| Queen's Park | |
Queen's Park Library, Harrow Road |
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Queen's Park
Queen's Park shown within Greater London |
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| OS grid reference | TQ246832 |
|---|---|
| - Charing Cross | 4 mi (6.4 km) SE |
| London borough | Brent |
| Westminster | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | London |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LONDON |
| Postcode district | NW6, NW10 |
| Postcode district | W10 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| EU Parliament | London |
| UK Parliament | Hampstead and Kilburn |
| Westminster North | |
| London Assembly | Brent and Harrow |
| West Central | |
| List of places: UK • England • London | |
Queen's Park is an area of northwest London, England, located on the boundary between the London Borough of Brent and the City of Westminster.
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The neighbourhood near Kensal Green was developed from 1875 and was named to honour Queen Victoria.[1] The open space opened in 1887, located to the north, also shares the name.[1]
Queen's Park formed a detached part of the parish of Chelsea. In 1900 it was united with the parish of Paddington.[2]
The northern half of Queen's Park was developed by developer Solomon Barnett, who developed much of Kilburn. The two-story terraced houses east of the park, developed between 1895 and 1900, typically have clean, classical lines. Those west of the park, developed between 1900 and 1905, tend to be more Gothic in style. Barnett's wife was from the West Country, and many of the roads he developed are named either for places she knew (e.g. Torbay, Tiverton. Honiton) or popular poets of the time (e.g. Tennyson). The first occupants of the area in late Victorian times were typically lower middle class clerical workers, school-teachers, insurance company employees and bank clerks.
There are two wards in Greater London called Queen's Park.
The Queen's Park ward located in the northwest of the City of Westminster is represented by three Labour Party councillors on Westminster City Council.[3] This ward forms part of the Westminster North constituency, represented by Labour MP Karen Buck.
The adjacent Queen's Park ward in the southeast of the London Borough of Brent is represented by one Liberal Democrat and two Labour Party councillors on Brent London Borough Council.[4] This ward forms part of the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency, represented by Labour MP Glenda Jackson.
During the post-war years, the northern half of Queen's Park had a relatively high proportion of bedsits (one-room rentals) amongst its terraced streets. However, over the past 20 years a large proportion of these multi-occupancy properties have been converted back to single family use. The main shopping streets of Salusbury Road and Chamberlayne Road have fewer convenience stores and more high-value shops and restaurants than previously, a trend that began with the opening of The Organic Cafe restaurant and Worldy Wicked and Wise homeware and gift shop in the mid-90s. Local schools - some of which struggled to attract the children of wealthier local families in the past - are now over-subscribed. House prices have risen accordingly, with the common selling prices for 3/4 bedroom terraced houses to the east of the Park (land values are slightly lower on the west hand side of the park, closer towards Kensal Rise) having recently surpassed £1,000,000, whilst larger 5-7 bedroomed houses overlooking the park on the east side sell for millions. The area is still relatively undiscovered by non-residents, although it is extremely popular for its proximity to central London by direct London Underground link. The area has a well established community, and "almost village atmosphere" in the words of the local residents' association, QPARA.
The main focus of the area is Queen's Park itself - a park with an area of 30 acres (120,000 m2). Queens Park Rangers originally came from here, as the name implies, though they now play nearby in Shepherd's Bush. In 1879 the Royal Agricultural Society chose Willesden as the site of its annual show. A 100-acre (0.40 km2) site was designated at Kilburn, and on 30 June the show was opened. Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales attended to view a working dairy, agricultural machinery and a wide range of farm animals. The show ran for a week, in extremely bad weather. Although it attracted 185,000 visitors, it made a loss of £15000. It was decided to set up a permanent venue for the show, and the Society chose a place in Twyford. A public campaign was launched to try to secure the whole 100-acre (0.40 km2) site (bounded by Salusbury Road to the east, Chamberlayne Road to the west, and railway lines to the north and south) as a park to ensure some green space was retained in a fast-developing part of London. In the end only the central part of the site (30 acres) was purchased. The park opened in 1886 and was named Queen's Park in honour of the reigning monarch, who was celebrating her Golden Jubilee the following year.
