Uncovering the history of Church End and Chapel End, Willesden – Part 2

In Part 1 we looked at the church and chapel(s) that gave these parts of Willesden their names. This time, we’ll discover more about the history of the areas by exploring the stories of some of their landmark buildings, starting with those in Church End.

1.    A sketch map of the area, based on the 1895 O.S. map, with featured landmark buildings shown.

The “Six Bells” public house was built before 1724, and was known as the Five Bells, until the ring at St. Mary’s was augmented to six, when the name had to be changed! It later became known as The Old Six Bells. Being close to the church, it was a favourite meeting place of the Willesden Vestry members, during winter before their new Hall was built, when the church was cold. A Post Office letter box was fixed in its wall in 1870, and the pub was later converted into a shop, as seen in this photograph. The little pub has now disappeared. 

2.   The old "Six Bells", as a shop and post office, c.1920.

3.   Willesden's Round House lock-up, in the 19th century. (Brent Archives online image 2128)

The Round House, was a “lock-up”, or “cage,” on the corner of Neasden Lane, close to the church. It was used to house criminals waiting to see the Magistrate, and is pictured in the story of Jack Sheppard, seen in Part 1. Some of the stone from the building, after it was demolished, was used in the construction of St. Mary’s School (see below).

4.  The Vestry Hall, with original fire station beside it.

The Vestry Hall is a small building, that still stands by the roundabout where Neasden Lane meets Willesden High Road, near to St. Mary’s Church. It was built in 1857, when the Willesden Vestry, a parish meeting which was the forerunner of the Local Council, decided that they needed a purpose-built Hall. It would include a fireproof cupboard for the precious Vestry Minutes, and would also house the Willesden fire engine. 

When the Vestry was replaced by the Willesden Local Board, in 1874, the public enquiry was held in the Vestry Hall. This quaint landmark has survived fire, has served as a nursery, and now houses the foodbank run by the Trussell Trust.

5.    St. Mary's School, as proposed in 1845, and in 1947. (Brent Archives online images 3030 and 1286)

Willesden National School (St. Mary’s School) was one of the earliest schools to open in Willesden. The Vestry decided, in 1809, to establish a Sunday School for 80 children of the poor, giving them a chance to learn to read and write. The local farmers, who relied on children’s labour at certain times of the year, were less than impressed by this idea, thinking that the youngsters would get ideas “above their station”. The original Sunday School became a day-school in 1818, transferring into a new building in 1853, beside Willesden Lane (renamed Willesden High Road by 1900). It was funded by public subscription. 

The School remained in use until 1972, and is fondly remembered by generations of Church End schoolchildren. The new St. Mary’s School is in Garnet Road, to the west of the Church. Willesden Magistrates’ Court is now on the site of the old school (and the Six Bells).

In 1861, a new St. Mary’s Vicarage was built in Neasden Lane, opposite the Church, and looking out over the cricket field behind. It was the latest in a long line, dating back to the 12^th century, and was itself replaced by a handsome house, designed by the architect Caroe, in 1904. The Caroe house was bought by British Thomson-Houston, the electrical engineers, for use as a conference centre by their directors. A vicarage designed by Cachermaille-Day, was built in 1939 on a site next door, nearer to the corner of Neasden Lane, and surrounded by a lovely garden. 

No trace of these buildings remains. The site on the corner was sold to developers in 2002, and now has a block of flats built on it. The present, much smaller vicarage was built on the opposite side of Neasden Lane, beside St. Mary’s Parish Centre (where Willesden Local History Society holds its monthly meetings, when we are not in lockdown!).

 6.   The White Hart Hotel, c. 1882 and as rebuilt in 1900. (Brent Archives online images 1241 and 1474)

A pub was in existence at the corner of Church Road and Willesden Lane by 1749. It was first known as “The Gate”, and then “The Leather Bottle”, with the name changed to The White Hart” in 1791. In Victorian times it was famous for its pleasure garden, and was enlarged in 1882. During the next two decades, the White Hart became the headquarters of the Neasden Cycling Club, and also the Finchley Harriers (when Finchley became built up, the runners preferred the more rural lanes and fields of Willesden for their cross-country runs!) The pub was also the local horse-bus terminus. The White Hart closed in 2002, and was demolished soon after, replaced by a block of flats, with a large shop on the ground floor.

