Kensington Roof Garden

Kensington Roof Garden (formerly known as Derry and Toms Roof Gardens) covers 6000 square metres.

Kensington High Street
Credit: User unknown/public domain

Derry and Toms department store was opened in Kensington in 1933. The gardens were laid out between 1936 and 1938 by Ralph Hancock, a landscape architect, on the instructions of Trevor Bowen (then vice-president of Barkers, the department store giant that owned the site and constructed the building). They cost £25,000 to create and visitors were charged 1 shilling to enter. Money raised was donated to local hospitals and £120,000 was raised during the next 30 years.

The building housed the department store Derry and Toms until 1973, and then Biba until 1975. Since the 1980s the garden has been used as a restaurant and club.

The Roof Garden was listed as a Grade II site by English Heritage in 1998.

It is divided into three themed gardens. Although they are on a rooftop, the trees there were made the subject of tree preservation orders in 1976.
Read the Kensington Roof Gardens entry on the Wikipedia...

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CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LOCALITY

Albert Mews, SW7

Added: 26 Mar 2023 14:50 GMT

Albert Mews
It is not a gargoyle over the entrance arch to Albert Mews, it is a likeness of Prince Albert himself.

Reply

LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT

Tony Whipple Frank Whipple Place, E14 Added: 16 Apr 2024 21:35 GMT	Frank Whipple Place, E14 Frank was my great-uncle, I’d often be ’babysat’ by Peggy while Nan and Dad went to the pub. Peggy was a marvel, so full of life. My Dad and Frank didn’t agree on most politics but everyone in the family is proud of him. A genuinely nice, knowledgable bloke. One of a kind. Reply
Theresa Penney Whites Row, E1 Added: 16 Apr 2024 18:08 GMT	1 Whites Row My 2 x great grandparents and his family lived here according to the 1841 census. They were Dutch Ashkenazi Jews born in Amsterdam at the beginning of the 19th century but all their children were born in Spitalfields. Reply
Wendy The Polygon Added: 22 Mar 2024 15:33 GMT	Polygon Buildings Following the demolition of the Polygon, and prior to the construction of Oakshott Court in 1974, 4 tenement type blocks of flats were built on the site at Clarendon Sq/Phoenix Rd called Polygon Buildings. These were primarily for people working for the Midland Railway and subsequently British Rail. My family lived for 5 years in Block C in the 1950s. It seems that very few photos exist of these buildings. Reply
Steve Charleville Circus, SE26 Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:42 GMT	Road construction and houses completed New Charleville Circus road layout shown on Stanford’s Library Map Of London And Its Suburbs 1879 with access via West Hill only. Plans showing street numbering were recorded in 1888 so we can concluded the houses in Charleville Circus were built by this date. Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London Reply
Steve Charleville Circus, SE26 Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:04 GMT	Charleville Circus, Sydenham: One Place Study (OPS) One Place Study’s (OPS) are a recent innovation to research and record historical facts/events/people focused on a single place �’ building, street, town etc. I have created an open access OPS of Charleville Circus on WikiTree that has over a million members across the globe working on a single family tree for everyone to enjoy, for free, forever. Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London Reply
Charles Hornsey Rise, N19 Added: 8 Mar 2024 20:45 GMT	My House I want to know who lived in my house in the 1860’s. Reply
NH Woodgrange Road, E7 Added: 7 Mar 2024 11:41 GMT	Telephone House Donald Hunter House, formerly Telephone House, was the BT Offices closed in 2000 Reply
Paul Cox Aldine Street, W12 Added: 5 Mar 2024 22:18 GMT	War damage reinstatement plans of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street Whilst clearing my elderly Mothers house of general detritus, I’ve come across original plans (one on acetate) of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street. Might they be of interest or should I just dispose of them? There are 4 copies seemingly from the one single acetate example. Seems a shame to just junk them as the level of detail is exquisite. No worries if of no interest, but thought I’d put it out there. Reply

LOCAL PHOTOS

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Notting Hill TUM image id: 1510169244 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Pembridge Road (1900s) TUM image id: 1556889569 Licence: CC BY 2.0	1829 map of Kensington Palace TUM image id: 1557149096 Licence:	St Cuthbert’s, Philbeach Gardens is a Grade I listed Anglican church in Earls Court. It was built between 1884 and 1887, designed by the architect Hugh Roumieu Gough (1843–1904) and hailed as a jewel of the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Credit: Wiki Commons/Trearddur72 TUM image id: 1631012517 Licence:	The Churchill Arms, Kensington Credit: IG/lililondoner TUM image id: 1653837477 Licence: CC BY 2.0
The Holland Arms on Kensington High Street, drawn by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd. The writer Joseph Addison was a frequent customer. Credit: Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea TUM image id: 1623770043 Licence:	Abingdon Arms Pub, Abingdon Road. TUM image id: 1489943648 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Allen Street Credit: GoArt/The Underground Map TUM image id: 1593784668 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Pump attendant at a Lex Garage in Campden Hill Road, Kensington fills up for a customer (1952) In the 1950s, petrol pumps were still largely attached to garage workshops. People didn’t yet use the term “petrol station“ but instead “garage”. Credit: Kurt Hutton/Picture Post TUM image id: 1707482121 Licence:	Springtime, Earl’s Court Credit: IG/MrLondon TUM image id: 1679253309 Licence:
3-4 Ladbroke Terrace in 2006. TUM image id: 1453881424 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Kenway Road (1970) Credit: British History Online TUM image id: 1678986487 Licence:	Possibly the most Instagramable mews in London, leafy Kynance Mews is hidden away in South Kensington, not so far from Gloucester Road station. Credit: IG/withinlondon TUM image id: 1691581234 Licence:	Marloes Road, W8 TUM image id: 1530121229 Licence:	Notting Hill in Bygone Days TUM image id: 1510166520 Licence:

In the neighbourhood...

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1829 map of Kensington Palace
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The Churchill Arms, Kensington
Credit: IG/lililondoner
Licence: CC BY 2.0

Abingdon Arms Pub, Abingdon Road.
Licence: CC BY 2.0

Allen Street
Credit: GoArt/The Underground Map
Licence: CC BY 2.0

Pump attendant at a Lex Garage in Campden Hill Road, Kensington fills up for a customer (1952) In the 1950s, petrol pumps were still largely attached to garage workshops. People didn’t yet use the term “petrol station“ but instead “garage”.
Credit: Kurt Hutton/Picture Post
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Possibly the most Instagramable mews in London, leafy Kynance Mews is hidden away in South Kensington, not so far from Gloucester Road station.
Credit: IG/withinlondon
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Marloes Road, W8
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St Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Church, Allen Street (2008) Seen from the northwest at the junction with Scarsdale Villas
Credit: Wiki Commons/R Sones
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This view shows Tyler the chemists during the 1960s on the corner of Abingdon Road and Scarsdale Villas. St Mark’s Coptic church is in the background.
Credit: Wellcome Foundation
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St Mary Abbot’s Hospital operated from 1871 to 1992. From 1846 to 1869 the site housed the Kensington Parish Workhouse
Credit: Wiki Commons
Licence: CC BY 2.0

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