Willesden: Economic history

ECONOMIC HISTORY.

Agrarian History.

In 1086 the three estates at Willesden contained enough land for a total of 20½ plough teams, 15 at the principal manor, 4 at Harlesden, and 1½ at East Twyford. The largest manor, which had no demesne, was held at farm by 25 villeins who had between them only 8 teams, and there were also 5 bordars. At Harlesden the demesne had 2 teams and the villeins ½ team though there were 12 villeins with 1 virgate each and 10 with ½ virgate each. No demesne was recorded at East Twyford, where 3 villeins had 2½ virgates. In the three estates together there was woodland for 700 pigs. Only East Twyford had increased in value since 1066, the main manor having decreased by nearly half and Harlesden by more than half. (fn. 1) By the early 12th century the three estates had evolved into the eight prebends and the rectory estate which provided the medieval framework of Willesden. It seems likely that the demesne estates of the prebends in the south-east, namely Bounds, Brondesbury, Mapesbury, and Chambers, existed in the Middle Ages. Leases exist for Mapesbury demesne in the 15th century and a prebendary was presented in 1383 for the state of the road bordering land traditionally part of the demesne. Early 16th-century leases of Mapesbury contained a clause reserving part of the manor house for the prebendary. The prebendary of Harlesden alienated most of his demesne c. 1200, leaving a demesne of only 3 a.; there is no evidence that the other prebends ever had lands in demesne.

Most of the landholders in Willesden in the Middle Ages were from local, often long-lived families. Local place-names supplied surnames for the Willesden (1278-1494), (fn. 2) Twyford (1219-1902), (fn. 3) Harlesden (13th cent., 1327), (fn. 4) Oxgate (1298), (fn. 5) and Slade (1248-1306) (fn. 6) families. Other local names included Hacche (c. 1200-1441), (fn. 7) Cornhill (1274-1415), (fn. 8) Algar (c. 1280-1432), (fn. 9) Fayrsire or Veyser of Harlesden (1293-1510), (fn. 10) Stokke or Stokker (1295-1377), (fn. 11) Wood or Atwood (1307-1463), (fn. 12) Shepherd (1322- 1675), (fn. 13) Erlich (1351-1510), Nelme (1359-1510), (fn. 14) Franklin (1454-1840), (fn. 15) Reding (1473-1630), (fn. 16) and, the most important, Roberts (1295-1702). (fn. 17)

Willesden was sufficiently near London to attract London merchants. Middletons manor originated in the sale by one London draper to another in 1295 and passed, a century later, to a draper and mercer. (fn. 18) A clothier died seised of Malories and West Twyford manor in 1380 and it was a group of London merchants, particularly the mercer Ellis Davy, who built up the estate which was acquired by All Souls College in the 15th century. (fn. 19) A sherman leased the rectory in 1462 (fn. 20) and other London merchants who bought and sold land in Willesden, probably as investments rather than as country seats, included two goldsmiths (fn. 21) and a fishmonger (fn. 22) in the 14th century, two grocers, (fn. 23) a spicer, (fn. 24) a tailor, (fn. 25) a draper, (fn. 26) a carpenter, (fn. 27) and a sherman (fn. 28) in the 15th century. The looseness of the lords' control evidently facilitated the buying, selling, and exchanging of land by local families and Londoners, which resulted in the creation of estates like Middletons and Malories and the conversion of large areas of the open fields to closes.