7.    The White Horse public house, in 1874 and 1905. (Brent Archives online images 7287 and 1084)

“The White Horse” public house was also in Church Road, nearer to Harlesden, at the corner with Roundwood Road. A beerhouse stood on the site by 1801, later becoming fully-licensed. In 1888, it was replaced by a larger, brick building, which was damaged during the Second World War. It was repaired, but slowly declined in popularity. The White Horse was demolished in 1998, and replaced by flats, with a Veterinary Surgery on the ground floor.

8.   The Granada Cinema, Church Road, in 1933 and 1960. (Brent Archives online images 10375 and 426)

The Granada Cinema in Church Road opened in 1921, beside the industrial area of Cobbold Road. Already a large building, its seating capacity was increased to 2,000 in 1928. As “The Empire”, it was a popular venue for the whole of Willesden, with a famous cinema organ. The cinema closed in 1962, then reopened as a bingo hall. It then a became a church, and finally has been developed as flats, with the church still occupying the ground floor.

Chapel End, as well as the chapels themselves, also had a number of landmark buildings.

In 1828, the Vestry ordered the construction of a Pound, a walled area at the corner of Petticoat Stile Lane (which soon became known as Pound Lane). Following the Inclosure Act of 1810, which allowed existing landowners to divide up common land, such as Willesden Green, among themselves, ordinary people had nowhere to graze the few animals they kept.  

9.  The corner of Pound Lane and the High Road, with the Pound on the right, from a drawing of around 1890.

Stray dogs, horses, donkeys and sheep were rounded up, to prevent damage to gardens and orchards. They could be confined until their owners paid a fee for their release. The fee in 1830 was fourpence a day, plus the cost of feed, and a Mr Kilby was appointed as Pound Keeper. He remained in office until 1886, when it was decided that the Pound had outlived its usefulness. It was dismantled a few years later.

10.                  St. Mary's Infants School, Pound Lane, c.1900 and c.1950. (Brent Archives online images 3028 and 3033)

St. Mary’s Infants School was a small school, for infants only. It was opened at Pound Lane in 1858, on land given by All Souls College, Oxford (important land-owners in Willesden). This building survives, and is now used by an Evangelical Church.

“The Case is Altered” public house, originally a beerhouse, was probably built in the 1850s, on a greenfield site. It was enlarged in 1877, but proved still too small for the rapidly-expanding population. A rebuild in 1887, and further expansion in 1915, provided the huge building we see today. The three-storey red brick building, opposite the junction with Dudden Hill Lane, has since been painted black, and provides hostel and bar accommodation, named “No.8.”

11.                  The Case is Altered public house, on the left, with the old Chapel in the distance, c.1880.

“The Crown” Public House, was built on Willesden High Road opposite the new Chapel. Enlarged in 1905, this attractive building closed for business in 2015, and still awaits a purchaser.

St.John the Baptist church, in Dudden Hill Lane,  opened in 1901, as a Mission Church of St. Andrew’s, Willesden Green. It closed as a church by 1937, and has been used since as the Brent Indian Centre, more recently named the “Sir Learie Constantine Centre,” in honour of the famous West Indian cricketer.

Willesden Green Electric Palace was a small cinema that opened next door to the first non-conformist Chapel in 1910. It was renamed “The Savoy” in 1933, and “The Metro” in 1949. The building survived until 2018, after being used as a cab office, then a church. It has now been demolished, and the site remains empty so far.

The purpose–built Pound Lane Drill Hall and training ground was opened in 1911, for military recruiting and training purposes. Col. Charles Pinkham, a local businessman and politician, organised the Willesden Defence League, which eventually became the Middlesex Volunteer Regiment. During the First World War, Pinkham raised two Battalions of the 9^th Middlesex Regiment, who went to fight in Mesopotamia (now Iraq). The Drill Hall eventually became used as a working men’s hostel, Pound Lodge, which was demolished around 2013, and replaced by a St Mungo’s Hostel, of striking modern design.

