Kennington Palace was sited north of Kennington Lane in the Manor of Kennington. ‘Edward III gave the manor of Kennington to his oldest son Edward, the Black Prince in 1337, and the prince then built a large royal palace in the triangle formed by Kennington Lane, Sancroft Street and Cardigan Street, near to Kennington Cross.’ But in 1531 Henry VIII dismantled the building and the materials were used in a new palace in Whitehall. The Duchy of Cornwall remains a considerable landowner in the area to this day.
In the early 20C the Duchy of Cornwall started building housing around the site of the Palace – Courtenay Square, Courtenay Street, and Cardigan Street are terraces by Adshead and Ramsay in a style which was revolutionary for the time, 1913.
In nearby Cardigan Street the style of housing is slightly different and there is a fine view down to Imperial Court.
Woodstock Court in Newburn Street was built in 1914 and is retirement/sheltered housing for Duchy of Cornwall employees. I peered through the gate at the courtyard garden which looks wonderful.
Kennington Palace Court in Sancroft Road dates from 1910 and is flats built by the Duchy of Cornwall.
In Black Prince Road is this curious and rather grand gate, leading into the park. This was once housing from the between-war years by the Lambeth Borough Council – I thought it might have been one of the grand houses in the area, or perhaps another of the ‘quiet squares’.
You may be interested in
Kennington
The history of Kennington
I would love to hear from you!