Kensal Town is north of Ladbroke Grove and separated from it by the Grand Union Canal, which encompasses its entire southern border. The area borders West Kilburn to the east and Kensal Green to the west, and is separated from Queen’s Park by the Overground line. Kensal Town actually extends to the south of the canal, where much of the Brutalist developments of the 20th century, including the famous Trellick Tower, are located. However, north of the river, the area retains its Victorian terrace houses. There are also a series of post-war flats, part of the Queens Park Estate to the east of the postcode sector, and although it is a decently sized estate it is not the dominant feature. Despite the connection, however, only two bridges connect it to the south of the canal, Ladbroke Grove and a footpath. The area’s only public space is Queen’s Park Public Open Space; Kensal Green Cemetery is also nearby. There is also a small canalside walk on the opposite side of the Grand Union Canal.

Kensal Town, started off as an extension of the successful Kensal Green development, and was then called Kensal New Town. However, it was always meant to be a poorer and less-fashionable part of London, in comparison to its predecessor, and it deteriorated into a slum shortly after its construction in the 1840s. This did not stop it from being incorporated into the Royal Borough of Kensington in 1899 (albeit with considerable protestation from the borough). Kensal Town today is very much a multicultural community, with large numbers of Afro-Caribbean, Portuguese and Moroccan residents.

Charles Booth described the area as an ‘isolated district, shaped like a shoe and just as full of children and poverty as was the old woman’s dwelling in the nursery rhyme’.
The Grand Union Canal is part of the British canal system, starting in Brentford, London and ending up in Birmingham, stretching for 220 kilometres. It is further linked up to Leicester.

The area suffers from being boxed-in by the canal and the railway line, and hence walking (and bus use) is restricted to one or two road connections north, west and south. The area, however, has a good connection to the Overground station at Queen’s Park, and the it is relatively quiet due to the lack of through traffic.

Kensal Town’s house prices are said to be ready to rise, owing to a good supply of housing, sudden proliferation of independent shops in nearby Kensal Rise and the potential Crossrail station at Ladbroke Grove/Old Oak Common (which is, as of now, only being considered, not planned). Price increases have already occured in the Kensal Rise and Queen’s Park areas, so it’s not too difficult to imagine a bit of that trickling down to Kensal Town.