Kensington Church Street Antiques Strip

Kensington Church Street in London is an ancient street originally built to link two Roman roads, which later became a famous antiques quarter boasting over 60 dealers. Nicknamed Crock Alley for its ceramic shops, it also housed the legendary fashion boutique Biba from 1966 to 1969, where a young Anna Wintour worked as a shop girl.

London Β· from the walk β€œKensington High Street: Shop, Eat & Explore” Β· audio ~3 min Β· Generated

Kensington Church Street, London W8 4DB

Why was Kensington Church Street historically nicknamed Crock Alley?

Take a look at the street you're standing on. Kensington Church Street... it may look like a quiet, elegant row of shopfronts today, but this road is Ancient. Originally, it was created as a narrow lane to connect two Roman roads β€” one heading to Bath, the other to Oxford β€” linking them to the City of London. The south part was formerly called Church Lane, and the north part had a rather telling name... Silver Street. And if you can believe it, until eighteen sixty-four, there was actually a toll gate right here at Campden Street. You had to Pay to walk up this hill.......... Now, look at the shop windows around you. There are over sixty antique dealers peppered along this stretch, offering everything from classical art to treasured artifacts. But here's a detail most people miss... this street became known in the trade as "Crock Alley" because of the sheer concentration of antique ceramic dealers. Famous names like Graham and Oxley, Klaber and Klaber, and Jonathan Horne all set up shop here. The street has been important for antique shops from the nineteen twenties right up to today.......... And it's not just antiques. Most of the shops on this street are members of the prestigious British Antique Dealers Association β€” and it's claimed that this thoroughfare has the country's Highest density of Bada members. The Rowley Gallery, a picture-frame maker, has had premises here since eighteen ninety-eight.......... But here's where the story gets really interesting. From nineteen sixty-six to nineteen sixty-nine, this very street was home to Biba β€” the legendary fashion boutique run by Polish-born Barbara Hulanicki. Time magazine called it "the most in-shop for gear." And a young Anna Wintour β€” yes, The Anna Wintour β€” famously did a stint as a Saturday shop girl at the Kensington Church Street location. Picture that... the future editor of Vogue, folding minidresses right here on this pavement.......... And just steps away, tucked behind the church on Kensington Church Walk... the American poet Ezra Pound lived at number ten from nineteen oh nine until nineteen fourteen. Before nineteen thirteen, three of the great Imagist poets all lived on that tiny lane β€” Pound at number ten, Richard Aldington at number eight, and Hilda Doolittle at number six β€” and they walked together daily to the British Museum Reading Room. Pound even married Dorothy Shakespear right here at Saint Mary Abbots Church in nineteen fourteen.......... So as you browse these windows full of Georgian silver and Victorian jewellery, remember β€” you're walking a street where Roman soldiers once marched, where Swinging Sixties fashion was Born, and where modern poetry was quietly being reinvented... in a rented room just around the corner.

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