Queen's Park is now managed by the City of London Corporation. It has recently been named a Green Flag Park in recognition of the quality of its services and environment. Facilities in the park include six all-weather tennis courts, a pitch-and-putt course, a pétanque pitch, an ornamental garden, a children’s playground with paddling pool, a children's animal farm and a cafe.
The part of Queen's Park which is in the City of Westminster is south of Queen's Park station and hence south of the railway line out of Euston. It includes the Queens Park Estate, built from 1874 by the Artisans, Labourers & General Dwellings Company. The architecture of that estate of some 2,000 small houses is distinctively Gothic-revival, with polychrome brickwork, pinnacles and turrets along the bigger roads. It retains Avenues 1-6 and originally had streets A-P. The street names have been made into full words, (Alperton Street, Barfett Street, Caird Street, Droop Street, Enbrook Street, Farrant Street, Galton Street, Huxley Street, Ilbert Street, Kilravock Street, Lothrop Street, Marne Street, Nutbourne Street, Oliphant street, Peach Street). It was on this estate that the first QPR footballers had their homes. It stretches from Kilburn Lane down to the Harrow Road.
Queen's Park is host to a number of cultures and religions, the most prominent of which is Christianity. According to the 2001 National Census, 54.9% of residents of Queen's Park ward (the area either side of the park plus some neighbouring roads in Kilburn and Kensal) define themselves as Christians. St Anne's and St Andrew's church (a joint Church of England/United Reform Church ecumenical foundation, which is also home to the London Interfaith Centre) was opened just over a decade ago on Salusbury Road. St Anne Brondesbury, the Anglican parish church, was established on Salusbury Road in 1902, at first using a temporary metal building known as "the old tin church' before a permanent building was erected in 1905. This Gothic Revival church was demolished in 1995 in the face serious structural problems, and was replaced by the current ecumenical centre in 1997. Other Christian centres in the area include the Church of The Transfiguration, a Roman Catholic church on the corner of Wrentham Avenue and Chamberlayne Road, and the West Kilburn Baptist Church on Carlton Vale. The area used to have a significant Jewish population; this has now declined to around 2%, in line with the London average. The former synagogue on Chevening Road was converted into a mosque in the 1990s, although there is an important synagogue nearby in Willesden.[5] The area also has a number of Islamic institutions, even though the Muslim population, at 6.1%, is small for Brent (the average for the borough, according to the 2001 Census, is 12.25%). The mosque on Chevening Road was founded by Abdul Majid al-Khoei, who returned to Iraq following the second Gulf War to help in the reorganisation of the country. Only few weeks from his arrival he was murdered. Tony Blair had visited the religious leader several times at the mosque. Queen's Park is also home to a number of Islamic schools, including the Al-Sadiq/Al-Zahara Islamic Schools, for boys and girls respectively, which are attached to the mosque, and the Islamia Schools, founded by Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens).
Salusbury Road has an increasing number of shops, pubs, cafes and restaurants. The Queen's Park Farmers' Market, which operates on Sunday mornings in the grounds of Salusbury Primary School on Salusbury Road, draws people from across north west London to stock up on locally grown/produced produce.
Queen's Park is also one of the areas home to London's postcode wars, and as a result some of the streets in Queen's Park are less safe at night. [6] [7]
Queen's Park station is a tube and Network Rail station in Travelcard Zone 2; it has direct links to south and central London via the Bakerloo Line or to Euston, Watford Junction and intermediate stations via London Overground trains (or to Harrow & Wealdstone station using Bakerloo Line trains). Brondesbury Park station, on the London Overground North London Line, is near the northeast corner of Queen's Park.
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