Uncovering Kilburn's History - Part 4

Welcome back to this fourth article in the Kilburn local history series. If you missed Part 3, you will find it here.

 

Railway lines began crossing Kilburn’s land in 1837, with the coming of the London and Birmingham Railway. Kilburn (now High Road) station opened in 1851. In the 1860s Edgware Road (later Brondesbury) station came on the Hampstead Junction Railway, and Kilburn and Brondesbury (Kilburn today) station was opened on the Metropolitan Railway in 1879.

 

1. Metropolitan Railway Station and Bridge, Kilburn High Road, c.1910. ( www.images-of-london.co.uk )

 

The earlier railways, however, did not stimulate a large growth in Kilburn. The main developments were still along the Edgware Road, which was served by horse buses and later trams. In 1856 22 omnibuses a day ran to London Bridge and by 1896 south Kilburn was served by over 45 buses an hour. The start of the 20^th century brought a motorbus service to Oxford Circus, and in 1915 Kilburn Park station on the Electric Railway line was the first underground railway in Kilburn.

 

2. Kilburn Park Underground Station, October 2020. (Photo by Irina Porter)

 

In Charles Dicken’s Dictionary of London, published in 1879, Kilburn was described as ‘a newly built district at the far end of the Edgware Road’. Its development, beyond a few large houses, had begun in the south, after Lady Salusbury sold her properties to the Church Commissioners in 1856. The following year the Commissioners made a series of agreements with James Bailey, a builder from Maida Vale, who later moved to Brondesbury Lodge. 

 

In 1859 Bailey had built Brondesbury Terrace and started work in Canterbury Road. By 1867, he had put up about 550 houses, including Cambridge and Oxford Roads, using architectural pattern books, and marketing his development as Kilburn Park. A number of houses he built, along with the Duke of Cambridge and The Brondesbury public houses (both now converted for residential use), are now locally listed buildings within the South Kilburn Conservation Area.

 

3. Cambridge Road, c.1910. (Image from the internet: www.images-of-london.co.uk )

4. Cambridge Gardens, October 2020. (Photo by Irina Porter)

 

Other speculative builders followed Bailey to the area. Speculative building – when houses were built before a buyer or a tenant was found – put developers at risk if they over extended themselves, so many went bust. Through the rest of the 19^th century, local house building expanded northwards. You can see the extent of development in 1875 (when Willesden Local Board was established, with a population of 18,559), and again by 1895 (when it had become Willesden Urban District, with 79,260 people) on this map.

 

5. Development in the east of Willesden parish as at 1875 and 1895. (From “The Willesden Survey, 1949”)

 

By the 1880s, businesses like the United Land Company would purchase plots of land, subdivide them into smaller plots and sell those at auctions, resulting in smaller developers doing the actual building. The names of the roads would often come from old estates in the area (Mapesbury, Brondesbury), or places connected with former landowners. The Salusbury name lives on today, in a road and the school situated on it, as well as a pub, wine store and other local amenities. In another example, the Powell Cottons owned the land on the Shoot Up Hill estate, and the names of the roads there reflected their Kent connections (Fordwych, Minster, and Westbere Roads, etc).

 

One famous resident of Kilburn was the artist Louis Wain (1860 – 1939), who lived at 41 Brondesbury Road. Louis Wain was famous for the drawings of anthropomorphized (with human features) cats. Born in Clerkenwell, Wain studied at the West London School of Art, where he was also assistant master. In 1882 he joined the staff of the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News and four years later that of the Illustrated London News. 

 

When Wain was 20, his father died, and Louis became the main supporter of his mother and five sisters. At 23 he married the family governess, Emily Richardson, who died of cancer within 3 years of their marriage. During her illness the family took in a stray kitten, named Peter, who cheered her up during her illness and gave Louis a direction for his art, which became his passion. From the 1880s onwards Wain’s cats walked upright in human clothing of the highest fashion, came with all sorts of facial expressions, enjoyed smoking, played musical instruments, hosted tea parties, played games, went fishing and to the theatre. These parodies of human behaviour became immensely popular. 

