Last updated October 2026
Kensington is a small inner suburb of Dunedin, gathered around the point where Princes Street becomes King Edward Street. It sits at the foot of Montecillo Ridge, with the southern end of the Town Belt on the slope above and the flat opening out beyond the railway.
A flyover carrying the Dunedin Southern Motorway cuts the suburb in two: houses on the ridge side, and a light industrial area on the other.
The name comes from the London district, and the land was subdivided as the early city pushed south. It is an easy place to pass through on the way toward the flat, and a useful one to know if you are walking the Oval, the Southern Cemetery, or the streets just beyond the central city.
Official Suburb Facts
- Population (2023 Census)
- About 10
- Land area
- 0.17 km² (17 ha)
- Location
- 1.4 km south of central Dunedin
- Council
- Dunedin City Council
- Neighbouring suburbs
- South Dunedin, Dunedin Central, The Glen, Caversham
- Ward or local board
- Dunedin City Council; councillors are elected city-wide. Kensington is not in one of the six community board areas.
- Getting there
- Princes Street from the central city, continuing as King Edward Street. Orbus buses use this corridor and connect with the Dunedin Bus Hub on Great King Street. State Highway 1 crosses on the Dunedin Southern Motorway flyover, with no local ramps.
- Main shopping
- King Edward Street, which continues south into the South Dunedin shopping strip
- Nearby landmarks
- Kensington Oval, Dunedin Southern Cemetery, the South African War memorial, Kensington Army Hall on Bridgman Street
About Kensington
Kensington is one of Dunedin’s tighter inner suburbs, shaped by the ridge, the main road, and the transport corridors that cross it. King Edward Street is the spine. North of the junction the road is Princes Street, running into the central city.
South, the same route becomes the main street of the flat. Residential streets sit mainly north of the motorway, tucked against the lower slope. South of the flyover the blocks are more industrial, with the railway embankment forming a hard edge beyond them.
The suburb takes its name from Kensington in London. Place-name writer A.W. Reed recorded that the name was possibly given by John Hyde Harris, who subdivided the area in the 1860s.
On the lower slopes of Montecillo Ridge stood Hillside, the home of Captain William Cargill, a founding figure of the Dunedin settlement. The house has gone. The name remains in Hillside Road, on the flat beyond the railway.
Two green spaces mark this edge of the old Town Belt. Kensington Oval, still often called the Oval, is a roughly triangular sports ground of 9.25 hectares between Princes Street, the northern end of Andersons Bay Road, and the motorway.
Above it, across South Road, Dunedin Southern Cemetery climbs the spur. Together they are the southernmost part of the Town Belt crescent that wraps the central city.
Day to day, Kensington feels like a threshold rather than a town centre of its own. You can walk from the Oval into the central city along Princes Street, or continue south along King Edward Street into the shops of the flat.
The motorway is close but not joined to the local streets: the flyover has no slip roads. The railway overbridge does a similar job on the southern side, so the suburb reads as a series of pockets rather than one continuous grid.
Getting Around
The practical way in is the Princes Street and King Edward Street corridor, one of Dunedin’s main north-south arterials. From the central city, Princes Street runs south to the Oval and then becomes King Edward Street. Orbus city buses use this corridor and connect with the Dunedin Bus Hub on Great King Street.
State Highway 1, the Dunedin Southern Motorway, crosses Kensington on a flyover. There are no ramps between the highway and the local streets, so through-traffic on the motorway does not drop into the suburb.
A railway overbridge and embankment, carrying the South Island Main Trunk, separates the southern side of Kensington from the flat beyond. A railway halt once stood just east of that bridge, reached by stairs in a bridge support. The halt is long closed and the stairs have been sealed.
On foot, the central city is a short walk north along Princes Street. South Road climbs the ridge past the cemetery and is a main route toward Caversham. The motorway and the railway are the two barriers: they are crossed at the established bridges and street connections, not at every block.
