The Kensington Society is an amenity society for all of Kensington, created in 1953. We have close to 700 members and some 40 affiliated societies.
For more information, see the About page.

Latest in the news blog (click here to see all)

The 2021 newsletter is here!

The 2021 issue of the Kensington Society newsletter has just been mailed to all members, but it can also be read and/or downloaded here. It is something of a bumper issue, 28 pages, whereof 16 pages focus on the commitment to be net zero by 2050 and what this means for Kensington, the UK and the world.
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12 month e-scooter trial has begun in Kensington

In early June, TfL began a 12 month trial with rental e-scooters in Kensington and Chelsea and four more London boroughs. RBKC has set up 20 e-scooter rental bays across the borough, used by the three participating rental companies. The rental e-scooters have a much lower maximum speed than most private e-scooters, but they are legal to use on public roads, which the private ones aren't.
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Latest planning news (click here to see all)

Update: Developer withdraws Forum Hotel application

The developer planning to replace Kensington Forum Hotel on Cromwell Road with a much taller and massive complex, surprisingly announced at the end of business on Friday 19 March that they wished to withdraw their application. This means that there will be no public hearing on 19 March, and that the complex won’t be built unless a new planning application is lodged with the council. A great victory for the local residents, who have fought against the development for four years.
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First phase in new Earls Court plan?

Following the collapse of the gigantic development project known as the Earl’s Court and West Kensington Opportunity Area in 2018, there is an enormous wasteland left after the demolition of the Earls Court Exhibition Centre. In January RBKC received an application for a building complex at the south end of the site. Is this the first phase in a not yet publicised a plan to replace the wasteland with new and perhaps higher buildings than those previously planned? The developer says no, but others suspect that it is.
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Wishing you a happy Christmas and a better 2022!

Exactly 178 years ago, two Kensingtonians invented the world’s first printed Christmas card. The 35-year-old entrepreneur Henry Cole came up with the idea and his good friend, the 22-year-old budding artist John Callcott Horsley, made the design – a card showing the Cole family toasting the recipients of the card while their servants gave food and clothes to those less fortunate. The card was printed in a thousand copies and then hand-coloured. Cards not needed by Cole and his wife were sold for a shilling a piece.

Cole would eventually become known for creating the Great Exhibition together with Prince Albert as well as the whole museum area in South Kensington, while Horsley would become a Royal Academician, famous for his Dutch-influenced paintings.

Page revised 13/12/2021