 

6. Louis Wain, and two of his cat paintings. (Images from the internet – photo by Lascelles & Co.)

 

Despite his popularity and huge output (he could produce up to 600 drawings a year), Wain was not good with money and during the First World War he sank into poverty. He lived with his sisters in Brondesbury Road. Having developed a mental illness, he died at Napsbury Hospital, near St Albans. He is buried in his father's grave at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery, Kensal Green.

 

At the start of Kilburn’s development, land owners or builders were responsible for the infrastructure of their own developments, including roads and sewers. Gas street lighting was first introduced in Kilburn near the bridge in 1849, and extended in 1861. Kilburn used the Metropolitan Board of Work’s sewers, although Willesden fell outside its area. 

 

So many houses had been built in Kilburn that many could not be sold or let as family homes. It was common to find rooms let out to several families. The poorer areas of Kilburn became overcrowded, in 1894 with 11 persons per house, compared with 6 in the rest of the parish. The death rate for children under 5 in Willesden in 1875 was 45 per 1,000, with Kilburn the worst area, where diarrhoea, tuberculosis and respiratory diseases were prevalent. Healthcare, if you could afford it, was provided by local clinics, but for hospital residents went to St. Mary’s Paddington or New End in Hampstead. 

 

7. Paddington Old Cemetery, Willesden Lane, and its war graves, 2018. (Photos by John & Anne Hill)

 

The large estates’ lands still had some farms, which mainly produced hay for London horses, as well as providing grazing for cattle, and there were also several nurseries. But each successive decade saw less farmland. In 1855 Paddington Burial Board bought 22 acres of a farm off Willesden Lane and set up a civic cemetery. Today it is run by Brent and is Grade II listed. The cemetery includes 213 graves for casualties of the First and Second World Wars.

 

8. Willesden Town Hall, Dyne Road, in the 1920s. (Brent Archives online image 657)

 

Local government only developed gradually. The local authority for Kilburn was originally the Willesden Parish vestry (and Hampstead vestry, respectively east of the High Road). This organised a vote in 1875, that set up the Willesden Local Board, which in turn was succeed by Willesden Urban District Council in 1894. Willesden Town Hall was built in Dyne Road, on the site of Waterloo Farm, and opened in 1891. (The building was demolished in 1970, after the newly formed Brent Council had chosen Wembley’s more modern Town Hall as its headquarters.)

 

9. Willesden Volunteer Fire Brigade, 1874. (Brent Archives online image 732)

 

A volunteer fire service was formed after the fire at Mapesbury Mill on Shoot Up Hill in 1863, with headquarters in Bridge Street, near the tollgate. A new station, under the control of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade was opened in Salusbury Road in 1884, which covered the Kilburn area until the Second World War. The fire station was next to Kilburn Library, the first public library to be opened in Willesden in January 1894, which was enlarged in 1908.

 

10. Kilburn Library (right) and Fire Station (centre), c.1910. (Brent Archives online image 10773)

 

11. Salusbury Road and the Police Station, c.1900. (From the internet: www.images-of-london.co.uk )

 

The police station, as shown on the photo above, is on the corner of Salusbury Road and Harvist Road, - still a police station today, although the building has been completely re-built in the 1970s.

 

12. High Road, Kilburn, in 1886, by local photographer A. Mackie. (Brent Archives online image 226)

 

Kilburn became a thriving commercial centre, with the Edgware Road through it, featuring a continuous line of shops by the 1860s. It gained the name Kilburn High Road in the 1880s. Foyle's bookshop started in Kilburn, moving to Charing Cross Road in 1926. By 1909 there were 300 shops here, many owned by foreigners, some of them Jewish immigrants.

 

13. Kilburn High Road, 1905. (From the internet: www.images-of-london.co.uk )

 

Industry was here, too. There was tile making in Kilburn as early as the 16th century. In 1862 a railway signal factory was built in Kilburn Lane (later called Canterbury Road). The Saxby & Farmer works became the largest employer in Kilburn, although it moved to a larger site in Chippenham, Wiltshire, around 1906, after taking over a similar business there. 

 

14. Kelly & Craven's works in Willesden Lane, 1884, and Kelly's tombstone. (Images from John Hill)

 

By 1890 there were coachbuilders, bicycle manufacturers, and monumental masons (for Paddington Cemetery). Kelly & Craven’s Cemetery Stone Works in Willesden Lane did plenty of business, as most people were buried (cremation did not become common until the 20^th century). Unfortunately for Mr Kelly, the stone dust from his work was a health hazard, and he was just 51 years old when he was laid to rest.  Light engineering and printing were also established by 1914.

