Kensington Oval

The Kensington Oval is a stadium located to the west of the capital city Bridgetown on the island of Barbados. It is the pre-eminent sporting facility on the island and is primarily used for cricket. Locally referred to as "The Mecca" of cricket, it has hosted many important and exciting cricket games between local, regional, and international teams during its more than 120-year history.

History

Cricket at the Oval began in 1882 when the Pickwick Cricket Club assumed formal ownership of the ground. The first international match held was in 1895 when Slade Lucas' side visited the island. The first Test match was held in January 1930, when the West Indies and England played to a draw. Since the genesis there have been a total of 43 Test matches played on the Kensington Oval grounds, 21 of those matches won by the West Indian cricket team. The new stadium has been commemorated through two 2007 Barbadian postage stamps.

Oval Redevelopment 2005–2007

Structures and facilities

The stands of the Kensington Oval were extensively rebuilt for the 2007 Cricket World Cup in a BDS$90M (US$45 Million) redevelopment. Demolition of the old stadium began on schedule in June, 2005 after completion of the first Test against Pakistan. The names of the former stands which made up the Kensington stadium were the George Challenor stand, the Hall and Griffith, the Kensington, the Mitchie Hewitt, the Pickwick, and the Three Ws stand plus the Peter Short Media Centre. Most of these names have been retained.

Kensington

Coordinates: 51°30′00″N 0°11′24″W / 51.500°N 0.190°W / 51.500; -0.190

Kensington is a district within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London. The north east is taken up by Kensington Gardens, once private as the name suggests, but today a public park which has Italian and Dutch gardens, public buildings such as the Albert Memorial, the Serpentine Gallery and Speke's monument.

Its commercial heart is Kensington High Street. This affluent and densely populated area contains the major museum district of South Kensington, which has the Royal Albert Hall for music and nearby Royal College of Music. The area is home to many of London's European embassies. Cementing Kensington's indicators of connections with France, the area has the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, French Consulate, French Embassy Cultural Department and the London Oratory on the borders with diminutive Knightsbridge.

Name

The first mention of the area is in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it was written in Latin as "Chenesitone", which has been interpreted to have originally been "Kenesignetun" (Kenesigne's land or meadows) in Anglo-Saxon. A variation may be Kesyngton, in 1396.

Metropolitan Borough of Kensington

The Metropolitan Borough of Kensington was a Metropolitan borough in the County of London from 1900 to 1965.

History

It bordered Chelsea, Fulham, Hammersmith, Paddington, and Westminster.

It included Kensington, South Kensington, Earls Court, Notting Hill, Brompton and part of Kensal Green.

In 1901 it was granted the status of a royal borough, and therefore from then was also known as the Royal Borough of Kensington. The status was granted after the death of Queen Victoria, in accordance with her wish (she was born at Kensington Palace in the borough).

In 1965 it was amalgamated with the Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea to form the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

A number of street name plaques still bear the designation "Royal Borough of Kensington"; one such sign, in Portobello Road, is seen fleetingly in the Disney film Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971).

The Town Hall in Kensington High Street was an Italianate building dating from 1880 designed by Robert Walker. It was demolished "in controversial circumstances" in June 1982.

Kensington, Philadelphia

Kensington is a neighborhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is between the Lower Northeast section of Philadelphia and North Philadelphia. Not to be confused with the former Kensington District, now commonly referred to as Fishtown. As with all neighborhoods in Philadelphia, the lack of any official designation means the boundaries of the area vary between sources and over time.

Traditionally, Kensington is best known for its large working class Irish Catholic community. Kensington was the location of the Philadelphia Nativist Riots in the 19th century. Kensington is also the birthplace of the K&A Gang, (currently known as the Northeast Philly Irish Mob), an Irish American organized crime network.

Along with Irish Americans, Kensington is also home to a large population of Hispanic Americans (mainly Puerto Ricans), African Americans, Polish Americans, and Italian Americans.

Location