SAPlanned settlement
Kensington
A bush village on Second Creek, sold to working people at a pound a week.
1838Charles Catchlove lays out the village
WHAT STARTED IT
Builder Charles Catchlove laid out Kensington in 1838 on section 289, about a mile from East Terrace on the road to the Stringy Bark Forest. Hallet’s Rivulet, now Second Creek, ran through it, promising water for most of the year.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
The one-acre allotments were sold for £12, payable at one pound a week, to working people who wanted a home near their jobs. Chapels and a church followed in the 1840s, and in 1853 Kensington joined Norwood and Marryatville as the first municipality outside Adelaide.
TURNING POINTS
1838Kensington is laid out in 114 one-acre allotments on Hallet’s Rivulet and advertised to the working classes.
1839Land in the village is advertised as one mile from East Terrace on the road to the Stringy Bark Forest.
1848Congregationalists lay the foundation of a larger chapel, and St Matthew’s Church is built.
1853Kensington becomes part of the Corporation of Kensington and Norwood.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A quiet residential suburb in the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters. Its early cottages and churches reflect the 1838 village.