 

With the rapid increase in population came a rise in the number of churches. We’ve already seen St Paul’s Church in Part 3, and non-conformist ministries were quick to follow the housing developments such as those by James Bailey. St James’s Episcopalian Church was built in Cambridge Avenue in 1863, using a prefabricated corrugated iron system. Commonly known as ‘the tin tabernacle’, it is surprisingly still there today, and although no longer a church, and officially called Cambridge Hall, it is a Grade II listed building. In 1865 the Reverend Thomas Hall had West Kilburn Baptist Church built, to designs by his brother, who was an architect. After more than 150 years, that is still in use, and a locally listed building.

 

15. Cambridge Hall (Kilburn's "tin tabernacle") and West Kilburn Baptist Church. (Images from the internet)

 

Next week we will continue to look at local churches, schools and much more, as Kilburn’s story continues into the 20^th century.

 

Irina Porter,
Willesden Local History Society.

 

A special thank you to local historian Dick Weindling, co-author of 'Kilburn and West Hampstead Past' and History of Kilburn and West Hampstead blog .

Butt is out of step as councillors attempt to respond to Healthy Neighbourhoods issues

 

 

The full webcast can be found HERE

The evidence for a Tweet I sent out during this afternoon's Extraordinary Meeting is Cllr Butt's speech at the meeting is in the video above.  This is what I said:

Although the re-emergence of ex Right-wing Tory councillor Joel Davidson in the guise of the Park Residents Association representative was undoubtedly annoying ,I think the real targets of his rage were the six (or was it 7 - accounts vary) Labour councillors who requisitioned the Extraordinary Meeting and had the audacity to try and have an actual debate in the Council. How dare they try and introduce a slither of democracy into the Council Chamber.  The same goes of course for Councillor Anton Georgiou who really gets up Butt's nose, especially as he is gaining much support in his ward.

If Butt's record of dealing with anyone who shows a smidgen of independence is anything to go by we may have to set up a campaign to 'Save the Brent Six' (or Seven). Some people on social media, following the acceptance of the amendment, have already sugegsted they have been 'got at'.

It was fairly clear that not all councillors have much experience of debating but as one councillor said afterwards, 'If we do more of it, we will get better'.

You can listen to the the full meeting on the link above but here are two contributions worth reading although publication does not equal endorsement.

Charlie Fernandes spoke for Brent Cycling Campaign:

I speak as a representative of Brent Cycling Campaign, a campaign to enable active travel, cycling and walking and as a local resident.

I also speak as a voice for the many local residents that regularly approach us. They express they WANT their neighbourhoods to be healthy low traffic neighbourhoods. With fewer cars on the road during the early lockdown months, people saw what was possible.

So I thank Brent Council for introducing low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) during these difficult times. Residents are telling us they want to see these LTNs become fully operational, and they want more LTNs, and they ask us to push the council to do so.

I will now address (1) the consultation process, (2) the urgency, (3) it’s a question of social justice, and (4) the strategic vision.

1. The process. Some have raised concerns about lack of consultation.
Well, the usual pre-consultation method was not working. Proposals may not be plainly obvious to residents when appearing in technical drawings and writing. And however it’s communicated, the actual effects and benefits cannot be realised that way.

Consultations generally get got low engagement, with the louder voices resulting in a very weak compromise, or just giving up and keeping the status quo. Trialling schemes are a natural means to experiment, demonstrating in real life, with sufficient time for people to adapt and see the benefits. Adjustments can still be made during the trial.

2. The urgency. Perhaps you’re thinking: We’ve got a pandemic on. So why the urgency to enable alternatives to cars right now? Well, Brent, with lots of public transport connections, is highly dependent on public transport. But we’re told to avoid public transport as much as possible. So how can people get around?

Half of households in Brent have at lest one car. So I address this in two halves. First, those who have a car. We’re already around pre-lockdown traffic levels. After furlough ends, car use will climb much higher, while public transport continues to be restricted. Road gridlock will quickly become more severe.

