Kennington | |
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Kennington Park |
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Kennington shown within Greater London | |
Population | 21,287 (Oval and Prince's wards, 2011 Census) |
OS grid reference | TQ305775 |
• Charing Cross | 1.4 mi (2.3 km) N |
London borough | |
Ceremonial county | Greater London |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | LONDON |
Postcode district | SE11 |
Dialling code | 020 |
Police | Metropolitan |
Fire | London |
Ambulance | London |
EU Parliament | London |
UK Parliament | |
London Assembly | |
Kennington is a district in London, England, south of the River Thames.
It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between the Lambeth and St George's parishes of those boroughs respectively. It is located 1.4 miles (2.3 km) south of Charing Cross, in Inner London and is identified as a local centre in the London Plan. It was a royal manor in the ancient parish of St Mary, Lambeth in the county of Surrey and was the administrative centre of the parish from 1853. Proximity to central London was key to the development of the area as a residential suburb and it was incorporated into the metropolitan area of London in 1855.
Kennington is the location of three significant London landmarks: the Oval cricket ground, the Imperial War Museum, and Kennington Park. Its population at the United Kingdom Census 2011 was 21,287.
Kennington appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Chenintune. It is recorded as Kenintone in 1229 and Kenyngton in 1263. Mills (2001) believes the name to be Old English meaning 'farmstead or estate associated with a man called Cēna'. Another explanation is that it means "place of the King", or "town of the King".
The presence of a tumulus, and other locally significant geographical features, suggest that the area was regarded in ancient times as a sacred place of assembly. According to the Domesday Book it was held by Teodric (Theodoric) the Goldsmith. It contained: 1 hide and 3 virgates; 3 ploughs, 4 acres (16,000 m2) of meadow. It rendered £3 annually. The manor of Kennington was divided from the manor of Vauxhall by the River Effra, a tributary of the River Thames. A smaller river, the River Neckinger, ran along the edge of the northern part of Kennington, approximately where Brook Drive is today (i.e. the brook) still forming the borough boundary. Both rivers have now been diverted into underground culverts.