Editing Willesden (section)

==History==

===Etymology===
The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon ''Willesdune'', meaning the Hill of the Spring,<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |url=http://www.brent-heritage.co.uk/willesden.htm |title=Willesden, London Borough of Brent |publisher=Brent-heritage.co.uk |date=1 October 2002 |access-date=20 May 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140718213552/http://www.brent-heritage.co.uk/willesden.htm |archive-date=18 July 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> and a Manor (landholding) bearing this name was recorded in 939 AD. The [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 records the manor as ''Wellesdone''.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> However, on 19th century maps of the town such as those from the 'Ordnance Survey First Series', the town is shown as Wilsdon.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/maps/index.jsp?layer=nineteenth&xMin=3314244.016643333333257542108185589313507080078125&yMin=2796266.417393333333257542108185589313507080078125&xMax=3317697.349976666666742457891814410686492919921875&yMax=2799719.750726666666742457891814410686492919921875 |title=Old maps of Britain and Europe from A Vision of Britain Through Time |publisher=Visionofbritain.org.uk |access-date=20 May 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521031313/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/maps/index.jsp?layer=nineteenth&xMin=3314244.016643333333257542108185589313507080078125&yMin=2796266.417393333333257542108185589313507080078125&xMax=3317697.349976666666742457891814410686492919921875&yMax=2799719.750726666666742457891814410686492919921875 |archive-date=21 May 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The current spelling was adopted by the [[London and Birmingham Railway]] in 1844, when they opened a local station.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Snow|first=Len|title=Willesden Past|publisher=Phillimore and Co|year=1994|isbn=0850339030|location=Chichester Sussex|pages=}}</ref>

===Early history===
[[File:St. Marys Church, Neasden Lane, NW10 (geograph 2822687).jpg|thumb|Church of St. Mary on Neasden Lane, Willesden]]
Willesden became a [[civil parish#ancient parish|civil parish]] in the medieval period. From the 14th to 16th centuries, the town was a place of pilgrimage due to the presence of two ancient statues of the [[Blessed Virgin Mary|Virgin Mary]] at the Church of St Mary. One of these statues is thought to have been a [[Black Madonna]], venerated as [[Our Lady of Willesden]], which was insulted by the [[Lollards]], taken to Thomas Cromwell's house and burnt in 1538 on a large bonfire of "notable images" including those of [[Our Lady of Walsingham]], Our Lady of Worcester, and [[Our Lady of Ipswich]].  There was also a "holy well" which was thought to possess miraculous qualities, particularly for blindness and other eye disorders.
Much of the district supplied apples, pears and vegetables to the city of London for many years from the early years of the industrial revolution.

===Industrial history===
[[File:MHV Iris 15 hp 1912.jpg|thumb|left|Iris 15 HP (1912)]]
The [[Iris (car)|Iris]] was a British car brand that was manufactured from 1906 by Legros & Knowles Ltd in Willesden. Lucien Alphonse Legros (1866–1933), son of the artist Alphonse Legros, and [[Guy Knowles]], scion of a wealthy and artistic family, founded Legros & Knowles Ltd in Cumberland Park, Willesden Junction, in 1904 to build and repair vehicles.<ref name="Grace's Legros">{{cite web|url=http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Lucien_Alphonse_Legros|title=Lucien Alphonse Legros|website=www.gracesguide.co.uk|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518075843/http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Lucien_Alphonse_Legros|archive-date=18 May 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="Grace's L&K">{{cite web|url=http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Legros_and_Knowles|title=Legros and Knowles|website=www.gracesguide.co.uk|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150509011346/http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Legros_and_Knowles|archive-date=9 May 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="MotorSport 1960">{{Cite web|url=http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/february-1960/42/iris-car|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518070111/http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/february-1960/42/iris-car|url-status=dead|title=Motor Sport, February 1960, Page 42, The Iris Car. By S. A. Gibbons|archive-date=18 May 2015}}</ref>