And now, the half of Brent residents that do NOT have a car. They’re much more dependent on public transport This is very much the poorer half. Brent has amongst the worst levels of pollution. The polluted areas are also poorer areas. Brent has amongst the highest rates of obesity and diabetes, linked with inactivity and poverty.

So now on point 3. It’s a matter of social justice that everyone should be enabled to get around their local neighbourhood safely and participate in their local communities as vibrantly as anyone else.

By LTNs restricting rat-running, it leads to our neighbourhoods and inside our homes having better air quality, in quiet pleasant healthier neighbourhoods. Older people, disabled people, children, vulnerable people, those that are less mobile, whatever their background, everyone, can more easily roam and make better use of their surroundings. The neighbourhood becomes more of a community space to engage with our neighbours.

A month ago, I attended a local street meeting on Glendale Gardens road. It was only feasible to safely use this space while the barriers were in place preventing through-traffic.

New LTNs in Lambeth and Waltham Forest have led to heart warming stories of children playing outside their own homes for the first time

4. The vision: And while our love grows for LTNs, they’re only part of the solution. People need to be able to travel from their Healthy Low Traffic Neighbourhoods to low traffic town centres and other destinations.

Protected cycle lanes on main roads, provide the connectors. Altogether this creates an environment that truly enables active travel.It leads to attractive scenes such as children cycling in safety to school.

More women cycling, people whatever their background, age or ability, cycling because their local environment has been made safe and inviting for them to.

But they’re not just attractive nice things to see. They’re real people for whom simple changes to their environment has enabled them to lead lifestyles that enhance their physical health and mental health and by switching to avoid using cars, or using cars less, they are reducing the negative impact of cars on others, improving air quality, making the roads safer. And reducing congestion – which in turn also makes it easier for those that are unable to avoid using their cars

The urgency and for the sake of the residents of Brent, the calling is now for progressive active travel.

I thank you for listening. I will conclude with the following point: While the pandemic has made this a memorable moment, let’s craft it so that in future years, the residents of Brent will look back and say, those were the councillors that gave us a healthier neighbourhood.

Cllr Anton Georgiou said:

I am a Liberal Democrat, but first and foremost, I hope like many in this meeting, I am an environmentalist.

I care deeply and passionately about addressing the number one crisis we all face, the climate emergency.

I was proud to see Brent declare a climate emergency last year. But declaring one isn't enough, what is needed to clean the air we breathe, is action.

We must change the way we travel. No doubt, discouraging car use and freeing up our road space for pedestrians and making them safer for more active travel options like cycling is one way - so is pushing for more affordable public transport.

However, the reason for this meeting today is the process by which this adminstration has chosen to follow to get us where we are.

The implemention of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods without thorough consultation both with residnts and key stakeholders, who are experts on this topic, has left many angry and I fear has taken us backwards, Rather than taking residents forwards on a journey of change, this administration has done us harm.

I'm also concerned about the disregard of local Councillors' views and opinions and the shoddy way that we as elected members have been treated. I'm sure the Lead member, Cllr Tatler, will attest to the fact that throughout this process I have sought to engage with her directly and officers to understand what measures they would implement, An example of the poor communication - I emailed the Lead member in August to request an update on a follow up meeting, and changes that might impact Alperton, this was only replied to on Monday October 12th at 1:28am.

 The secretive, closed way that this administration and the Lead member have acted speak to a much wider problem with the culture of the leadership. They do not want to be scrutinised, they do not want to listen, they just want us all to accept their way.

I propose that we urgently set up a Taskforce made up of backbench counillors across this chamber to oversee the next phase of this project and start doing the proper outreach with residents and stakeholders, so that we can get in place the right measures, that will make the most sense, and will lead to what I hope we all want to see, the start of a shift in attitude by all, in the way we travel.

Only then will we begin to tackle the great challenge we face, the climate crisis.

 Cllr Tatler, Lead member responding to the debate said that there was no perfect solution to the climate emergency - none wuld be pain-free. We are consuming resources at a rate that cannot be sustained.  The Healthy Neighbood schemes were the first opportunity for the Council to make a positive impact through testing a range of experimental schemes to unclog our roads. The Council will incorporate successful measures into their eventual scheme - the ones currently running are not the final resolution of the issues.

