Kensington Church Street is a shopping street in Kensington, London, England, designated the A4204, and traditionally known for its art and antiques shops.
Buildings at the southern end date back to the early 1700s.[1] It is named after Kensington's original church of St Mary Abbots. The south part was formerly called Church Lane, and the north part, Silver Street. Until 1864 there was a toll gate at Campden Street.[2]
On the night of the 29 August 1975, Joseph O'Connell and Eddie Butler, members of the IRA's Balcombe Street Gang placed a bomb in the doorway of a shoe shop. A warning was phoned to the Daily Mail at 9:35pm. The bomb exploded at 10:12pm, killing Roger Goad, a Metropolitan Police explosives officer who was attempting to defuse it.[5][6][7]
Notable buildings, shops and residents
The composer Muzio Clementi lived at Number 128 from 1820 to 1823, and is commemorated with a blue plaque.[8][9][10] The novelist and journalist Tom Stacey lived there during the 1950's.
Number 138 is a house built in 1736-1737. It was the home and studio of the artist Lucian Freud from the 1970's, until his death in 2011. The building is now Grade II listed.[11]
From 1966 to 1969, Barbara Hulanicki's influential fashion shop Biba was located at 19-21 Kensington Church Street.[12][13] The antique dealer Eila Grahame had a shop on Kensington Church Street from 1969 until her death in 2009.[14] The Rowley Gallery, a picture-frame makers, has had premises at several addresses in Kensington Church Street since 1898.
