Facts about Kentish Town

Kentish Town History

The early 19th century brought modernization, causing much of the area’s rural qualities, the River Fleet and the 18th-century buildings to vanish, although pockets still remain, for example, Little Green Street. Between the availability of public transport to it from London, and its urbanization, it was a popular resort.

Large amounts of land were purchased to build the railway, which can still be seen today. Kentish Town was a prime site for development as the Kentish Town Road was a major route from London northwards. Karl Marx was a famous resident, living at 46 Grafton Terrace from 1856. Jenny Marx described this eight-room house in Kentish Town as “A truly princely dwelling, compared with the holes we used to live in”.

General Info

Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town. The name of Kentish Town is probably derived from Ken-ditch or Caen-ditch, meaning the “bed of a waterway” and is otherwise unrelated to Kent. In researching the meaning of Ken-ditch, it has also been noted that ken is the Celtic word for both “green” and “river”, while ditch refers to the River Fleet, now a subterranean river.

In 2002 the comedy and drama film About a Boy was filmed in Lady Margaret Road, which is located at the top of Kentish Town, and Oseney Crescent. Many of the filming locations used in the 2006 film Venus, starring Peter O’Toole, Leslie Phillips, and Jodie Whittaker were in Kentish Town. In 1959 Lady Somerset Road and Oakford Road were used substantially for the filming of Sapphire, a film exploring racial tension in London, directed by Basil Dearden.