Kensington is world renowned for its royal palace
The London district of Kensington is world renowned for its palace, famous museums and having some of the most expensive property in the UK. From the grand museums of South Kensington to the greenery of Kensington Gardens, each district has its own different character. With its location and tube stations providing easy access to the capital’s attractions, Kensington is a popular base for many visitors.
With the borough boasting an array of museums, it’s no surprise that three of its attractions appear in the top 10 list of most visited free attractions in London. The Natural History Museum had over 4 million visitors in 2017, while its neighbours the Science Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum had over 3 million. Meanwhile, Kensington Palace is No.11 on the list of paid London attractions, with over 645,000 visitors in 2017.
While all three of the big museums are brilliant places to go, there’s a lot more to visit in Kensington. I’ve worked a large chunk of my career in Kensington and have stumbled upon the lesser-known attractions of the area when I’ve not been working. For this blog post, I spent the day exploring some of Kensington’s hidden gems. One particular destination off the beaten path is the stunning Leighton House Museum. Located near Holland Park and Kensington High Street, it was built in stages from 1866 to 1895 as a home and studio for painter Frederic, Lord Leighton (1830-1896). From the outside, it looks like a classical, red Victorian home. However, upon stepping inside, it’s like entering a Moorish palace. The main attraction is the beautiful Arab Hall, with its mosaics, Islamic tiles and golden dome. As well as its stunning interiors and expansive garden (by London standards at least!), there is also an extensive art collection, featuring paintings and sculptures by Leighton and his Victorian contemporaries. If you’re a fan of architecture and/or art – particularly pre-Raphaelite paintings – I recommend checking it out. You’re not allowed photos inside, although you can get some good shots in the lovely garden.
The stunning Arab Hall in the Leighton House Museum
© Leighton House Museum, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Designer dreaming at the Azzedine Alaïa exhibition at the Design Museum
A short walk away is the Design Museum on Kensington High Street. It was previously located in Bermondsey, but moved to the former Commonwealth Institute in Kensington in 2016. The spacious 1960s building is worth a visit in itself for architecture fans. It is home to a permanent free exhibition; ‘Designer, Maker, User’, as well as various changing exhibitions and events throughout the year. On my particular visit, I bought tickets for the Azzedine Alaïa: The Couturier exhibition, which is on until 7 October 2018. Curated with the designer shortly before his death last year, the exhibition features a collection of his fashions from the early 1980s to his last collection in 2017. The museum is an interesting space and the way the team have presented Alaia’s creations on transparent models on mirrored platforms was brilliant and really showcased the layers and angles of each design.
Eggs royale @ Cafe Phillies
When you’re in this end of High Street Kensington, there’s a great little café down a quiet side street if you’re feeling peckish. Located on Phillimore Gardens with a small outdoor terrace is Café Phillies. It’s an independent café and wine bar, popular with locals and serves an all-day breakfast. It’s a cosy venue with contemporary art on the walls and friendly staff. I took advantage of the unlimited brunch hours and ordered an Eggs Benedict Royale for a late lunch. Served on toasted English muffins, there was a very generous serving of smoked salmon and the poached eggs were perfectly runny. A great spot for lunch or breakfast.
If you’re looking for some fresh air, consider walking down to Kensington Gardens. The large park covers 207 acres, with Kensington Palace located in the western end of the Gardens. Known for being the London home of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, parts of the palace are open to the public, including the King’s and Queen’s State Apartments. On this particular visit, I remained outside the palace walls and enjoyed the many free attractions of the gardens. As the palace was the last home to the late Diana, Princess of Wales, there are several memorials to the royal, including a children’s playground and a memorial walk. Throughout the Gardens are many buildings and sculptures to check out, including the 18th century Queen Caroline’s Temple, Henry Moore’s arch and the ornate Albert Memorial. The north side of the park features the 150-year-old Italian ornamental garden, built as a gift to Queen Victoria from her husband Prince Albert. Nearby is Queen Anne’s Alcove, a small structure built in 1705 by Sir Christopher Wren. Meanwhile, deeper in the Gardens is Queen Caroline’s Temple, a quaint 18th century summer house with views towards the Long Water. Read the rest of this entry
Jul 15
This gallery contains 6 photos.
