Kensington, Gauteng

Kensington is a hilly suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was established in 1897 by Max Langermann (after whom the thoroughfare Langermann Drive is named). It is located in Region F of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality[2] and is bounded to the west by the suburb of Troyeville, to the east by Bedfordview and the north by Bruma and Cyrildene.

This article is about the suburb of Johannesburg. For other places also named Kensington, see Kensington (disambiguation).

Kensington
Kensington Show map of Gauteng Kensington Show map of South Africa
Coordinates: 26°11′36″S 28°6′22″E
Country	South Africa
Province	Gauteng
Municipality	City of Johannesburg
Main Place	Johannesburg
Established	1897
Area [1]
• Total	5.21 km^2 (2.01 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	19,197
• Density	3,700/km^2 (9,500/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• Black African	45.9%
• Coloured	6.4%
• Indian/Asian	9.5%
• White	37.0%
• Other	1.3%
First languages (2011) [1]
• English	59.6%
• Zulu	11.0%
• Afrikaans	6.7%
• Xhosa	2.5%
• Other	20.2%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	2094
PO box	2101

History

Roberts Avenue, Kensington, 2002.

Prior to the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886, the suburb lay on land on one of the original farms called Doornfontein.[3] Kensington is laid out over the slopes of several koppies (flat-topped, high-sided hills). The streets were laid out in 1903, with the suburb named by the owner of the land, Max Langermann. All of the streets coming off of Langermann Drive are in alphabetical order and are named after British war ships.

The streets were heavily planted with trees, which give the area a distinctive, wooded appearance. Notable features of the suburb include Rhodes Park, named after Cecil Rhodes; Jeppe High School for Boys, Jeppe High School for Girls, Kensington Castle and the Kensington Cross. [4]

The Kensington Cross

The Kensington Cross is a memorial on Caledonia Hill, made out of granite with the shape of an Iona Cross, a superimposed sword (a 16th Century two-handed true claymore or claidheamhmor), the memorial proudly bears the Scottish shield of lion rampant and royal treasure. The inscription reads "Nemo me impune lacessit 1900".

Also known as the one of the Boer War Cross of Iona, the statue has an identical twin. On the esplanade at Edinburgh Castle and the other is on Caledonia Hill, Johannesburg. The later is cared for by the Transvaal Scottish Association

Demographics

Religion

Kensington is also home to the headquarters for the Church of Scientology of Johannesburg.[5]

Economy

Retail

There are several shopping centres and office parks in the area such as the Eastgate Shopping Centre, Park Meadows Shopping Centre and the Pick 'n Pay head offices. Kensington is a restaurant neighbourhood in development, with most restaurants and coffee shops amid the antique shops on Queen Street. There is an annual Spring Fest on the opening weekend of September.

Education

There several schools in the suburb. Kensington Ridge Primary School opened in August 1937.[6] Jeppe High School for Boys, Jeppe High School for Girls and Jeppe Prep are all located on Roberts Avenue. Leicester Road Primary school opened in 1938[7]

References

1. "Sub Place Kensington". Census 2011.
2. "2007 map of regions of Johannesburg" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
3. Raper, Peter E.; Moller, Lucie A.; du Plessis, Theodorus L. (2014). Dictionary of Southern African Place Names. Jonathan Ball Publishers. p. 1412. ISBN 9781868425501.
4. "Scottish Horse War Memorial on Caledonia Hill". Retrieved January 30, 2016.
5. http://www.scientology.org.za
6. Drew, W.J.F. "Schools history". Kensington Ridge Primary. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
7. "lrschool | OUR SCHOOL". lrschool. Retrieved 2018-09-12.

External links

• Official website of the City of Johannesburg