===Modern history===
[[File:Willesdengreenstation.jpg|250px|left|thumb|Willesden Green station opened in 1879]]
The parish of Willesden remained predominantly rural up until 1875, when its population was 18,500. It included the villages and hamlets of [[Brondesbury]], [[Dollis Hill]], Dudden Hill, [[Harlesden]], [[Kilburn, London|Kilburn]], [[Mapesbury]], Oxgate and [[Stonebridge, London|Stonebridge]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Guy R.|title=London In The Country – The Growth of Suburbia|publisher=Hamish Hamilton|date=1975|page=18}}</ref> However, this changed with the opening of the Metropolitan Railway (later the [[Metropolitan line]]) station of Willesden Green on 24 November 1879. By 1906 the population had grown to 140,000, a phenomenon of rapid growth that was to be repeated in the 1920s in neighbouring areas such as [[Harrow, London|Harrow]]. The Metropolitan line service was withdrawn in 1940, when the station was served by the Bakerloo line,{{Citation needed|date=December 2018}} and later the [[Jubilee line]].

The [[First World War]] caused Willesden to change from a predominantly [[middle class]] suburb to a [[working class]] part of London. After the war, Willesden grew rapidly as many factories opened up with numerous flats and terraced houses. The local council encouraged building to prevent large unemployment and decline.
To the present day, Willesden has been shaped by the patterns of migration which marks it out as one of the most diverse areas in the [[United Kingdom]]. [[City of London Corporation]] records show that the first black person recorded in Brent was Sarah Eco, who was christened in [[St Mary's Church, Willesden|St. Mary's Church]] in Willesden on 15 September 1723.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brent.gov.uk/Heritage.nsf/24878f4b00d4f0f68025663c006c7944/0ff7e91c2dfaf43380256b21002eb018/$FILE/ChurchEnd.PDF |title=Church End and the Parish of Willesden |publisher=[[Brent London Borough Council|Brent Council]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070423140355/http://www.brent.gov.uk/Heritage.nsf/24878f4b00d4f0f68025663c006c7944/0ff7e91c2dfaf43380256b21002eb018/%24FILE/ChurchEnd.PDF |archive-date=23 April 2007 |access-date=22 May 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[United Kingdom Census 1901|1901 United Kingdom census]] recorded that 42% of the population was born in London. In 1923, the specialist coach builder [[Freestone and Webb]] established their base in Willesden, producing bespoke cars on [[Rolls-Royce Limited|Rolls-Royce]] and Bentley chassis until 1956.

Willesden became a municipal borough in 1933, and it is at this time that the area became predominantly working class. A small [[Irish diaspora|Irish]] community had formed in Willesden by this time, which grew rapidly during the period of the [[Second World War]]. A small Jewish community of refugees from Europe also formed during the war, with 3.5% of the population in 1951 born in [[Germany]], [[Poland]], [[Russia]] or [[Austria]].
During the war, Willesden suffered large bombing damage due to the heavy concentration of manufacturing industry, such as munition factories, the location of 'Smiths Instruments" (Used defensive aircraft instrumentation). Mulliner-Park Ward (Coach builders to Rolls-Royce and Bentley, hand built cars). Power Station location, canal and major railway locomotive overhaul facilities located in the area.

[[File:Willesden Jewish Cemetery prayer hall.jpg|thumb|The prayer hall of [[Willesden Jewish Cemetery]]]]
The period from 1960 saw migrants settling from the [[Caribbean]] and the [[Indian Subcontinent]]. Additionally, from 1963 it was the site of the [[Kuo Yuan]], the first Chinese restaurant to serve Pekinese dishes in Britain.<ref>Jay Rayner. "[http://observer.guardian.co.uk/foodmonthly/story/0,,834742,00.html The sweet and sour revolution] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223034543/http://observer.guardian.co.uk/foodmonthly/story/0,,834742,00.html |date=23 December 2007 }}". ''The Observer''. 10 November 2002.</ref> Since the 1960s, Willesden has been popular with young working holidaymakers from [[Canada]], [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]], although this popularity has declined somewhat in favour of other areas since about 2003.

Willesden went into a period of decline during the 1970s and 1980s as much of the housing was inadequate due to overcrowding as industry was mixed with housing. The whole of central Willesden (bar the area by the Willesden Green station) was earmarked for redevelopment; however, this did not come to fruition. In the late 1980s, traders were given money to revamp the High Street to prevent shops closing.

The area surrounding [[Willesden Green tube station|Willesden Green station]] has become more middle-class and gentrified with marked property price rises in 2014 and 2015.<ref name="brignall1"/><ref name="mcghie1"/>

[[File:Willesden French Market 2006.jpg|thumb|Willesden French Market]]