[3] The manor of Kensington, in the county of Middlesex, was one of several hundred granted by King William the Conqueror (1066–1089) to Geoffrey de Montbray (or Mowbray), Bishop of Coutances in Normandy, one of his inner circle of advisors and one of the wealthiest men in post-Conquest England.

He granted the tenancy of Kensington to his follower Aubrey de Vere I, who was holding the manor from him as overlord in 1086, according to the Domesday Book.

The bishop's heir, Robert de Mowbray, rebelled against King William II and his vast feudal barony was forfeited to the Crown.

[4] He granted the church and an estate within the manor to Abingdon Abbey in Oxfordshire, at the deathbed request of his eldest son Geoffrey.

[6] The focus of the area is Kensington High Street, a busy commercial centre with many shops, typically upmarket.

The area has some of London's most expensive streets and garden squares, and at about the turn of the 21st century the Holland Park neighbourhood became particularly high-status.

In early 2007 houses sold in Upper Phillimore Gardens, immediately east of Holland Park, for over £20 million.

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea forms part of the most densely populated local government district in the United Kingdom.

This high density has come about through the subdivision of large mid-rise Georgian and Victorian terraced houses (generally of four to six floors) into flats.

The head office of newspaper group DMGT is located in Northcliffe House off Kensington High Street[9] in part of the large Barkers department store building.

[12][13] The temporary cycle lane was installed by the local council in September 2020 with £700,000 in funding from central government grants, but it was removed in December 2020.