Parish Church was erected in the commencement of the 12th Century, and a monastery sprang up in Holland Street, to the west of Church Street. Tradition says that there was a royal nursery established here for the children of Bluff King Hal. In the time of Charles the First there was a vicarage, with a house and garden and orchard, while Holland House, Campden House, Cromwell House, and many other similar buildings, began to give the place an air of some importance. Then, as Kensington became a fashionable suburb, houses grew rapidly. At the end of the 17th century the Palace was built, and Bowack, the antiquarian writing master, declares that even then the district had begun to appear more like a part of London than a country village. He considered it had about three times the number of houses that Chelsea possessed. In summer time it became a sort of inland watering place for the Londoners, who crowded there to enjoy the walks, air, and gardens, and to taste the waters of a famous "Chalybial Spring, much esteemed and resorted to for its Medicinal Virtues." But the most beautiful part of the town, to Bowack's mind, was the Square," which for beauty of buildings and worthy inhabitants, exceeded London." several noted squares in It would be difficult to gain much insight into the doings of the good people who lived at Kensington then, but one or two little items have been preserved to us in the parish books. From them we learn that the parish could not have been very safe, as the roads were as dark as pitch at night, and we read of more than one murder committed in the neighbourhood about this time. Kensington seems, even then, to have been of a liberal turn, for there are entries of subscriptions for the French and Irish Protestants. The bells of the church were rung on the news of all the great victories, and in one case 15s. was paid for faggots and drink. Some entries are of a surprising nature: "money was paid for watching the trees in the churchyard on May-day, that they should not be cut," and to "theef ketchers, about enquiring who robbed the Church." Who the thief catchers were we cannot decide. Were they a species of private detectives, or an early edition of clairvoyants? Fourpence was given for a truss of straw for a poor soldier, and sixpence was expended on an almanack and tape. The high road between London and Kensington seems to have been the first place where glazed oil lamps were placed, but the road was still wretchedly bad, and infested with footpads; and it was not until the end of the last century that the single traveller could return to London from a visit to friends in the suburb without considerable risk of having to stand and deliver. Such inconveniences did not pre vent Kensington from becoming the most fashionable of the London suburbs. It enjoyed almost uninterrupted royal patronage for about seventy years. This is the heyday of Kenna's kingdom, and during those couple of generations there is a rich harvest of names and association for ramblers like ourselves. Besides a constant supply of royalty at the Palace, we have William Penn, Addison, and the Foxes at Holland House; the Duchess of Portsmouth at Kensington House; a host of celebrities, clerical, poetical, and social in the Square, where lodgings were almost unobtainable; the pathetic history of the young Duke of Gloucester, at Campden House, besides a host of other memories. At Newton House, died Newton. When the regal period proper closes, which it does on the death of George the Second, there is still no lack of interest. The story of Holland House leads us to the time of the Foxes and the literary gatherings, which give the mansion its greatest celebrity. The Palace still provides us with an occasional royal character, and the promenades in Kensington Gardens obtain their height. Smaller "lions" are numerous. "The" sights are the Palace and Holland House. Each of these will demand considerable attention. The Church and the other less important houses may be disposed of more rapidly. With the Kensington of to-day we have nothing to do. It has fine buildings and illustrious men, but the buildings want the ivy of antiquity, the glamour of historical associations, and as to the celebrities who reside in them, what in the case of the dead is anecdote in the case of the living is tittle-tattle. If then we take the Palace as our starting point, we may, having thoroughly exhausted its historical curiosities, saunter through the gardens to Kensington Gore, Passing Gore House, Kensington House, and Colby House, we shall find ourselves in the High Street. Thence we can pay a flying visit to Kensington and |