Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for KENNINGTON

KENNINGTON, a metropolitan suburb, an ecclesiastical parish, several chapelries, and two sub-districts, in Lambeth parish, borough, and district, Surrey. The suburb forms part of the S side of the metropolis; lies between the Thames and Walworth, and between Newington and Brixton, adjacent to Vauxhall r. station, 2¼ miles SSW of St. Paul's; has post offices‡ and postal pillar boxes under London S, an L. police station, and spacious assembly rooms; and is an electoral division of Lambeth borough, and a polling place for East Surrey. The name was anciently written Cyningtune or Chenintune, and signifies King's town. The place was a royal manor, so early as the Saxon times; it was annexed to the Duchy of Cornwall in the time of Edward III.; and it still, in that annexation, belongs to the Crown. A palace of the Saxon king stood on it; continued to be occasionally used by kings, after the Conquest; and appears to have been restored in the time of the Black Prince. Two events, the death of Hardicanute and the coronation of Harold, which are usually said to have occurred at Lambeth, seem rather to have taken place at Kennington. Henry III. kept Christmas here in 1231; the same king convoked parliaments here in 1232 and 1234; Edward III. kept Christmas here in 1342; the Black Prince resided here; John of Gaunt took refuge here, in 1377, under the protection of Richard, Prince of Wales; Henry VII. took up his residence here previous to his coronation; and Charles I. resided here when Prince of Wales. A vestige of the old royal residence stood, till last century, close to Kennington cross, but has been displaced by modern buildings. A street called Princes road, and a square called Princes square, still commemorate the residence of one or other of the princes; and the former is said to have been the road by which the Black Prince came to the palace from Lambeth. Much of the manor was infested, in the time of Edward III., by bands of ruffians, who sallied from it at night to rob the city, and who required to be especially watched and repressed by the city authorities. A large tract also lay in commonage, under the name of Kennington common, till so late as 1855; was the usual place of execution for criminals, prior to the erection of Horsemonger lane jail; was the scene of the great chartist meeting, in 1848, summoned by Fergus O'Connor; but is now enclosed and laid out as a public park. The entire place has changed its character from rural to urban; it is now a well built, respectable, airy portion of the metropolis; it contains very numerous streets, running in various directions; and it includes a large aggregate of open spaces, serving for both adornment and ventilation. A chief one of the open spaces is the Park; and another chief one is the Oval, an area of nearly ten acres, formerly disposed as market garden and nursery, but now used as the Surrey cricket ground. The parish comprises 962 acres of land and 7 of waterPop. in 1851, 43, 109; in 1861, 51, 225. Houses, 8, 284It was reconstituted in 1824, within limits to exclude space for other chapelries or ecclesiastical parishes; and it is known within its new limits as St. Mark. Pop. of the reconstituted portion, 26, 345. The other chapelries in it, with defined limits, are St. Michael, Stockwell, constituted in 1845; St. Matthew, Denmark Hill, constituted in 1848; St. Barnabas, South Kennington, constituted in 1851; Christchurch, North Brixton, constituted in 1856; and St. Stephen, South Lambeth, constituted in 1861. But a small part of St. Matthew, Denmark Hill, is in Camberwell parish. Pop. of St. Michael, 7, 265; of St. Matthew, 5, 249; of the portion ot St. Matthew in Camberwell parish, 282; of St. Barnabas, 9, 722; of Christchurch, 3, 776; of St. Stephen, 3, 500. There are also, without any defined limits, the chapels of Stockwell, South Lambeth, and St. James. Five of the livings are vicarages, and the others p. curacies, in the diocese of Winchester. Value of St. Mark, £600;* of St. Michael, £365; of St. Matthew, £700; of St. Barnabas, £350; of Christchurch, £700;* of Stockwell chapel, £300; of the others, not reported. Patron of St. Mark, the Archbishop of Canterbury; of St. Michael and St. Barnabas, the Incumbent of St. Mark; of St. Matthew, and of Stockwell chapel, Trustees; of Christchurch, the Rev. J. McC. Hussey; of St. Stephen, the Rev.Kemble; of South Lambeth chapel, the Rector of Lambeth; of St. James' chapel, the Proprietor. StMark's church was built in 1824, at a cost of £22, 719; and has a Doric portico and a W tower and cupola. St. Barnabas church was completed in 1860; is in the very early decorated English style; and forms a fine specimen of the best modern edifices in that style. There are several dissenting chapels, the licensed victuallers' school, the girls' industrial home, and a number of national and denominational schools. J. Calcott, the composer, and Sir A. Calcott; the painter, were natives.- The two sub-districts are Kennington First and Kennington Second; and they are divided by a line drawn along the Kennington and Clapham roads; the former sub-district lying between that line and the Thames. Acres of K. F., 452 of land and 7 of water. Pop., 30, 785. Houses, 4, 761. Acres of K. S., 510. Pop., 20, 440. Houses, 3, 523.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a metropolitan suburb"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Lambeth St Mary Vest/AP/CP       Surrey AncC
Place names: CHENINTUNE     |     CYNINGTUNE     |     KENNINGTON
Place: Kennington

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