Time Walk
A Duchy Cottage Row Off Kennington Lane
A royal landowner, not a speculative builder, put up this row of cottages. Walking it today, the eye catches alternating bands of red and grey brick and dark tiled roofs along one side, between Kennington Lane and Chester Way.
Beneath the neat gardens and chain-link fences lies a planned estate street, laid out for the Duchy of Cornwall rather than grown piecemeal like so much of Kennington. That ownership, and the name itself, are where the story properly begins.
Name Origin
A Vicar of Vauxhall
The street is named after Rev. Edward Denny, a former vicar of St Peter's Church, Vauxhall, according to Sheila Fairfield's The Streets of London: A Dictionary of the Names and Their Origins (Papermac, 1983). The sources used here say nothing further about his life or his connection to the Duchy of Cornwall Estate on which the street stands.
History
Building for the Duchy
Denny Street was built around 1913 as part of the Duchy of Cornwall Estate, with J. D. Coleridge as architect. It is a terrace of two-storey cottages in alternating red and grey brick, in an adapted Dutch style, with dark red tiled roofs, sash windows with glazing bars, and half-glazed doors with low oblong fanlights. One account credits Denny Street and the neighbouring Denny Crescent to a wider scheme laid out from 1915 by Stanley Davenport Adshead, Stanley Churchill Ramsay and Coleridge.
In its 2012 Conservation Area Statement, Lambeth Council described Denny Street as "a modest but particularly smart residential environment," its narrow front gardens enclosed with timber posts and chain links.
No. 21 Denny Street has an oculus window set above its central doorway, with a doorcase of plain pilasters and a pediment — a slightly grander touch among the plainer cottage terrace.
People
Architects and a Vicar
J. D. Coleridge designed Denny Street itself, and is also credited, alongside Stanley Davenport Adshead and Stanley Churchill Ramsay, with laying out Denny Street and Denny Crescent together from 1915 as part of the larger Duchy scheme.
The street's name points to a different figure entirely: Rev. Edward Denny, once vicar of St Peter's Church in nearby Vauxhall. Nothing in the sources used here connects him directly to the building works that followed.
Today
A Listed Terrace
Denny Street still reads as a single, well-kept Edwardian estate row. Nos. 1-20 on the west side hold Grade II listed status, and No. 21 sits on Lambeth's Local Heritage List, its oculus and pedimented doorcase marking it out from its neighbours.
On the Map
Denny Street Then & Now
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it called Denny Street?
It is named after Rev. Edward Denny, a former vicar of St Peter's Church, Vauxhall, according to Sheila Fairfield's street-name dictionary. The sources used here give no further detail.
What is Denny Street known for?
Its row of Grade II listed Edwardian cottages, built around 1913 for the Duchy of Cornwall Estate in alternating red and grey brick with Dutch-style gables.
Who designed Denny Street?
J. D. Coleridge is named as the architect of the 1913 cottages. A wider 1915 scheme covering Denny Street and Denny Crescent is also credited to Stanley Davenport Adshead and Stanley Churchill Ramsay.
Is Denny Street a listed street?
Nos. 1-20 on the west side were first listed Grade II on 27 March 1981, and No. 21 appears separately on Lambeth's Local Heritage List.