Getting Outdoors
Kensington Oval is the suburb’s main open space and the southern end of the Town Belt. It is a public sports ground rather than a formal garden. Club, grade, and social cricket are played here, on two grass wickets and three artificial wickets, with a pavilion.
In summer the ground is also used for softball, and in winter for football and rugby union. Representative first-class cricket left in the nineteenth century, but the ground is still used for local sport.
Across South Road, Dunedin Southern Cemetery is a steep historic burial ground rather than a neighbourhood park, and it is the other defining green space on this edge of the city.
Sections and paths run up the spur, overlooking the flat. It is no longer used for new burials. It is a heritage site, so the usual care around graves, monuments, and plantings applies.
History and Heritage
The Southern Cemetery opened in 1858, ten years after the Dunedin settlement, in an area then known as Little Paisley. It was the city’s first major cemetery. More than 23,000 burials were recorded here, in separate Presbyterian, Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Jewish sections, with a Chinese section added after the Otago gold rush.
Captain William Cargill is buried here, along with other early civic figures. The cemetery is a Category 1 historic place. A mortuary building at the city end was used from 1903 to 1949. The last burials were in 1985.
The ground now called Kensington Oval began as the South Dunedin Recreation Ground in 1860. On 22 March 1864 the main cricket pitch was enclosed as a formal oval, and that shape gave the ground its later name even though the reserve itself is triangular.
The first first-class cricket match in New Zealand was played here in February 1864, when Otago met Canterbury. Otago played further first-class matches on the ground until February 1878. The pitch was often poor, and when the council would not upgrade it or reserve it for cricket alone, representative cricket moved elsewhere. The oval fence came down in about 1899.
At the northern corner of the Oval, the city’s South African War memorial, also known as the Boer War memorial, was designed by Carlo Bergamini and erected in November 1906.
South of the motorway, the Kensington Army Hall at 24 Bridgman Street is designated for defence purposes. It is one of the few civic buildings that mark the suburb on a map.
Near Kensington
Just outside Kensington, within 5 km of its centre, nearest first.
Places
Businesses
Where to Learn More
Heritage New Zealand: Southern Cemetery: the Category 1 listing for Dunedin’s first major cemetery, on the spur above Kensington.
NZHistory: Otago South African War memorial: the Ministry for Culture and Heritage record of the memorial at Kensington Oval.
Otago Regional Council: Dunedin bus timetables: Orbus route maps and timetables for buses along the Princes Street and King Edward Street corridor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Kensington in central Dunedin?
Kensington is an inner suburb of Dunedin, on the southern side of the central city along Princes Street and King Edward Street. It is part of Dunedin City, not a separate town.
How do I get to Kensington?
Follow Princes Street south from the central city. It becomes King Edward Street at this end of town. Orbus buses run along the same corridor and connect with the Dunedin Bus Hub on Great King Street.
Can I leave the motorway in Kensington?
No. State Highway 1 crosses the suburb on the Dunedin Southern Motorway flyover, and there are no slip roads into the local streets.
What is the Kensington Oval?
It is a public sports ground at the southern end of the Town Belt, also known as the Oval. It is used for club cricket, softball, football, and rugby union. Representative first-class cricket was played here in the nineteenth century.
Can I visit the Southern Cemetery?
Dunedin Southern Cemetery is a city-owned historic cemetery on the slope above Kensington, across South Road. It is a Category 1 historic place and is no longer used for new burials.
Is there a train station in Kensington?
Not now. A Kensington railway halt once stood just east of the railway overbridge, with stairs in one of the bridge supports. The halt is closed and the stairs have been sealed.
Is Kensington residential?
Partly. Houses are concentrated north of the motorway flyover, at the foot of Montecillo Ridge. South of the flyover the land is mainly light industrial.
Where does the name Kensington come from?
It was named for the London district. A.W. Reed noted that the name was possibly given by John Hyde Harris when the area was subdivided in the 1860s.
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Explore Dunedin only lists suburbs officially recognised by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), and Kensington is one of them. Suburb boundary: LINZ, CC BY 4.0.