Brompton, London facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Brompton |
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 Brompton
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| Population | 8,839 (2011 Census.Ward) |
| OS grid reference | TQ274790 |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LONDON |
| Postcode district | SW3, SW5, SW7, SW10 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| EU Parliament | London |
| UK Parliament | |
Brompton, sometimes called Old Brompton, survives in name as a ward in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. Until the latter half of the 19th century it was a scattered village made up mostly of market gardens in the county of Middlesex. It lay south-east of the village of Kensington, abutting the parish of St Margaret's, Westminster at the hamlet of Knightsbridge to the north-east, with Little Chelsea to the south. It was bisected by the Fulham Turnpike, the main road westward out of London to the ancient parish of Fulham and on to Putney and Surrey. It saw its first parish church, Holy Trinity Brompton, only in 1829. Today the village has been comprehensively eclipsed by segmentation due principally to railway development culminating in London Underground lines, and its imposition of station names, including Knightsbridge, South Kensington and Gloucester Road as the names of stops during accelerated urbanisation, but lacking any cogent reference to local history and usage or distinctions from neighbouring settlements.
Brompton has been home to many writers, actors and intellectuals. The Survey of London gives a long list. Its name survives formally to this day, only just, in the shared reference to two of the council's electoral wards called, "Brompton" and "Hans Town".
Contents
Development
Charles Dickens, Jr. (eldest child of Charles Dickens) wrote in his 1879 book Dickens's Dictionary of London that "[Brompton] was at one time almost exclusively the artist quarter and is still largely frequented by the votaries of the brush and chisel, though of late years Belgravia has been encroaching upon its boundaries, and Belgravian rents are stealing westward." Westward was the settlement of West Brompton, still leafy on the edge of Counter's Creek and of industrialisation through canals and railways.
Brompton has been home to many writers and actors, and those in similar occupations. The Survey of London gives a long list.
Landmarks in or near Brompton
- Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, also known as Brompton Oratory
- Brompton Cemetery
- Royal Brompton Hospital, formerly known as Brompton Consumption Hospital
- Royal Marsden Hospital
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Natural History Museum
- Holy Trinity Brompton Church
Streets in Brompton
- Kings Road
- Fulham Road
- Old Brompton Road
- Brompton Road
Nearest places
Brompton itself is spread over 3 districts of London, so it is not a separate and distinct district. The Eastern part (The Brompton Road and the area to the East of the Western end of the Brompton Road - often mistaken as Fulham Road) is part of Knightsbridge; the Western part is in South Kensington (containing the Underground Station itself) and the Southern parts are in Chelsea.
- Knightsbridge
- South Kensington
- Earls Court
- Chelsea
- Belgravia
Notable people
- Muzio Clementi (1752–1832), Italian-born composer, pianist and influential pedagogue lived in Brompton Grove
- William Wilberforce (1759–1833), English politician, philanthropist and abolitionist
- George Canning (1770–1827), British Tory politician, lived in the area in at least 1809
- Caroline Clive (1801–1873), English writer
- Henry Cole (1808–1882), civil servant, activist, inventor, started the idea of the Christmas card
- Jenny Lind (1820–1887), Swedish opera singer lived in Bolton Place
- W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911), dramatist and librettist lived in Harrington Gardens
- Edmund Halswell QC (1790–1874), barrister of Gore Lodge, Old Brompton
- Stéphane Mallarmé (1842–1898), French poet
- Edwin Lutyens (1869–1944), Anglo-Irish architect
- Norman Whitten (1885–1969), English early film actor, director and producer
- Mervyn Peake (1911–1968), English writer, poet and illustrator lived in Drayton Gardens
- Rosalind Franklin (1920–1958), British chemist and X-ray crystallographer who made a ground-breaking contribution to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA
Images for kids
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Brompton on William Faden's 1790 map
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Onslow Square, London SW7, with stucco terraces typical of today's "Brompton"
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Pigot & Co. (1842) Brompton in the County of Middlesex
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206 Brompton Road, the former station building
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Royal Society of British Sculptors 108 Old Brompton Road
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The first Brompton Hospital on the Fulham Road, c.1850
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Brompton Cancer Hospital 1859, Kensington, London
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Brompton Square, London
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St Yeghiche Armenian cathedral, London SW7
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Michelin House, Brompton
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Brompton Cemetery North Gate on Old Brompton Road
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