Queen's Gate

Queen's Gate is a street in South Kensington, London, England. It runs south from Kensington Gardens' Queen's Gate (the edge of which gardens are here followed by Kensington Road) to Old Brompton Road, intersecting Cromwell Road.

The street is mostly in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, but part of the east side is in the City of Westminster. The municipal boundary is the street centre between Kensington Road and Imperial College Road.

History

The street was built on land purchased by the Royal Commissioners for the Great Exhibition under an agreement dated August 1855 with Henry Browne Alexander, whose family owned the land through which the road was to pass, and William Jackson, a building speculator. The road was originally known as Albert's Road, but was officially changed to Queen's Gate in 1859.^[1]

Local Politics

Queen's Gate is also a three-councillor ward of Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea with a population of 9,847 (2011 Census). The local Member of Parliament since 2019 has been Felicity Buchan.^[2]

Queen’s Gate 2018 (3)
	Candidate	Votes
Conservative	Max Chauhan	1,126
Conservative	Matthew Palmer	1,110
Conservative	Max Woodger	1,105
Liberal Democrats	Jill Manasseh	497
Liberal Democrats	Sheila McGuirk	278
Liberal Democrats	Noel McNamara	243
Labour	Carmen Callil	235
Labour	Emma Southby	224
Labour	Soonu Engineer	210
Democrats and Veterans	Ralph Hancock	27

Queen’s Gate 2014 (3)
	Candidate	Votes
Conservative	Sam Mackover	1,123
Conservative	Daniel Moylan	1,093
Conservative	Matthew Palmer	1,017
Labour	Annabelle Louvros	194
Liberal Democrats	Philippa Manasseh	194
Liberal Democrats	Barry Brown	175
Labour	Soonu Engineer	168
Labour	Bob Mingay	151

Places of interest

At the northern end of the road, near the actual gate to Kensington Gardens, is an equestrian statue of Field Marshal Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala, erected in 1920.^[3]

From north to south, places of interest visible on the east side of Queen's Gate include the Royal Albert Hall,^[4] the Huxley Building of Imperial College London,^[5] the Dana Library and Research Centre^[6] and the Natural History Museum.^[7] Kensington Park School is just south of the Queen's Gate Gardens, opposite the museum.^[8] The road also lends its name to a private girls' school, Queen's Gate School, which is situated on the road.^[9] On the west side is Baden-Powell House.^[10]

The 100 Queen's Gate Hotel London, a historical building dating back to 1870, is also situated there.

The only church is St Augustine's of Canterbury (Church of England).^[11]

Five countries have embassies or high commissions in Queen's Gate: the Embassy of Iraq is at no. 21, the Bangladeshi High Commission at No. 28, the Royal Embassy of Thailand is at Nos. 29–30, the Embassy of Oman is at No. 167, and the Bulgarian Embassy is at Nos. 186–188.^[12]

The Security Service (MI5) was based at 73-75 Queen's Gate from 1919 to 1929.^[13]

The nearest tube stations are South Kensington and Gloucester Road.^[14]

Notable people

Benny Hill, comedian and actor (d. 1992)^[15]
Dennis Gabor, physicist, 1971 Nobel Prize in Physics (d. 1979)^[16]
Gerald Hocken Knight, compositor; organist of St Augustine's church, 1931-37 (d. 1979)^[17]
Gilbert Ledward, sculptor (d. 1960)^[18]
E. Beresford Chancellor, author known for his works on the history of London, died at no. 31 (d. 1937)^[19]
Sir Richard Baggallay, barrister, MP then Lord Justice of Appeal, of no. 55 (d. 1888)^[20]

