Kentish Town
Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town. Less than four miles north of central London, Kentish Town has good transport connections and is situated close to the open spaces of Hampstead Heath.
For the railway and tube station, see Kentish Town station.Kentish Town
Kentish Town likely derives its name from Ken-ditch or Caen-ditch, meaning the "bed of a waterway." The area was initially a small settlement on the River Fleet, first recorded in 1207 during King John's reign. The early 19th century brought modernization to the area, and it became a popular resort due to its accessibility from London. Notably, Karl Marx resided at 46 Grafton Terrace in Kentish Town from 1856.
The area saw further development after World War II and has a rich history of political representation, with the Holborn and St Pancras seat held by Labour Party MP and leader Keir Starmer as of April 2024. Kentish Town has also been a popular filming location for various movies and television shows. It is home to numerous independently owned shops, music venues, and cultural establishments, such as the Kentish Town Community Centre.
Toponymy[edit]
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 the English county of Kent.[1] 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.[2] However, another theory is the name comes from its position near the Fleet; it has been suggested that Kentish Town, which lies in between two forks of the Fleet, takes its name from cant or cantle (from the Middle English[3] meaning "corner").[4][5]
Political representation[edit]
Kentish Town is part of the Holborn and St Pancras seat which is held by Labour Party MP and leader Keir Starmer as of March 2024. Kentish Town was an early base for the Social Democratic Party and in recent years the increasingly middle class population has returned large votes for the Green and Liberal Democrat parties. In May 2006 the Liberal Democrats won two of the three Council seats in Kentish Town, strengthening this hold by taking the final seat in a by-election in November of the same year. In the Council elections in May 2010, Labour regained all three Council seats.
In May 2022, the ward of Kentish Town North elected two Labour Councillors Sylvia McNamara and James Slater. Kentish Town South reelected Labour Councillors Georgia Gould, Meric Apac, and Jenny Headlam-Wells.[9]