Kennington

 

It was a bright sunny July  day as I set out to visit my 200th station. I must admit I was a bit excited at reaching this milestone. Not sure what I would find but I have been pleasantly surprised by the last few stations. 

Kennington opened in 1890 and along with Oval station they were the first deep level electric underground stations in the world. It was remodelled in 1925 when the Charing Cross branch line was added to the network.  It is at this station that the two branch lines join and continue southwards to the terminus at Morden. In 2021 a new extension to Battersea Power station was added. 

No escalators here. But there is a lift to save your legs on the numerous stairs to get you to the surface. 

The station was opened in 1890 along with the rest of the line. The single storey station building still has the original dome which used to house the hydraulic equipment for the lifts. The building was designed by T.P. Figgis who designed a number of stations  in the late 19th century.

I turned left out of the station onto Kennington Park Road. If I walked 0.6ml in this direction I would come to the previous station at Oval so my plan was to walk to the boundary of Kennington Park and then turn off to the right, away from the area I covered in my last post and into the Kennington triangle as the estate agents call it.

The first building of note was this large one slightly set back from the road. It is The City and Guilds of London Art school. Founded in 1854 as the Lambeth School of Art, it is one of the country's longest established art schools. It is now an independent specialist art college.

Further along the road is The White Bear. Although it offers the usual bar and restaurant, the upper floor is a well equipped theatre and rehearsal space. The pub opened here in 1785 and was refurbished in 1984. The White Bear theatre was founded by Michael Kingsbury in 1989 and has hosted  a number of new plays, giving an outlet for up and coming new acting talent and playwrights.

Along the road are dotted early 19th century houses. Built for merchants wanting to live outside the city of London and surrounded by Kennington Common which later became Kennington Park (see previous post). This house with its three storeys, attic and basement is now a Grade II listed building.

There seems to be numerous pubs in the area. This one was first established as the Cock Tavern was built in the early 1800s and was restored just after WW2.

As I turned right onto Kennington Road I walked past this large Victorian school. A plaque at the top of the building said Kennington Road school. Another plaque at the other side had the dates 1897-1900. Very typical of schools built during that period, symmetrical and lots of windows. I looked for new signage as I assumed it would still be a school but with a new name. After researching the building I discovered it is now known as The Lycee and has been converted into a number of large apartments costing in the region of £750,000.

Opposite the old school the area has been cleaned and repaved creating a pleasant green triangle in front of some beautiful Regency houses.

I assumed that this building was a church but I was again wrong. This was the Lambeth Vestry Hall. It was used for the business of the parish from 1853 and became the town Hall for Lambeth from 1900. The last meeting to be held here by the council was in 1908. A new larger Town Hall for Lambeth Borough was opened  in Brixton. The building was then leased to the Church of England society for waifs and strays which later became the Children's Society as their headquarters. The Society was founded in 1881 by Edward Rudolf, a young Sunday school teacher and civil servant. It was when he came across two of his Sunday school pupils begging in the street that he realised there were no Church of England Homes capable of taking children at short notice and without payment. His intention was to find Receiving homes for boys and girls prior to finding them suitable permanent homes. However this quickly ended up providing longer term homes and in Nov 1883 the society became 'Church of England Central Society for Providing homes for Waifs and Strays'. About 5%-10% of the children were sent to Canada to be rehomed there. In 1946 the name was legally changed to The Church of England Children's Society. The Children's Society still exists but has moved forward to providing day-care centres and focusing work on social justice. Edward Rudolf who died in 1933 also helped found The National Society for the prevention of Cruelty to Children. He also campaigned for children's rights in parliament in 1885. This building has also been converted into apartments. I wonder how many people living there now, know anything about its previous history.

I am now coming into the area known as Kennington Cross, a triangle formed by Kennington Lane, Sancroft Street and Cardigan Street. 

This is Edinburgh House, a business centre. It was here in the 14th century that Kennington Palace and stables were built. Kennington has a long history being first mentioned in the Doomsday Book (1085-86) as Chenintune. Various suggestions about the origin of the word. Possibly 'the farm of a man called Cena' or 'Place of a King'. Edward III gave the Manor of Kennington to his oldest son Edward Woodstock, the Black Prince in 1337and he built a Royal Palace here. Since then the land has been owned by the eldest son of the Monarch as part of the Duchy of Cornwall. The current owner being Prince William. Kennington was the occasional residence of Henry IV and Henry VI. henry VII was at Kennington before his coronation. Catherine of Aragon stayed at the Palace in 1501. In 1531, Henry VIII  had the palace dismantled and the materials used in the construction of the Palace of Whitehall.

There are lots of pubs and cafes. 