The open fields of Willesden as recorded from the 17th century to the 19th, (fn. 29) stretching westward from the centre of the parish to the river Brent, were the residue of a more extensive layout. North-west of Willesden Green Sheepcote field (1351) (fn. 30) contained c. 21 a. in 1621 and 26 a. in 1722 and 1816. Dudden or Duddinghill field (1363) (fn. 31) to the north was c. 72 a. in 1621 and 1722 and 66 a. in 1816. At Chapel End Church mead seems to have been the rump of Church field (c. 1280), (fn. 32) which formerly ran eastward from the church. Hungerhill field (1415) (fn. 33) contained c. 72 a. Fortune field (1359) (fn. 34) was 64 a. in 1621 and 1722 and 76 a. in 1816. The common marsh, divided into Harlesden and Willesden marsh in 1364 (fn. 35) and Great and Little marsh in 1599 (fn. 36) and 1621, contained c. 53 a. in 1621, 73 a. in 1722, and 77 a. in 1816. Brent field (1415), (fn. 37) often divided into Lower and Upper Brent field, contained 115 a. in 1621, 151 a. in 1722 and 1816, its shape indicating that parts had been inclosed. Neasden field (1457) (fn. 38) apparently abutted Brent field in 1621 when it contained 53½ a. but by 1722 it had shrunk to 31 a., including what by 1823 was called Bridge field. Some other field names, like Willesden field (1298) (fn. 39) and Drayton field (1510), (fn. 40) were probably alternatives to those already mentioned, and some, like Deriches field (c. 1185), (fn. 41) are totally unlocated. Many more, however, were of open fields which by 1621 were wholly inclosed, particularly in the north, on the farmlands of Oxgate, Dollis Hill, and Neasden. Sherrick field (1307) and Nether Sherrick field (1432) or Nether field (1419), between Sherrick Lane and Cricklewood, (fn. 42) and Hakkers field (1420), also north of Sherrick Lane, (fn. 43) had been inclosed by 1449. (fn. 44) Bury field (1322) or le Bery (1420) (fn. 45) and Bedewell field (1305) (fn. 46) were in Neasden, probably in the west near Brent and Neasden fields, (fn. 47) and Sheeprode field (1306) was in Oxgate. (fn. 48) Numerous crofts remained divided into strips. (fn. 49)

The process of consolidating strips can be traced from the 13th century, when the rectory estate began to take shape as a few compact blocks of land through the activities of Alan of Morton. (fn. 50) The nucleus of Malories at Kensal Green and Harlesden was probably formed before 1310, further land being added in the 14th and 15th centuries. Middletons was built up by mostly small purchases between 1295 and 1322, and in the 1420s there was much buying, selling, and exchanging of land in the north as the Cursons, Robertses and Willesdens built up their Neasden and Oxgate estates. (fn. 51)

Such inclosure may have been partly to convert arable to pasture, but farming in Willesden in the Middle Ages seems to have been mixed, with arable predominant. Arable was more extensive than meadow, pasture, or woodland in conveyances except in Harlesden and Kilburn. There was much woodland in the south and east; meadow lay mostly along the streams. The farm buildings of the rectory were equipped c. 1280 for mixed farming. (fn. 52) Willesden was one of the main producers of sheep near London in 1340, (fn. 53) and cattle destroyed the woods of Bounds prebend in 1422. (fn. 54) In the 15th century the All Souls estate produced large quantities of oats and sheep, sent oats and hay to the college's hospice in London, and also yielded wheat, cows, and oxen. (fn. 55)

In 1517 the prebendary of Brondesbury was indicted for inclosing his arable land for pasture, displacing half a ploughteam and making 12 people idle. (fn. 56) In 1552 Thomas Nicoll, described as a merchant of Willesden, was presented for paying rents that poor men could not afford. (fn. 57) Willesden lands were valued highly presumably because they were close to London. Mapesbury was leased to a London merchant tailor in 1534 and a scrivener in 1642, and a London alderman, possibly with local connexions, bought Twyford manor in 1599. (fn. 58) A London skinner bought c. 80 a. in 1525 and Richard Taylor, who purchased a Harlesden estate in 1676, was a London vintner. (fn. 59) Local families which appear during the period include those of Wingfield (1524-1738), (fn. 60) Newman (1527-1864), (fn. 61) Kempe (1538-1662), (fn. 62) Vincent (1544-1663), (fn. 63) Nicoll (1552-1853), (fn. 64) Marsh (1574-1770), (fn. 65) Haley (1613-1760), (fn. 66) Finch (1615-c. 1900), (fn. 67) and Weeden (1665- 1820). (fn. 68)

From the early 18th century the boundaries of freehold estates tended to remain constant, the land being leased and frequently underleased, so that a farm was often made up of contiguous portions of land belonging to several landlords. In 1765 the largest holding, that of Thomas Nicoll at Neasden, comprised several farms amounting to 453 a., Isaac Messeder occupied most of the All Souls estate (288 a.), and there were eight farms of 100-200 a., twelve of 50- 100 a., seven of 21-50 a., and eighteen of less than 20 a. (fn. 69) By 1801 the largest farm was that of the London butcher, Paul Giblett, who leased 402 a. from Lady Salusbury in the south-east. The next largest estate was that of Joseph Nicoll (258 a.) in Neasden. There were two other estates of over 200 a., 11 of 100 a.-200 a., 7 of 50 a.-100 a., and 4 of 21 a.-50 a. (fn. 70)

