Kensington Square

Kensington Square is a garden square in Kensington, London. It was built from 1692 on land acquired seven years earlier and is the oldest such square in Kensington. The houses facing the square, numbered 1 to 45, are listed Grade II for their architectural and historic merit. The square was designed to provide substantial homes for people of quality, with gardens behind and courts in front. Unlike older squares in Soho and St James’s, it still keeps its residential feel. The square’s communal gardens cover 0.36 hectares and were laid out in 1698. They remain private and are not open to the public, though they take part in the annual Open Garden Squares Weekend. The Chapel of the Assumption Convent, built in 1875, stands in the square and became a listed building in 1984. No. 23 once housed Heythrop College, a specialist Philosophy and Theology college, until 2018. The college’s library began in 1614 in Louvain, founded by the Jesuits. Notable former residents include composer Hubert Parry at No. 17 and philosopher John Stuart Mill at No. 18. Sanitary reformer John Simon lived at No. 40, while artist Edward Burne-Jones had a home at No. 41. The Lushingtons at No. 36 introduced Burne-Jones to Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Charles Darwin’s daughter Henrietta lived at No. 31 with her husband, and the Darwin family’s visits are described in Gwen Raverat’s memoir. The Kensington School, which helped found the Football Association in 1863, once occupied several houses in the square.