References

^ Weinreb, Ben; Hibbert, Christopher (1992). The London Encyclopaedia (reprint ed.). Macmillan. p. 650.
^ "Kensington and Chelsea Ward population 2011". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
^ "Statue of Robert Cornelis Napier, Baron Napier of Magdala". Pastscape. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
^ "The Building" (PDF). Royal Albert Hall. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
^ "Huxley Building". Imperial College London. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
^ "Dana Library and Research Centre". www.sciencemuseum.org.uk. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
^ "Access at South Kensington". Natural History Museum. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
^ "Location". www.kps.co.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
^ Queen's Gate School Archived 27 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine on Good Schools Guide
^ Wood, Edward (April 1971). The story of B.-P.'s House. London: The Scout Association. ISBN 0-85165-016-3.
^ Historic England. "Church of St Augustine (1226161)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
^ "The London Diplomatic List" (PDF). 14 December 2013.
^ Andrew, Christopher (2009). The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5. Allen Lane. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-713-99885-6.
^ "Tube map" (PDF). Transport for London. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
^ "Tribute to Alfred Hawthorne Hill on MemorialMatters.com". memorialmatters.com. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
^ "Blue Plaque for Dennis Gabor, inventor of Holograms". Government News. 1 June 2006. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
^ Ansell, E. (1939). Admissions to Peterhouse October 1911 - December 1930. Cambridge University Press. p. 114. ISBN 9781107553897.
^ 'Ledward, Gilbert', in Who Was Who 1951–1960 (London: A. & C. Black, 1984 reprint, ISBN 0-7136-2598-8)
^ "Probate Calendar". 1937. p. 729. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
^ "'Domestic Buildings after 1851: The occupants', in Survey of London: Volume 38, South Kensington Museums Area, ed. F H W Sheppard (London, 1975)". British History Online. pp. 317–324. Retrieved 13 December 2019.

External links

Bangladeshi High Commission website
Royal Thai Embassy website
Omani Embassy website
Bulgarian Embassy website

51°29′54″N 0°10′47″W / 51.49834°N 0.17961°W / 51.49834; -0.17961

[1] Weinreb, Ben; Hibbert, Christopher (1992). The London Encyclopaedia (reprint ed.). Macmillan. p. 650.

[2] "Kensington and Chelsea Ward population 2011". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 15 October 2016.

[3] "Statue of Robert Cornelis Napier, Baron Napier of Magdala". Pastscape. Retrieved 24 November 2013.

[4] "The Building" (PDF). Royal Albert Hall. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011.

[5] "Huxley Building". Imperial College London. Retrieved 13 December 2019.

[6] "Dana Library and Research Centre". www.sciencemuseum.org.uk. Retrieved 24 November 2016.

[7] "Access at South Kensington". Natural History Museum. Retrieved 13 December 2019.

[8] "Location". www.kps.co.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2021.

[9] Queen's Gate School Archived 27 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine on Good Schools Guide

[wood-10] Wood, Edward (April 1971). The story of B.-P.'s House. London: The Scout Association. ISBN 0-85165-016-3.

[11] Historic England. "Church of St Augustine (1226161)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 November 2013.

[12] "The London Diplomatic List" (PDF). 14 December 2013.

[13] Andrew, Christopher (2009). The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5. Allen Lane. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-713-99885-6.

[14] "Tube map" (PDF). Transport for London. Retrieved 29 April 2010.

[15] "Tribute to Alfred Hawthorne Hill on MemorialMatters.com". memorialmatters.com. Retrieved 5 July 2015.

[16] "Blue Plaque for Dennis Gabor, inventor of Holograms". Government News. 1 June 2006. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.

[17] Ansell, E. (1939). Admissions to Peterhouse October 1911 - December 1930. Cambridge University Press. p. 114. ISBN 9781107553897.

[18] 'Ledward, Gilbert', in Who Was Who 1951–1960 (London: A. & C. Black, 1984 reprint, ISBN 0-7136-2598-8)

[19] "Probate Calendar". 1937. p. 729. Retrieved 13 December 2019.

[20] "'Domestic Buildings after 1851: The occupants', in Survey of London: Volume 38, South Kensington Museums Area, ed. F H W Sheppard (London, 1975)". British History Online. pp. 317–324. Retrieved 13 December 2019.