South Kensington

South Kensington
South Kensington
	South Kensington Location within Greater Lunnon
OS grid reference	TQ265785
Lunnon burgh	Kensington & Chelsea;
Ceremonial coonty	Greater Lunnon
Region	Lunnon;
Kintra	Ingland
Sovereign state	Unitit Kinrick
Post toun	LONDON
Postcode destrict	SW7
Diallin code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	Lunnon
Ambulance	Lunnon
EU Pairlament	London
Lunnon Assemmly	Wast Central;
	Leet o places UK Ingland Lunnon 51°29′28″N 0°10′37″W / 51.4912°N 0.1769°WCoordinates: 51°29′28″N 0°10′37″W / 51.4912°N 0.1769°W

South Kensington is in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in Lunnon. It is a biggit-up aurie 2.4 mile (3.9 km) wast-sooth-wast o Charing Cross.

It is haurd tae define boondars for South Kensington, but a common definition is the commercial aurie aroond the tube station an the adjacent gairden squares an streets (such as Thurloe Square, opposite the Victoria and Albert Museum). The smawer neebourheid aroond Gloucester Road tube station can be considered a pairt an aw, an Albertopolis aroond Exhibition Road, which includes the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum an Baden-Powell House. Ither institutions such as the Royal Albert Hall, Imperial College London, the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal College of Art, the Royal College of Music are athin the Ceety o Wastmeenster, but considered tae be in Sooth Kensington. Awtho the postcode SW7 mainly covers South Kensington, some pairts o Knightsbridge are covered an aw.

Neebourin the equally affluent centres o Knightsbridge, Chelsea an Kensington, South Kensington covers some o the maist exclusive real estate in the warld. It is hame tae lairge nummers o French expatriates (mainly employed in the Ceety, the financial centre), but Spainyie, Italian, American, an Middle-Eastren ceetizens an aw. A significant French presence is evidencit bi the location o the consulate, the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle - a lairge French seicontar schuil opposite the Natural History Museum - an the French Institute, hame tae a French cinema. Thare are several French beukshops an cafes in the aurie.

The nearest Tube stations are South Kensington an Gloucester Road.

History

The aurie wis lairgely undeveloped till the mid-19t century, bein a agricultural aurie supplyin Lunnon wi fruit an vegetables. Follaein the 1851 Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, an 87-acre (352,000 m²) aurie aroond wha is nou Exhibition Road wis purchased bi the commissioners o the exhibition, in order tae creaut a hame for institutions dedicatit tae the airts an sciences, resultin in the foondation o the museums an varsity here. Adjacent landawners began tae develop thair laund in the 1860s as a result o the creation o new roads an a boom in the development o auries aroond Lunnon, an the absorption o South Kensington intae Lunnon wis sealed bi the arrival o the Underground at Gloucester Road an South Kensington in 1868, linkin the aurie directly tae the main railwey termini an tae the poleetical, commercial an financial herts o the ceety in Wastmeenster, the West End an the Ceety o Lunnon.