The renal fascia is a dense, elastic connective tissue envelope enclosing the kidney and adrenal gland, together with the layer of perirenal fat surrounding these two.

[1] The renal fascia separates the adipose capsule of kidney from the overlying pararenal fat.

The deeper layers deep to the renal fascia are, in order, the adipose capsule (or perirenal fat), the renal capsule and finally the parenchyma of the renal cortex.

Understanding of the structure of the renal fascia has subsequently evolved.

[1] This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 1220 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)