Every summer, the Serpentine Gallery ask an architect to design a Pavilion for their grounds. This year, Mexican architect Frida Escobedo is the youngest ever and 18th architect to create a temporary structure. She follows in the footsteps of previous architects, such as Bjarke Ingels, Jean Nouvel, Frank Gehry, Oscar Niemeyer, Sou Fujimoto, Smiljan Radić, Selgascano, and, […]
Jul 19
This gallery contains 5 photos.
This summer sees the return of the Serpentine Pavilion, a temporary structure in Kensington Gardens. Every year, the Serpentine Gallery invites an international architect to create a pavilion in their grounds. Now in its 17th year, the opening of the Pavilion has become a big event on the London art scene. This year, the structure has […]
Aug 11
This gallery contains 6 photos.
Every year, a temporary structure is erected in the grounds of the Serpentine Gallery. However, this year, the Serpentine Pavilion – designed by Denmark’s Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) – is accompanied by four smaller structures nearby in Kensington Gardens. The four Summer Houses are 25sqm each and are inspired by Queen Caroline’s Temple, a classical-style summer house […]
Jun 28
This gallery contains 6 photos.
This summer sees the return of the Serpentine Pavilion, a temporary structure in Kensington Gardens. Every year, the Serpentine Gallery invites an international architect to create a pavilion in their grounds. Now in its 16th year, the opening of the Pavilion has become a big event on the London art scene. This year, the structure has […]
This year’s Serpentine Pavilion is designed by Selgascano, headed by José Selgas and Lucía Cano
It’s that time of year again – when an international architect is invited to design a temporary structure in the grounds of the Serpentine Gallery. Now in its 15th year, the opening of the Pavilion has become a big event on the London art scene. This year, the structure has been created by Spanish architects Selgascano – headed by José Selgas and Lucía Cano, who have been inspired by the London Underground. They follow in the footsteps of past architects who have created Pavilions for the Gallery, including Jean Nouvel, Frank Gehry, Oscar Niemeyer, Sou Fujimoto and Smiljan Radić. The Pavilion will stand on the lawn outside the Serpentine Gallery over the summer.
The Selgascano Pavilion is the 15th to stand on the site
This year’s creation is a polygonal tunnel of colour, which can be entered from different points. It also includes a secret corridor joining the inner and outer layers of the structure. As the light is diffused through the coloured panels, it gives a stained glass effect. Inside is a café serving Fortnum & Mason sandwiches, salads, cakes and pastries.
The light streaming through the structure gives a stained glass effect
For Metro Girl’s post on last year’s Pavilion, click here.
For a guide to what else is on in London in October, click here.
Smiljan Radić’s Serpentine Pavilion is open until 19 October 2014
I haven’t done a photo post in a while, but thought I’d do a short post with a photo of the Serpentine Pavilion, which is only open for another few weeks before it leaves London forever. Every year, the Serpentine gallery in Kensington Gardens invites an architect to design a temporary structure outside the building for the summer.
Open since late June, this year’s Pavilion is the 14th and has been designed by Chilean architect Smiljan Radić. The Pavilion is a semi-translucent shell-like structure propped up on quarry stones. It has been compared to a giant rock or spaceship due to its wide span of metallic-looking material. The temporary building includes a café inside, giving visitors a chance to enter and interact with the Pavilion.
For a post on last year’s Pavilion, read Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2013: Sou Fujimoto lights up Kensington Gardens with his airy, lattice creation.
Aug 24
This gallery contains 6 photos.
