The structure, which was built for Kensington Vestry and now accommodates Bank Melli Iran is a Grade II listed building.

[1] In the first half of the 19th century parish leaders met in a room attached to St Mary Abbots Church.

[2] The new building was designed by the architect, James Broadbridge, in the Elizabethan style,[2][3][4] was built by Thomas Corby in red brick with stone dressings at a cost of £5,000 and was completed in 1852.

[8] The old vestry hall was then converted for use as the Kensington Central Library and was officially re-opened in that capacity by Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll in November 1889.

[2] The old vestry hall was listed as Grade II by English Heritage on 15 April 1969[1] and, by 1998, it was "the only substantial remnant" of what the street looked like during the Victorian era.