 The amended  motion was passed with no votes against. The Conservatives abstained stating that they would have voted for the motion without the amendment. (Motions in post below)

 

 

More revelations on 1 Morland Gardens and Harlesden City Challenge

 

BACES City Challenge Adult Education College, with the HCC Community Garden and its sculpture in front, mid-1990s (from the material that Melvyn Leach donated to Brent Archives).

Philip Grant left this comment on a previous post LINK but I thought it was worth publishing in its own right:

I have now seen some of the information that was donated to Brent Archives about the acquisition and refurbishment of 1 Morland Gardens in the 1990s. Here are a few of the highlights from it:

1. Job skills and education training were one of the main themes of the Harlesden's bid for funds from the Government's City Challenge regeneration scheme.

2. BACES already had a strong reputation for its imaginative and innovative approach to adult education, which had received national and international attention.

3. Chassay Architects were first approached by BACES in the Spring of 1993, to find a suitable site for a new adult education college in the Harlesden City Challenge bid area.

4. It was Chassay Architects who recommended 1 Morland Gardens, which 'had been vacant for several years, but neglected for many more. Whilst the original Italianate villa was well built with good quality materials, many of the additions were not.'

5. The villa was on a prominent corner site, with good transport links, and a local landmark building which the Council had Locally Listed because of its importance to the character of the area:- 'The area has a disjointed feel, with the Italianate villa and its leafy surroundings as a symbol of former times to all travelling west on Hillside.'

6.'After much searching, the site at 1 Morland Gardens was found to be the only one suitable, and although not for sale, succesfully purchased. The brief developed from the Client's [BACES] requirements and their vision of the area's needs with the support and encouragement of LB Brent and Harlesden City Challenge.'

7.'With newly relandscaped surroundings, the whole will not only be an outstanding centre, but could become a symbol of a potential future for the area.'

 

8. However, a local newspaper article in February 1995 revealed that a report from the Council's solicitor had found: 'There have been serious breaches of the council's procedures and regulations' over the project. 

In July 1993, the Council's Harlesden City Challenge committee had approved a grant of £150k to buy the freehold of the property, when they had no authority to acquire land in Brent Council's name.

In March 1994, the then Chief Executive had sent a report to a Policy and Resources committee seeking an increase in the capital budget for the project to £300k, but pointing out that there had been no previous approval for any spending on it!

Brent Labour Group submit amendment to today's Healthy Neighbourhoods motion to be debated at 3.30pm this afternoon

 An amendment has been submitted in the name of the Labour Group on Brent Council to the original motion submitted by the 7 members who called for the Extraordinary Council Meeting on Healthy Neighbourhoods. You can watch the debate HERE

Extraordinary Council Meeting – 16 October 2020

Amendment submitted by the Labour Group to the motion for the Extraordinary Council meeting

Healthy Neighbourhoods Scheme (add) and their part in addressing air quality and climate change

TO ADD AT THE START:

That this Council:

•   embraces its obligations to ensure that every possible intervention against climate change is considered and explored;

•   recognises that air quality in this borough falls well below the standards that should be expected, not least in relation its impact on the physical health and wellbeing of its residents;

•   endorses the intention underpinning Brent’s experimental ‘Healthy Neighbourhoods’;

•   acknowledges the unorthodox conditions attached to conditional government funding necessitating public consultation and engagement within the six-month period of these low traffic trials and not prior to them as might more commonly be expected;

•   welcomes the many lessons that have been, are being, and will continue to be learned throughout this programme with regards to the initiative itself and the manner in which the organisation interacts with the communities it serves;

•   highlights the progress already made through planned and promoted public meetings, thanks each and every participant for their invaluable contributions thus far;

•   thanks those responsible within the organisation for their efforts to date, and commits itself – in light of the importance of these measures as a first tangible foray against climate change set in the context of the new behaviours and habits that they are designed to encourage – to continue providing comprehensive updates to the appropriate forums and committees, this one included, at the earliest opportunity, covering, but not limited to, the following:

  TO THEN AMEND THE WORDING OF THE ORIGINAL MOTION AS FOLLOWS:  

  Replace:

  To instruct the Lead Member for Regeneration, Property & Planning to provide a comprehensive rational for the introduction of the temporary Heathy Neighbourhoods in the various areas.

