Kensington’s palace, squares and villas
Kensington grew up around Kensington Palace. It became a royal home under William III and Mary II at the end of the 17th century. Kensington Square was laid out from the 1680s, just south of what is now Kensington High Street. It is one of the oldest residential squares in London and still has houses from its first decades.
Edwardes Square came later. It was built between 1811 and 1820, with modest terraces around a large communal garden. North of the High Street lie Campden Hill and the Phillimore estate. They filled up through the Victorian years with large stucco and brick villas on streets like Phillimore Gardens. Kensington Palace Gardens was laid out in the 1840s on Crown land as a private road of grand detached houses. Many are now embassies. Kensington Court, close to the High Street, is a late Victorian development in red brick.
What Kensington railings look like
Kensington Square sets the tone for the older streets. At number 4 the listing records cast iron railings with foliated finials. A finial is the ornament on top of each bar, and foliated means it is shaped like leaves. Detail at that scale is what makes a railing on the square look right or wrong.
Edwardes Square is quieter. Its small houses face a garden that is listed Grade II* on the national register of historic parks. The long railings around that garden are part of the view from every front door.
The villas north of the High Street are different again. Many sit back from the road behind a low wall, with railings set between brick or stucco piers and a gate on the path. On Phillimore Gardens the front gate is often the main piece of ironwork a passer-by sees. The red-brick houses of Kensington Court carry heavier balconies and panels.
Ironwork for Kensington houses
Front gates and piers
For villas on Phillimore Gardens and Campden Hill, we forge single or double gates in proportion to the house. Designs range from plain bars with finials to scrolled panels with an overthrow, which is the decorative arch over a gate.
Garden square gates
Communal gardens like the one at Edwardes Square have gates for keyholders. We forge gates to match the garden railings and fit locks that work with the residents’ keys, working with the garden committee.
Railings and balconies
On stucco terraces we match the basement area railings and first-floor balconies already on the street. On Kensington Square we copy leaf finials and bar sizes closely, because the houses are old and stand so close together. On a balcony people can step out onto, the guarding must be at least 1100mm high under the building regulations.
Stairs
Many Kensington houses have been extended downwards with new basements. We make staircase balustrades for the main stair hall or for a new basement stair, where guarding inside a home must be at least 900mm high.
Walls and piers in front of the villas
On a Campden Hill villa, the railing is only as good as the wall it sits on. Old front walls lean, piers crack and stone caps work loose. A gate hung on a moving pier soon drops and sticks. Our craftsman is also an experienced builder, so we can rebuild the dwarf wall, which is the low wall under the railing, and reset the piers and caps in the same job. The front path and steps can be relaid at the same time.
Consent in W8
Nearly all of W8 lies in conservation areas run by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. A conservation area is a part of town the council protects for its character. In W8 they include the Kensington, Kensington Square, Kensington Palace and Kensington Court Conservation Areas. There is also the Edwardes Square, Scarsdale and Abingdon Conservation Area. New or changed railings, gates and balconies on the front of a house there usually need planning permission.
Many houses are listed as well. Listed building consent, which is permission to change a protected building, then covers the railings and gates. Kensington Palace Gardens sits on Crown Estate land, which brings its own approval. Flats need the freeholder or managing agent to agree. Always check with the Royal Borough before you plan any change.
Design and fitting
You can pick a pattern from the craftsman’s album, which holds hundreds of proven designs, and adapt it. For a villa gate or a new stair you might prefer a fully bespoke CAD design. Nothing is forged until you approve the drawings. Each piece is forged in our own workshop by a craftsman with 20 years of hand-forging behind him, then installed by our London team.
We book parking bay suspensions with the Royal Borough, so the space outside your house stays free. Deliveries come in from side streets rather than stopping on Kensington High Street. Gates are hung and adjusted on site, so they swing and latch properly on the day.
Request a quote or call us if you are planning gates, railings or a balcony for a Kensington home.