Kennington and further afield play pétanque in the centre of the square. In recent years, Kennington has experienced gentrification , principally because of its location and good transport links to the West End and the City of London . In London: A Social History , Roy Porter describes how "Victorian villas in ... Kennington, long debased by use as lodging-houses, were transformed into luxury flats for young professionals or snips for first-time buyers – or were repossessed by
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#17327732186543276-568: The population mix. The local authority is Lambeth London Borough Council . Kennington is a standalone ward itself represented by three Labour Party councillors. Council elections take place every four years, with the next one scheduled in 2026. The Member of Parliament for the Vauxhall constituency, which includes Kennington, is currently the Labour Co-operative MP Florence Eshalomi , who has been
3339-498: The recreation area became somewhat derelict but during the 1950s Cleaver Square's inherent charm was recognised anew and its fortunes once more began to rise. In 1995, Lambeth Council resolved, with the backing of English Heritage, a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund , and donations from residents of Cleaver Square , to restore the centre of the square to provide once again an attractive and peaceful public space for
3402-732: The suburban and developed areas of Streatham , Streatham Hill and Streatham Vale . The London Borough of Southwark lies to the east of the Borough of Lambeth. To the west is the London Borough of Wandsworth ; to the south-west is the London Borough of Merton ; and to the south is the London Borough of Croydon and the London Borough of Bromley . Lambeth's open spaces include Brockwell Park and Lido , Streatham Common , half of Clapham Common , West Norwood Cemetery , Archbishop's Park , Norbury Park , Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens and Ruskin Larkhall and Kennington Parks . Along and around
3465-714: Was built in 1836 for the Licensed Victuallers' School . The first stone was laid by Viscount Melbourne , in the name of King William IV . The Oval cricket ground was leased to Surrey County Cricket Club from the Duchy of Cornwall in 1845, and the adjacent gasometers (themselves an international sporting landmark) were constructed in 1853. Dense building and the carving-up of large houses for multiple occupation caused Kennington to be "very seriously over-populated in 1859, when diphtheria appeared" (recorded by Karl Marx in Das Kapital ). The church of St John
3528-635: Was closed. A substantial part of the site has today been redeveloped for apartments, although some buildings are occupied by the Lambeth Community Care Centre. Kennington station was substantially remodelled in 1925 to accommodate the Charing Cross branch of the Northern line along with the improvements to the City and South London Railway to form the Northern line . Because tram and bus routes converged at Kennington, in
3591-510: Was commissioned to make final recommendations to the government on the shape of the future London boroughs, and he noted that the Wandsworth council opposed the partition of its borough. However, Wandsworth's suggestion to merge Lambeth with the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea was rejected by both councils involved. Young believed that residents of Clapham and Streatham would be more familiar with Brixton than with Wandsworth, and recommended
3654-419: Was divided from the manor of Vauxhall by the River Effra , a tributary of the River Thames . A smaller river, the River Neckinger , ran along the edge of the northern part of Kennington, approximately where Brook Drive is today (i.e. the brook) still forming the borough boundary. Both rivers have now been diverted into underground culverts. Edward III gave the manor of Kennington to his oldest son Edward
3717-402: Was endowed in 1962 by the London County Council with Reclining Figure No. 3 : a sculpture by Henry Moore . St Agnes Place was a street of mid-Victorian terraces built for the servants of Buckingham Palace . Lambeth Council had decided to demolish the street to extend Kennington Park and the houses were empty by the late 1960s. In 1969, squatters moved into one of the houses and later entered
3780-423: Was established to provide services across the metropolis of London. In 1889 the Metropolitan Board of Works' area was made the County of London . From 1856 until 1900 the lower tier of local government within the metropolis comprised various parish vestries and district boards ; the parish of Lambeth was governed by its vestry , whilst Clapham and Streatham were both included in the Wandsworth District . In 1900
3843-402: Was formed by the early nineteenth century. The village had become a semi-rural suburb with grand terraced houses. In the early nineteenth century, Kennington Common was a place of ill-repute. Various attempts were made by the Grand Surrey Canal to purchase the land to build a canal basin, but all of these failed. Because the area had been so rapidly developed and populated in the second half of
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#17327732186543906-448: Was significant enough, however, to be recognised in the Peerage of Great Britain and in 1726, the title Earl of Kennington was assumed by Prince William, Duke of Cumberland . The development of Kennington came about through access to London, which happened when, in 1750, Westminster Bridge was constructed. In 1751, Kennington Road was built from Kennington Common (as it then was; now Kennington Park) to Westminster Bridge Road. By
3969-528: Was the occasional residence of Henry IV and Henry VI . Henry VII was at Kennington before his coronation . Catherine of Aragon stayed at Kennington Palace in 1501. In 1531, at the order of King Henry VIII, most of Kennington Palace was dismantled, and the materials were used in the construction of the Palace of Whitehall . The historical manor of Kennington continues to be owned by the current monarch's elder son (the Prince of Wales , Duke of Cornwall: see Dukes of Cornwall ). The Duchy of Cornwall maintains
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