Travel Kensal Green Map

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Kensal Green tourist guide map of landmarks & destinations by Walkfo

Kensal Green history

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Originally part of one of the 8 manors within the district of Willesden, Kensal Green is first mentioned in 1253, translating from old English meaning the King’s Holt (King’s Wood). Its location marked the boundary between Willesden and the then Chelsea & Paddington, on which it remains today. It formed part of one of 10 manors, most likely Chamberlayne Wood Manor, named after Canon Richard de Camera (of the Chambers). In the 15th century the then Archbishop of Canterbury Henry Chichele (1414–1443), acquired lands in Willesden and Kingsbury. In 1443 he founded All Souls’ College, Oxford and endowed it with the same lands in his will. As a resultant, most of Willesden and Kensal Green remained largely agricultural until the mid-1800s, well into the Victorian era. In 1805, the construction of the Grand Junction Canal passed through the district to join the Regent’s Canal at Paddington. As the combined Grand Union Canal, this allowed passage of commercial freight traffic from the Midlands to London Docks, and hence onwards to the River Thames. There were two dairy farms in Kensal Green by the early 1800s, which expanded greatly after the 1864 Act of Parliament which made it illegal to keep cattle within the City of London. Although by the late 1800s residential development had greatly reduced the farmland, still in the 1890s many sheep and pigs were raised in the district. One of the farms later became a United Dairies creamery, supplied by milk trains from Mitre Bridge Junction. St. John’s Church was built on the corner of what is now Harrow Road/Kilburn Lane in 1844 and was extensively refurbished in 2017 and fitted with new bells in anticipation of the 175th anniversary in 2019. The church was followed by a school, now Bales College, and more inns including The Plough on the opposite corner of the junction. In 1832 Kensal Green Cemetery was incorporated by Act of Parliament and opened in January 1833. This led to a revaluation of the surrounding lands, and in 1835 ecclesiastical commissioners were appointed by the Crown, who reported in 1846 that: “the larger portion of the Prebendal Estates possess, in our opinion, a value far beyond their present agricultural value.” With enough people living locally to create a new parish, in 1844 St. John the Evangelist Church in Kilburn Lane was consecrated. The 1851 census records just over 800 people living in the new parish. In the 1860s, Kensal Green manor house, situated where Wakeman Road joins Harrow Road, was demolished. Rapid increase in residential development followed, firstly with land west of Kilburn High Road, followed by the sale of Banister’s Farm leading to the development of Bannister Road and Mortimer Road. Unfortunately at this time Kensal Green was suffering huge social problems and had a reputation of being a slum, with 55% off its residents living in poverty and squalor, despite being neighbours to thriving Queen’s Park.The rapid residential development led to local commissioners reporting in 1880 that there was inadequate drainage and sewerage facilities, with most houses having only improved access to what were the old agricultural drains. In that same year, All Souls’ College started to develop its lands north-west of Kilburn Lane, including All Souls’ Avenue and College Road, with adjacent roads being named after leading Fellows of the college, and the installation of new sewerage facilities across the district. The college donated lands on which to build Kensal Rise Reading Room, to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, in 1897. Opened by American author Mark Twain in 1901, it was later extended and renamed Kensal Rise Library. The developments of the streets around Kensal Rise railway station date from the last 10 years of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th. Although opened in April 1873 as Kensal Green at Chamberlayne Wood, then a remote dead end road; it was renamed Kensal Rise on 24 May 1890. Just north of the station the National Athletic Ground (one of the many early grounds of Queen’s Park Rangers) opened in 1890. The ground which was later renamed the Kensal Rise Athletic Stadium also hosted cycling and athletics competitions before being turned over to housing in the 1920s. For a brief period before 1914 the Aeroplane Building and Flying Society had its headquarters at Kensal Rise and flew test gliders from the site. Kensal Green also boasted the Electric Pavilion Cinema which opened in November 1914 and was located on the corner of Chamberlayne Road and Bannister Road. The construction of the Great Western Railway started in 1835, with the first 22.5 miles (36.2 km) of line, from Paddington station to Maidenhead Bridge station, opened on 4 June 1838. In 1901, its major carriage washing and servicing facilities and locomotive depot were developed at Old Oak Common, bringing further employment and more immigrants to the district. The first major immigrant population had been Irish people fleeing the Great Irish Famine, and then post-World War I. In World War II, due to the railway facilities, the district suffered greatly from German Luftwaffe bombing. After the war, the area became a refuge for the first Afro-Caribbean born contingent. In the 1960s the College disposed of many freeholds, while retaining land in Willesden. Since the 1980s, the Irish-born community has reduced in size, although the legacy of their presence remains, not least in the number of Irish pubs and organisations and the many thousands with Irish ancestry who continue to populate the area. According to statistics from the 2001 census, the area has a very high proportion of young residents (28.4% 25–44 years old) and a very high educational level (30.7% hold a first degree or better). The area has seen significant gentrification over recent years as people have been priced out of surrounding areas such as Notting Hill. In 2015 it was described as ‘celebrity haunt-meets-Nappy Valley’.

  

Kensal Green map & travel guide with history & landmarks to explore

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Tourist Guide to Kensal Green Map

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Walkfo Kensal Green travel map key: visit National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top travel destinations in Kensal Green