Borough of Brent

This borough is surrounded by other boroughs in the northwest corner of London. Some key areas of the borough retain their Anglo-Saxon names which reveal some of its geographic features. A few examples are: Wembley: Wembalea (AD825) – Wemba’s forest clearing, Neasden: Neosdune (AD924) – Settlement on the nose shaped hill, Willesden: Wellesdune (AD939) – The hill of the spring, and Cyngesbyrig (AD957) – The King’s stronghold. The land in the current borough was comprised of former country villages.  

The coming of the railways in the mid-1800’s, especially the Metropolitan Line, and the natural expansion of London transformed the area. Willesden Junction was an important railway centre and with it came people and businesses. Neasden began to develop in the 1920’s with the coming of the estates, the Metropolitan Railway and the North Circular Road.  Today, Neasden is home to Swaminarayan Mandir, the largest Hindu temple outside of India. Another area of Brent, Twyford, also known as Park Royal, was a centre of munitions manufacturing during the Great War and later became an industrial area. Brent is also known for receiving the first television signal from Berlin in 1929 in the area of Kingsbury as well as housing aircraft manufacturing.  Currently, Brent is the home for Wembley Stadium.  The stadium is situated on a former landowner’s parkland called Wembley Park.  In 1887, the Metropolitan Railway purchased the land to develop a recreation centre for Northwest London, called Wembley Park Leisure Grounds.  Five years after the end of the Great War in 1918, the British Empire Exhibition was held on what was the Leisure Grounds.  A key feature of the exhibition was the stadium that was erected in just 300 days.  It was called the Empire Stadium.  The Stadium was the location for the 1923 FA Cup final and has been used as the National Football stadium and as an entertainment venue ever since. It also hosted the 1948 Olympics and 1954 and 1955 Billy Graham crusades.

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