Kensington is, since 1899, a metropolitan borough of the county of London. Kensington Palace, built of red brick, was originally the seat of Heneage Finch, Earl of Nottingham and Lord Chancellor of England, from whose successor William III. bought it in 1689: he and his wife Mary, Queen Anne and her consort Prince George of Denmark, and George II. all died within its walls, and it was also the birthplace of Queen Victoria. Kensington Gardens, which at first only consisted of the grounds of 26 acres attached to the palace, have been frequently enlarged, and are now 2 1/2 miles in circuit; they are connected with the northern part of Hyde Park by a stone bridge over the Serpentine built by Rennie in 1826. At their southern extremity is the Albert Memorial (1872), designed by Sir Gilbert Scott, and consisting of a bronze-gilt seated statue (by Foley) of the prince, placed beneath a gorgeous canopy 180 feet high, and surrounded by works of sculpture illustrating the various arts and sciences. Opposite, in Kensington Gore, is the Albert Hall (1867-71), a huge circular building in the modern Italian style, of red brick with yellow dressings, used as a concert-room and capable of holding 10,000 persons; its cost was £200,000, and the interior measures 200 feet by 180 feet and is 140 feet high. Other buildings in the vicinity are the South Kensington Museum (1857), Natural History Museum, Royal School of Art Needlework, Royal College of Music (1883), City and Guilds of London Institute for the advancement of technical education (1884), and Imperial Institute (1887-93). The parish church is a fine building in the Gothic style, designed by Sir Gilbert Scott (1869), with a spire 295 feet high. Close by are the town-hall (1880) and the Roman Catholic Pro-cathedral (1869). Next to Kensington Palace, the most interesting building from a historical point of view is Holland House, a quaint mansion in the Elizabethan style, erected (1607) by Sir Walter Cope, and the great resort of the Whig politicians at the commencement of the 19th century. Campden House, rebuilt in 1862 on its destruction by fire, is noteworthy from the former house, erected in 1612, having been the residence, before her accession, of Queen Anne. Of the residences occupied by Swift, Sir Isaac Newton, Jack Wilkes, Wilberforce, George Canning and his son, Dr Dibdin, Sir David Wilkie, William Cobbett, Mrs Inchbald, Count D'Orsay, Talleyrand, Lord Macaulay, Thackeray, and John Leech, but few traces now remain. The borough returns two members to parliament. It is a suffragan bishopric under London. Pop. (1871) 120,299 ; (1891) 166,308 ; (1901) 176,628.

See Leigh Hunt's An Old Court Suburb (1855), Loftie's Picturesque Kensington (1888), and Marie Lichtenstein's Holland House (1873).