Although it’s only been going for 13 years, the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion has fast become a tradition on the London art scene. Every year, the gallery in Kensington Gardens invites an architect to design a temporary structure outside the building for the summer. This year, Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto became the thirteenth, and youngest to date […]
The Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens stands as a monument to a prince by his devastated queen
A gilt bronze statue of Prince Albert seated while holding a catalogue of the Great Exhibition
Of all our monarchs over the past 1,000 years, Queen Victoria is one of Britain’s most famous and iconic. During her reign of 63 years, the country was in the middle of a great change due to the Industrial Revolution. Although she was only 18 when she became Queen following the death of her uncle William IV, many of us picture her as an elderly widow dressed in black. Of course, the reason for her black clothes was her decades of deep mourning for her late consort, Prince Albert, who died at the age of 42.
Following Prince Albert’s death in 1861, his grieving wife ordered his legacy to be enshrined both in Britain and across the Empire. The novelist Charles Dickens actually commented to his friend John Leech in a letter: ‘If you should meet an accessible cave anywhere in the neighbourhood, to which a hermit could retire from the memory of Prince Albert and testimonials to the same, pray let me know it.’ This is where we come to the Albert Memorial and Royal Albert Hall – a Taj Mahal of sorts from the Queen. Us Brits aren’t known for flashy, gold monuments, so tourists may well find it a surprise to see the glimmering Albert Memorial standing in Kensington Gardens.
Ahead of the Royal Albert Hall’s existence, Albert had proposed an entertainment venue on the site following the success of the Great Exhibition of 1851. However, he died before work began, with the Queen deciding the venue should be titled the Royal Albert Hall, instead of the earlier, rather boring title Central Hall of Arts and Sciences, after laying the foundation stone.
Golden canopy: A mosaic of an allegorical figure representing the art of architecture
The allegorical sculptures of the Americas (right) – on a bison – and Africa (left) – on a camel
Costly: The Albert Memorial finally opened in 1872 at an estimated cost of £120,000
However, the Albert Memorial was always part of the plan following the Prince’s death. In 1862, the Lord Mayor at the time headed a committee to find a suitable design for a public lasting memorial, which had to include a statue of the Prince, under the Queen’s orders. Eventually, noted Victorian architect Sir George Gilbert Scott submitted the winning design – which demonstrated the Prince’s passions for the arts and sciences.
After much delays – some due to the rising public costs – the 176 foot tall Albert Memorial was officially opened by the Queen in 1872, although Albert’s statue wasn’t ‘seated’ until three years later. Construction cost around £120,000, equivalent to £10million in today’s money.
Rather unusually for the period, the statue of Prince Albert – made of gilt bronze – was seated, rather than standing. In one of his hands is a catalogue of the Great Exhibition, which had been organised by the Prince. Above the statue, is a Gothic canopy featuring mosaics depicting allegorical figures of the arts – painting, poetry, sculpture and architecture. Also adorned on the sides are eight statues representing Christian virtues, including faith, hope and charity.
At the base of the canopy are four white sculptures depicting Victorian industries and sciences, including agriculture, commerce, engineering and manufacturing. Situated further from the statue are four more sculpture sets depicting four continents Europe, Asia, Americas and Africa. A group of people and products associated with the continent sit on four different animals – a cow, camel, bison and bull.
Wildlife: The allegorical sculpture of Asia (left) with an elephant and Europe (right) with a bull
Over the years, the memorial saw some decline, and spent many decades black instead of gold. Prior to its restoration and re-gilding in the early 2000s, English Heritage discovered the black coating on Albert’s statue pre-dated the war and believe it may have been painted as such following pollution damage to the gold, not in an attempt to hide the landmark from the enemy during the two World Wars as had been previously thought.
The memorial stands opposite the Royal Albert Hall
For a post on another Sir George Gilbert Scott’s creation in London, read REVIEW: Afternoon tea at The Gilbert Scott at St Pancras.
Or to read about his grandson Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s creations, click A look inside Battersea Power Station or the story behind the red phone box.
For more of Metro Girl’s history posts, click here.