In 1900, the London General Omnibus Company bought land for stables at Pound Lane. Seven horse-buses an hour were running by 1903. Horse-drawn services were withdrawn in 1911, (despite protests by locals, who did not trust the new motor buses), and the site became the present Willesden Bus Garage. The bus garage has been an important local employer for over 100 years, with 958 people working there in 1949.

12.                 An aerial view of Willesden Bus Garage in 1921, with the Drill Hall across Pound Lane from the back of it. What other Chapel End landmark buildings can you spot in this picture?

Please join me next weekend, for the final part of this series, when we will look at some of the industries that came to Church End and Chapel End, and how local housing changed in the 20^th century.

Margaret Pratt.

Uncovering the history of Church End and Chapel End, Willesden – Part 1

Responding to readers' requests, after the popular local history series by Philip Grant, for some local history of the south of the borough this is the first of a new local history series, by Margaret Pratt of Willesden Local History Society.

Church End, in the Parish of Willesden, has grown from a small medieval hamlet surrounding the church of St. Mary, Willesden. The main routes to other parts of the Parish converge here. Church Road, leading to Harlesden, meets Neasden Lane (to Neasden!), and Willesden Lane (later the High Road) to Willesden Green and Kilburn.

1.     A pictorial map of Willesden in 1840. (Based on a map in “The Willesden Survey, 1949”)

Other villages in Willesden (“the hill of the spring”), such as Neasden (“the nose-shaped hill”), Oxgate, and Harlesden (“Herewulf’s farm”), date from the Anglo-Saxon period, and were already established settlements at the time of the Norman Conquest. Willesden and Harlesden are mentioned in the “Domesday Book”, commissioned by King William I in AD1086, to record all his newly acquired lands, and the tithes, or taxes, due to be paid.

2.    A copy of the entry for Willesden in the Domesday Book. (From “Brent: A Pictorial History” by Len Snow)

There is no mention of any church in the Domesday survey. The reason could be that Willesden lands were already under the control of St. Paul’s Cathedral, at Ludgate Hill in the City of London. St. Paul’s had been gifted the Willesden lands in late Anglo-Saxon times, and now “farmed” them. Farming, in the medieval period, also meant the collecting of tithes (one tenth of the income and produce of land that was owned), to provide the monks and Canons of the Cathedral (‘canonici S. pauli’) with their food and living expenses. 

The tithes collected would not appear on King William’s list, nor would most churches, as they did not pay any taxes. There could have been a small wooden Saxon church on the site at Church End, a base for the priests who would minister to the 300 or so parishioners of Willesden at the time. However, there is no documentary evidence to prove it.

What is a matter of record is that a small rectangular stone church was built by AD1181, when an “Inquistion,” or visitation, from St. Paul’s records the church and its contents. The church had been built on the rising land to the east of the marshy ground bordering the River Brent, and fed by the Mitchell and Harlesden Brooks. It was soon increased in size, by around AD1200, when side aisles and a tower were added to the original structure, and was known as St Mary’s Church by 1280.

3.     St Mary's Church, Willesden, in a print by E. Orme, 1799. (Brent Archives online image 703)

Willesden is rich in sand, gravel, clay and flint, like many places in the Thames Valley, but has no building stone. The loads of ragstone used in the construction of the church must have been brought for some distance, probably from Kent. The stone could have been shipped up the Thames, and then hauled up the River Brent from Brentford, on flat-bottomed rafts. Ingenious engineers of the time could have dammed off sections of the Brent to form ponds to make their task easier - unfortunately this is just conjecture! 

The 800-year history of St. Mary’s has been well documented (though not online) by our best local historians. Suffice it to say here that the church has weathered storms, wars, plagues, famines, times of social turmoil, pilgrimages, the depredations of Henry VIII, neglect, restorations, and calls for its demolition. It still stands firmly on its plot, surrounded by the churchyard which is the resting place of untold thousands of Willesden people.

In 1830, the author Harrison Ainsworth, who lived at Kensal Manor, on the Harrow Road, described Church End as: “A very retired little village, with its church, rectory and vicarage, and about twenty cottages, housing , among  others, a bricklayer, a butcher and a general dealer; also a group of wooden poorhouse dwellings in the churchyard.”  Ainsworth used Willesden and its church as the setting for his novel about the 18^th century highwayman, Jack Sheppard. His “very retired little village” was to go through great changes as the century progressed.

