Knightsbridge was originally a small hamlet or locality outside the City of London, between the villages of Chelsea (Chelsey), Kensington (Kensing town) and Charing.
“The name of Knightsbridge, then, must be taken as indicating, not a parish, nor yet a manor, but only a certain locality adjoining a bridge, which formerly stood on the road between London and far distant Kensington. There is much difficulty as to the derivation of the name, for in the time of Edward the Confessor, if old records are correctly deciphered, it was called "Kyngesburig;" while some hundred years or so later we find it spoken of as "Knightsbrigg," in a charter of Herbert, Abbot of Westminster.
A local legend, recorded by Mr. Davis, in his "History of Knightsbridge," says that: "In ancient time certain knights had occasion to go from London to wage war for some holy purpose. Light in heart, if heavy in arms, they passed through this district on their way to receive the blessing awarded to the faithful by the Bishop of London at Fulham. For some cause or other, however, a quarrel ensued between two of the band, and a combat was determined upon to decide the dispute. They fought on the bridge which spanned the stream of the Westbourne, whilst from its banks the struggle was watched by their partisans. Both fell, if the legend may be trusted; and the place was ever after called Knightsbridge, in remembrance of their fatal feud."
Another possible derivation of the name is quoted from Norden, the topographer, by the Rev. M. Walcott, in his "Memorials of Westminster:"—" Kingsbridge, commonly called Stonebridge, near Hyde Park Corner, [is a place] where I wish no true man to walk too late without good guard, as did Sir H. Knyvett, Knight, who valiantly defended himself, there being assaulted, and slew the master thief with his own hands."
Frequented by highway men and robbers, and the roads were really bad: “This being the case, we need not be surprised to find, from the Morning Chronicle of May 23, 1799, that it was necessary at the close of last century to order a party of light horse to patrol every night the road from Hyde Park Corner to Kensington; and Mr. Davis, in his work already quoted, states that persons then (1854) alive well remembered when "pedestrians walked to and from Kensington in bands sufficient to ensure mutual protection, starting on their journey only at known intervals, of which a bell gave due warning."
From 1885 to 1887, as a result of the opening of trade between Britain and the Far East, Humphreys' Hall in Knightsbridge hosted an exhibition of Japanese culture in a setting built to resemble a traditional Japanese village. The exhibition was very popular, with over 250,000 visitors during its early months. Japanese artisans illustrated "the manners, customs, and art-industries of their country, attired in their national and picturesque costumes. Magnificently decorated and illuminated Buddhist temple. Five o’clock tea in the Japanese tea-house. Japanese Musical and other Entertainments. Every-day Life as in Japan". W.S. Gilbert and his wife attended the exhibition, which is said to have inspired him to write The Mikado.
For centuries the area was renowned as the haunt of highwaymen, robbers and cutthroats targeting travellers on the western route out of London, but its fortunes were transformed in the 19th century.
However, the area has often been a target for high-profile crime. In 1980, the Iranian Embassy siege took place in Knightsbridge, lasting several days. It ended when the Special Air Service stormed the building on live television. In 1983, three Christmas shoppers and three Metropolitan Police officers were killed by an IRA car-bomb placed outside Harrods. In 1987, the Knightsbridge Security Deposit centre was the target of a robbery and the thieves left with a hoard worth £60 million. In 2005, 22-year-old beautician Clare Bernal was gunned down by her stalker and ex-boyfriend Michal Pech on the shopfloor of Harvey Nichols in front of colleagues and shoppers, before Pech fatally turned the gun on himself. The case attracted extensive coverage in the media, and Clare's mother Patricia has since led a campaign to address flaws in the system which allowed her daughter's murder to happen.
Many residential buildings are heavily covered by CCTV and are staffed by security guards, while railings or bars on lower floor windows are commonplace.
The Knightsbridge Underground station was opened on 15 December 1906 by the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway. When opened, the platforms were accessed in the standard manner by four lifts and an emergency staircase connecting to parallel passageways and bridges to midway along the platforms.
The location of the station in a busy and fashionable shopping district meant that patronage at the station was high from the beginning, particularly due to the presence locally of the Harrods and Harvey Nichols emporiums.
The tunnel between Knightsbridge and South Kensington stations is said to follow a particularly twisting route to avoid a 17th century plague pit" so dense with human remains that it could not be tunnelled through".