Walking Tour of "Albertopolis" (South Kensington)

In the middle of the 19th century the area we know as South Kensington was a rural suburb with mainly agricultural land and farms. That all changed when Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert proposed ‘The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations’ on the banks of the Serpentine in Hyde Park. The huge exhibition which opened in 1851 was dubbed ‘The Crystal Palace’.
The Great Exhibition attracted more than 6 million visitors and raised a hefty profit which Prince Albert used to transform the area around the Exhibition into a centre for science and arts and celebrate Britain as an industrial and imperial power. Albert died in 1861 as plans were drawn up and the so-called ‘Albertopolis’ is seen as his legacy. Join Tira Shubert and Jo Weir for a walking tour of this historic area.

Our tour starts at the South Kensington Underground. Five minutes away we meet a dinosaur in the gardens of the Natural History Museum and walk up Exhibition Road to the site of the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park. We circle back to the Albert Memorial and the Royal Albert Hall opposite before visiting ‘Hot & Cold’ corner of the Royal Geographical Society, followed by a short visit to the Science Museum. 

 We exit into Imperial College campus and a short walk to our final destination, The Duchess of Kensington pub in the heart of Albertropolis. Along our way, we pass a dozen other historical locations with stories from the past two centuries.
Tira Shubart is a journalist, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and long time South Kensington resident. Her passion is history and story telling.
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