By the late 18th century the woodland had virtually all been cleared and much of the arable had been converted to grass. Hedgerows had been grubbed up by Michael Roberts at Neasden in the 1540s. (fn. 71) On Mapesbury manor in the 16th century felling was limited at Mapes wood (fn. 72) and there were still 70 a. of woodland in 1649, (fn. 73) but Great Mapes wood had gone by 1716 and by 1725 woodland had been reduced to 12 a., woods at Baldwins north of Willesden Green besides Mapes wood having been converted to grass or tillage since 1666; (fn. 74) the woodland had all gone by 1784. (fn. 75) There were 18 a. of woodland at Bounds and 69 a. at Brondesbury in 1649, but 44 a. of the latter had been lost by 1708. (fn. 76) There were 7 a. of woodland on the Rectory estate in 1650, (fn. 77) but it had apparently all gone by 1692. (fn. 78) On the Oxgate estates woodland formed 15 a. of Tanner's estate in 1675 but had entirely disappeared by 1755, (fn. 79) 30 a. of the Franklin farm in 1686 when another 33 a. had been lately converted to arable, (fn. 80) and only 3½ a. on the Hawe estate in 1700. (fn. 81) There was no woodland left on any of the Brydges estates by c. 1790: Broadfield Grove (33 a.) had been cleared by 1705, Down Grove (30 a.) between 1705 and 1734, and Square Grove (20 a.) by 1733. (fn. 82)

Woodland on the All Souls estate included Cricklewood along Edgware Road, where some clearing had taken place by the 15th century, but nearly half the land was still woodland in 1599. The main estate in Kensal Green and south Harlesden had once been part of Wormholt woods, and in 1599 much woodland remained in thick bands around fields. (fn. 83) The woods were not leased with the rest of the estate. In the 15th century wood yielded more income than other produce, (fn. 84) and from the mid 15th century the college sold the right to take wood for periods of years, usually three, attempting to reserve young trees. (fn. 85) The woodland was nevertheless gradually cleared. (fn. 86) In 1662 there were 107 elms and 816 oaks on the All Souls estate, of which 79 oaks were at Cricklewood. (fn. 87) Another 20 a. had been grubbed up by 1665, and in 1685 the All Souls woodland in Willesden totalled 64 a., compared with 99 a. in 1599. (fn. 88) In 1752 less than a tenth of the estate was woodland, all at Kensal Green and Harlesden. (fn. 89) By 1787 there was barely enough wood for common repairs. (fn. 90)

Although the land cleared of trees was often initially used as arable, the general tendency was a movement from arable to grassland. The All Souls estate, with a relatively high proportion of arable, had 43 per cent in 1599, reduced to 25 per cent by 1752 and 17 per cent by 1815. (fn. 91) Arable was 40 per cent of Franklin's farm at Oxgate in 1686 and 17 per cent c. 1790, (fn. 92) while at Tanner's farm, Oxgate, the arable increased from c. 40 per cent in 1675 to 52 per cent in 1755 because of conversion from woodland. (fn. 93) At Mapesbury the arable decreased from nearly a third in 1649 to less than a tenth in 1784. (fn. 94) Most of the southeastern part of the parish, at Kilburn, was almost entirely pasture and meadow. (fn. 95)

In 1816 Willesden was said to consist mostly of meadow or pasture although because the open fields survived there was more land under the plough than was usual in a parish so near London. (fn. 96) Except for Neasden field the boundaries of the open fields altered hardly at all between 1599 and inclosure. (fn. 97) An Inclosure Act was passed in 1815 following a petition by the principal farmers, and in 1823 the award was completed, 560 a. of open-field arable, meadow, and waste being allotted. (fn. 98) The largest freehold estates were those of All Souls College (491 a.), the duke of Buckingham (452 a.), the prebend of Mapesbury (319 a.), Joseph Finch (301 a.), Charles Brett (252 a.), and the prebend of Brondesbury (248 a.). (fn. 99)

In 1827 All Souls College attempted to rationalize its estate further. (fn. 100) There were further exchanges of land from 1851 to 1887 under the Inclosure Acts, (fn. 101) and by c. 1870 the pattern of landowning was much more logical and direct leases had replaced complicated subleasing. (fn. 102) There were 60 people occupying land in 1870, 15 having holdings of over 100 a., 10 of 50-100 a., 17 of 20-50 a., 11 of 5-20 a., and 6 of less than 5 a. Another six had livestock but no land. The number of holdings had fallen to 27 by 1900 and 16 by 1910. Of the latter one owned and six rented farms of 50-300 a., three owned and four rented farms of 5-50 a., and two rented holdings of 1-5 a. By 1930 there were only four holdings, all less than 50 a. (fn. 103) There was little arable: in 1866 out of a total acreage of 3,203 a., 52 a. were under oats, 43 a. under wheat, and 34 a. under beans. (fn. 104)

