Editing Neasden (section)

===As a hamlet===
Neasden was a countryside hamlet on the western end of the [[Dollis Hill]] ridge. The land was owned by [[St Paul's Cathedral]], who appointed priests to [[St Mary's Church, Willesden|St Mary's Church]] in Neasden. In medieval times, the village consisted only of several small buildings around the green near the site of the present Neasden roundabout.

In the 15th–17th centuries the Roberts family were the major landowners in the area. Thomas Roberts erected Neasden House (on the site of the modern Clifford Court) in the reign of Henry VIII.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://212.85.23.227/Heritage.nsf/24878f4b00d4f0f68025663c006c7944/8c28e2ce1fbd853280256b2100378344/$FILE/Neasden.PDF|title=Brent Archives|date=11 February 2012|access-date=9 July 2022|archive-date=11 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211084759/https://212.85.23.227/Heritage.nsf/24878f4b00d4f0f68025663c006c7944/8c28e2ce1fbd853280256b2100378344/$FILE/Neasden.PDF|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref>
In 1651 Sir [[William Roberts (Parliamentarian)|William Roberts]] bought confiscated church lands. After the [[English Restoration|Restoration]] the estates were returned to the ownership of the Church but were leased out to the Roberts family. Sir William improved Neasden House, and by 1664 it was one of the largest houses in the Willesden parish.

During the 18th century the Nicoll family replaced the Roberts as the dominant family in Neasden. In the 19th century these farmers and moneyers at the Royal Mint wholly owned Neasden House and much of the land in the area.

Neasden was no more than a "retired hamlet" when [[enclosure]] was completed in 1823. At this time there were six cottages, four larger houses or farms, a public house and a [[forge|smithy]], grouped around the green. The dwellings include The Grove, which had been bought by a London solicitor named James Hall, and its former outbuilding, which Hall had converted into a house that became known as The Grange.<ref name="Hidden London">{{cite web|url=http://www.hidden-london.com/neasden.html|title=Neasden - Hidden London|website=Hidden-london.com}}</ref>
[[File:Neasden underpass.jpg|thumb|Neasden underpass]]
The [[Brent Reservoir|Welsh Harp reservoir]] was completed in 1835 but breached in 1841 with fatalities. It had a dramatic effect on the landscape as the damming of the [[River Brent]] put many fields and meadows under water.

In the early 1850s, Neasden had a population of about 110. As London grew in the second half of the 19th century, the demand for horses for transport in London soared. Neasden farms concentrated on rearing and providing horses for the city. Town work was exhausting and unhealthy for the horses, and in 1886 the [[RSPCA]] formed a committee to set up the Home of Rest for Horses with grounds in Sudbury and Neasden, where for a small fee town horses were allowed to graze in the open for a few weeks.<ref name="autogenerated1" />