On either side of the crossroads are two pubs almost opposite one another. The White Hart opened around 1746 and then was rebuilt about 150 years later in 1897. It has had numerous names and is currently called Tommyfield.

The other pub is called 'The Dog House'

This decorative building is the Durning library. Built in 1888 by Sidney R J Smith, the same architect who designed Tate Britain. This Victorian Gothic building has a number of sculptural features including a roundel above the ground floor, with a relief portrait of the donor, Jemima Durning Smith 

The main frontage of this Edwardian hardware shop remains but the inside has been converted into a children's nursery.

This building is known as Imperial Court. It was founded in 1803 for the education, clothing and maintenance of the orphans and other destitute children of members of the friendly Society of Licensed Victuallers (publicans who also sell food). The school had this building erected in 1836. After the school moved out of London in 1921, the building was taken over by the NAAFI. It became the headquarters of the Navy, Army, Air Force Institute, the caterers to the Armed Forces. They moved out in 1992 and from then on it has become an apartment block.

As I mentioned earlier, the Manor of Kennington in London formed part of the original Duchy of Cornwall estate under the charter of 1337 when Edward III gave the land to his son. At that time Kennington was largely agricultural. This changed when Vauxhall Bridge was built in 1812 and Waterloo Bridge in 1817 which opened the way for development as the population of London began to spread out. The Duchy played a role in the building and sale of residential and commercial properties. During the 1920s and 30s some sites were sold, many to the armed forces. In the 1950s came new office blocks and flats for single, young professionals. The majority of the residential estates were sold to the London and Quadrant housing association in 1990. Today the Duchy owns just 16 flats and 23 houses

This block of flats which was built for the Duchy estate in 1910 was named after the Kennington Palace which stood near this block,

This Georgian styled development was built in 1913.

 It was built around Courtney Square which was the focal point of the Duchy's Estate.

This is Woodstock Court which was The Old Tenants Hostel. A quadrangle of flats opened in 1914 to provide accommodation for elderly tenants of the Duchy. It is now run by a housing Association.

 

 

Across the road is another block of flats with the Prince of Wales's feathers badge above the doorway.

There were many interesting types of architecture. All seemed to have been built around the early part of the 20th century.

I walked down Chester Way back onto to Kennington Lane

I turned left off Kennington Lane into Renfrew Road. This first building used to be a fire station built in 1868 and ceased as a working fire station in 1920 has now been converted into flats. When it was operational it had a dormitory for single firemen and 3 roomed accommodation for married firemen.
 
Next to the old fire station is this Victorian Courthouse which is now a Buddhist Centre. In the 1960s and 70s it became a high security court mainly for suspected IRA terrorists. The Buddhists community members moved into this Grade II listed building in 1995. They set about restoring the building and converting it into a centre. They had to remove the bullet proof glass from in front of the Judge's bench and replaced it with a Buddhist Shrine. The prison cells have been renovated to provide hostel accommodation  for those visiting the centre. The centre has a cafe open to the public at weekends and you are able to catch a glimpse of one or two signs from its courthouse days.



The centre's garden was once the exercise yard for the prisoners.

It is only when you walk around the corner of the old courthouse you realise how big it is.

Built around the same time as the courthouse and the fire station in 1870, this was the administrative block of the old Lambeth workhouse. The workhouse was home to 800 inmates who were given accommodation and food in exchange for work. Both male and females lived here but were separated. It was never meant to be an easy option and some people preferred living on the streets than entering into the workhouse. In 1898, at the age of 8,  Charlie Chaplin came into the workhouse with his mother but would have been separated from her. He wouldn't have stayed there long as Lambeth operated an industrial school at Norwood and he would have been transferred there.  In 1877 an infirmary and wards were added to the workhouse as well as a large water tower. The workhouse system closed in the 1920s and by 1922 the workhouse and infirmary were amalgamated and renamed Lambeth Hospital. This is all that remains of the workhouse and infirmary. The building is now the Cinema Museum which is open for pre arranged tours so as yet I have not been inside.

This is the water tower of the old workhouse which has been converted into private residences. It was featured on the TV programme 'Grand Designs' a few years ago.

Looking back towards Renfrew Street you can see the old round tower which was part of the Victorian fire station.

I walked round to look at the front of the water tower and then returned to Kennington Lane.

A walk through a modern housing estate and then through a small park.

In the park was this commemorative rose garden. Apparently 50 climbing roses had been planted for the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002, but there wasn't a rose in sight.







I was surprised to find that the park led me back out onto Kennington Park Road about 100m from Kennington station. Without realising it I had walked in a complete circle. I really enjoyed my walk in the sunshine today. There was so much to see and learn about. I finished my 200th underground walk with a delicious lunch sitting outside in the sunshine. Just another 72 stations to visit.