Congregationalism in the Court Suburb

Congregationalism in the Court Suburb

At the commencement of my History, I wish to convey some idea of what Kensington was at the close of the last century, when the original Nonconformist Church in that place was formed and established. Kensington as a parish must be distinguished from Kensington as a village or suburb. The boundaries of the parish are still unaltered, yet what it contained ninety years ago was different, indeed, from what it contains now. It is startling to read in Lysons Environs, published in 1795, the following sentence:The parish of Kensington contains about 1,910 acres of land, about half of which is pasture meadow, about 360 acres are arable land for corn only, about 230 in market gardens, about 260 cultivated sometimes for corn and sometimes for garden crops, and 100 acres of nursery ground. I often think, as I am reading history, what a contrast exists between its background of natural scenery, and the prospect now before our eyes on the spot to which the history refers. We should not know Kensington if we could see it as it was when Hornton Street Chapel was being built. Then all around was rural. Notting p. 8Hill and the whole way to Paddingtonwhere was the parish boundary to the northexhibited fields bordered by hedgerows. Holland Park, to the west, was a lordly demesne such as you see now down in the shires, and the boundary of the parish in that direction, at what used to be called Compton Bridge, was marked by a turnpike gate not long ago removed; beyond it lay a bit of country landscape before you reached the junction of roads at Hammersmith Broadway. No great change had then taken place since Addisonwho lived in Kensingtonwrote to the Earl of Warwick, saying, The business of this is to invite you to a concert of music, which I have found out in a neighbouring wood. It begins precisely at six in the evening, and consists of a blackbird, a thrush, a robin redbreast, and a bullfinch. There is a lark that, by way of overture, sings famously till she is almost out of hearing. The whole is concluded by a nightingale. Such were the warblers that broke the silence of Kensington woods when no screech of the railway whistled in the wind, and no lumbering omnibuses thundered along the highway. Indeed, I well remember the nightingales in Holland Park, after the commencement of my ministry at Hornton Street. Earls Court, even then, was separated from Holland Park gates by a country lane which began at Pembroke Square. But fifty years before, now ninety years ago, it was thereabouts all pleasant open country, dotted with homesteads, paddocks, gardens; whilst at eventide broad green meadows saw the lowing herd wind p. 9slowly oer the lea. Brompton, included within the parish, extended to the borders of Chelsea, famous for cosy retreats occupied by merchants and literary men. Turning from south to east, there opened, under the shadow of the palace, those gardens which had become famous and much admired in Queen Annes time; and after Hornton Street chapel was built, a minute of the Board of Green Cloth recorded that an annual pension of 18 was to be paid to a widow, named Gray, in consideration of the loss of her husband, who was accidentally shot while the keepers were hunting foxes in Kensington Gardens. [9a] ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 43494
Author: Stoughton, John
Release Date: Aug 18, 2013
Format: eBook
Language: English