With:

- Clarity of the rationale for the introduction of these temporary measures in the various areas;

Breakdown and replace the remaining list as follows:

This to provide details about how these areas have been chosen;

- Details about how these areas are chosen;
how it impact targets; mitigations, if any; viability of the monitoring of the scheme;

- How we anticipate that they will impact on the council’s active travel, clean air, and climate change targets;

what prior public and stakeholder engagement has taken plac;

- What stakeholder engagement is involved;
the equity of the trade-off between loser residential streets and gainers;

- Comment on how the relative real or perceived pros and cons of these schemes will be weighted and proposed mitigations for addressing concerns of those residents that might feel that others’ ‘gains’ are their ‘losses’;

the risk of increased congestion on certain residential roads and implications on emissions;

- Consideration of the risk that some measures may increase congestion elsewhere and the implications that may have on emissions;

the methodology to be used to evaluate the outcome, notably the goal of lower overall traffic volumes; and the measurements in place to secure adequate baseline data for ALL streets affected (including the connector roads).

- An explanation of overall methodology – including ensuring an adequate baseline for evaluating outcomes, including the goal of lower overall traffic how these schemes will be monitored, and how their viability will be assessed

Councillor Fleur Donnelly Jackson Willesden Green Ward 

THIS IS THE ORIGINAL MOTION

Motion submitted by members who have requisitioned the Extraordinary Council meeting

Healthy Neighbourhood Scheme

To instruct the Lead Member for Regeneration, Property & Planning to provide a comprehensive rational for the introduction of the temporary Healthy Neighbourhoods in the various areas.

This to provide details about how these areas have been chosen; how it impact targets; mitigations, if any; viability of the monitoring of the scheme; what prior public and stakeholder engagement has taken place; the equity of the trade-off between loser  residential streets and gainers; the risk of increased congestion on certain residential roads and implications on emissions; the methodology to be used to evaluate the outcome, notably the goal of lower overall traffic volumes; and the measurements in place to secure adequate baseline data for ALL streets affected (including the connector roads).

St Raphael's Estate Ballot delayed until next year

The news of the ballot delay was announced in a Brent Council press release yesterday.  I would be interested in further details of the first phase which the release says will be on open space and can proceed without a ballot.

PRESS RELEASE

Work is well underway to develop the two options for the future of St Raph’s estate. Despite the huge challenges of Covid-19, residents have been working, virtually, on what infill and redevelopment options might look like ahead of the proposed ballot next year.

 

Given the uncertainties and possible changes to local Covid restrictions, the Residents Board has agreed that the ballot should take place next year, instead of this Autumn as originally planned. We’re hopeful that this will enable face-to-face conversations to resume, ensuring each household has the chance to fully understand what both options would mean for them.  

  

In the meantime, the design team will begin work with the community to create detailed designs for the first phase of development. The designs will follow the Community Design Code and will show what new homes could look like, although it won’t be finalised until after the ballot.

 

The location of the first phase is open space to the south of the estate. It does not involve demolishing any homes and can proceed whatever the outcome of next year’s ballot.

  

The costs for delivering both infill and redevelopment were also recently carefully reviewed by Brent Council. Both remain affordable but will continue to be monitored, in light of the pandemic.

 

Cllr Eleanor Southwood, Brent’s Cabinet Member for Housing and Welfare Reform, said:

 

We’re absolutely committed to delivering what residents want for the future of St Raph’s. Coronavirus has shone a light on the number of households in the borough living in overcrowded homes or temporary accommodation, without access to their own private outdoor space or good quality parks. To make matters worse, many private renters face crippling rents combined with the risk of eviction. It’s vital that we work together with the community to create these much needed new, affordable homes for local people sooner rather than later.

 

An upcoming virtual exhibition will give residents an opportunity to see each masterplan option for the first time, and to give their feedback. The exhibition will be online for four weeks, from Friday 23 October 2020 until Saturday 28 November 2020.

 

The council is sending an update to all households on the estate this week. Residents can also get answers to any questions by emailing straphs@brent.gov.uk

 

Residents are also invited to join weekly virtual drop ins, hosted by Brent Council, independent advisor PPCR and resident board St Raphael’s Voice. Find out the dates, times and joining instructions