4.    Jack Sheppard, thieving in the church, arrested in the churchyard and escaping from the Round House.
(Illustrations by George Cruikshank from Ainsworth’s 1839 novel “Jack Sheppard”: Brent Archives no, 1696/97/98)

The opening of the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, across the fields to the south of Willesden, in 1801, brought new transport opportunities to the area, and industries such as brickworks, gasworks, and rubbish removal appeared alongside the canal. The Great Western, and London to Birmingham Railways appeared, again to the south of Willesden, in 1838. The first railway to be built across Church End was the Acton branch of the Midland and South Western Junction Railway in 1868, which cut off the village from the farmland to the north. 

Chapel End came into being when a brick chapel was built by non-conformist villagers in 1820. This was to the east of the Church End settlement, at the corner of Willesden Lane and Dudden Hill Lane. The name “Chapel End” was soon in use, and the residents felt themselves to be different from the people of Church End. A few years later the name “Queenstown” was also used, supposedly commemorating a visit by Queen Victoria. There does not seem to be any record of such a visit, so perhaps it was simply an attempt to commemorate Victoria’s Accession in 1837!

5.     Willesden's Fire Brigade, passing the 1820 Willesden Chapel, c.1900 (Brent Archives online image 1265)

The Queens Town name was used well into the 20^th century. The small original chapel, at the Dudden Hill Lane corner, was replaced around 1890 by a much larger Congregational Chapel, on the corner opposite Pound Lane, of the soon to be renamed Willesden High Road. The old chapel was used as a Sunday School, then demolished for road-widening in 1908.

6.     The Congregational Chapel, High Road, Chapel End, c.1900. (From “Willesden” by Adam Spencer, 1996)

During the 19^th century, people were attracted to Church End and Chapel End to find work, and needed somewhere to live. In 1810 the ownership of land in Willesden, and legal boundaries, were finally settled by the passing of an Act of Inclosure.  Landowners began to see the profit which could be made by selling off acres of farmland to developers for building houses. 

The land at Church End was part of the old Manor of Willesden’s Rectory Estate. John Nicoll of Neasden had purchased this Estate back in 1738, and after passing through several hands in the early 19^th Century, it was sold to The United Land Company, in 1869. In the same year, the company bought some land at Chapel End from the daughters of James Henry Read, who had died. This would later become the Meyrick Road estate. “Land for Sale” notices began to appear in the district, and developers and builders purchased plots at auction.

7.     Bramley's Farm, just north of Chapel End, c.1880 – one of the farms lost to housing in the late 19^th century.
(Photograph by Stanley Ball – Brent Archives online image 1261)

8.     Beaconsfield Road, Chapel End, 1960. (Brent Archives online image 2570)

Nine acres at Church End Paddocks were sold in 1873, then Church Farm Estate went up for sale in 1875. This consisted of 4 acres next to the White Horse, and became the Cobbold Road estate. Roads and building plots were also laid out at Beaconsfield Road. House building on The United Land Company’s estates was finished by the mid-1890s. Southward expansion from Chapel End was prevented by the opening of the Jewish Cemetery (1873), and Willesden New Cemetery in 1893, because St Mary’s churchyard was no longer large enough.

9.     Willesden New Cemetery, early 20th century postcard. (Brent Archives online image 7255)

To the disappointment of the directors of The United Land Company, Church End and Chapel End did not provide them with big profits. Their stated aim was to build first-class estates which would attract investors, but the plots of land were small in size, so small houses were built, and the area became working-class. It was Church End Ward that elected the first Socialist member of Willesden Council, in 1904! The quality of the building work varied, but many of the terraces of small houses have survived into the 21^st Century, and have stood up well to being modernised and extended.

Amenities such as shops and laundries flourished, especially along Church Road and Willesden High Road. Other buildings such as public houses, meeting rooms, schools and cinemas were put in place alongside the housing, and some of these landmarks have survived to the present day, while others live on in people’s memories. We will explore these landmarks in Part 2, next weekend.

Margaret Pratt.