The soil, described at Mapesbury in 1803 as a strong, wet clay, was naturally much better suited to grass, and a cart could fetch a load of dung from the metropolis twice a day. (fn. 105) One author noted the number and size of the dunghills along the side of Edgware Road, which carried more dung than any other road in the county. (fn. 106) Leases required more than two cartloads of dung per acre and restricted the proportion of land that could be mowed twice a year. (fn. 107) By 1833 the Willesden Green farm which the All Souls agent had suggested selling in 1827 had been much improved by manuring. (fn. 108)

During the 16th and 17th centuries the main function of the grassland was to support animals as part of mixed farming. At Mapesbury in 1581 an equal acreage was sown with wheat and oats, and cattle and horses formed part of the stock. (fn. 109) The farm buildings in 1649 included cornchambers, a cowhouse, a cheesechamber, and a henhouse. Brondesbury and Bounds at the same date contained no buildings for arable farming but milkhouses, a cheeseroom, a sheephouse, and a bolting room and a haybarn, a hayhouse, and a cowhouse respectively. (fn. 110) The parsonage in 1692 included a granary as well as a dairy, a cheeseroom, a cowhouse, a henhouse, and an applehouse; there was a granary at Oxgate in 1760 although haymaking was the main activity. (fn. 111) There were cattle at Brondesbury in the late 16th century and on the main All Souls estate in 1662. (fn. 112) Some farms supported both sheep and cattle in the 17th century, especially at Oxgate and Neasden. (fn. 113) Field-names indicate sheep on the All Souls estate between Harlesden and Kensal Green (fn. 114) and at East Twyford. (fn. 115) There was still a sheephouse on the Franklin farm at Oxgate c. 1791 (fn. 116) but by then grass was grown either for feeding cattle or for hay. At Mapesbury in 1784 there was a dairy, cowhouse, a haybarn, and a house for labourers in the hay harvest. (fn. 117) There were vast herds of cattle around Brondesbury in the late 18th century, (fn. 118) and Ralph Marsh (d. by 1758), lessee of Bounds and owner of a freehold at Kilburn, was a grazier. (fn. 119)

Londoners were often directly involved in farming. Leases were made of Brondesbury to a butcher of Hanover Square in 1799 and 1812, (fn. 120) of the All Souls Kensal farm to an Oxford Street butcher 1810-46, (fn. 121) of Chambers and part of the All Souls Kensal lands to cowkeepers of St. Marylebone in 1845, (fn. 122) of Mapesbury to a Piccadilly horse dealer 1826-71, (fn. 123) of the All Souls Willesden Green farm to a St. Marylebone jobmaster in 1828-45, (fn. 124) of the All Souls Cricklewood farm to the keeper of a Berkeley Square livery stable 1832-55, (fn. 125) and of Oxgate to bloodstock dealers from Hyde Park Corner 1837-52. (fn. 126)

Hay was the major crop on the BrydgesTemple estates, and Oxgate was leased to a hay salesman from Stanmore in 1819. (fn. 127) Robert Hodgson's farm at Willesden Green was also a hay farm, 1845-52. (fn. 128) There were several cowkeepers between 1827 and 1862. (fn. 129) Thomas Goddard at Harlesden Green (1839) and Edward and Henry Biggs on Edgware Road (1847-58) were cattle dealers. (fn. 130) A horse dealer and chapman had been a tenant of Bounds and Brondesbury in 1784 (fn. 131) but it was during the earlier 19th century that horses became especially important in Willesden: keepers of livery stables and jobmasters included William Bean at Church End (1828), (fn. 132) Thomas Kenrick (1833), William Vaughan at Stonebridge (1836-7), (fn. 133) and William Cripps at Willesden Green. (fn. 134) Among the most important was William Anderson who, soon after taking the lease of Mapesbury, began to drain the land and manure it and built stables for 58 hunters and carriage horses. (fn. 135) He had been succeeded by 1850 by John Anderson, who continued there as a horse dealer until 1871. (fn. 136) He was followed by Chester Foulsham (d. 1917) who continued the tradition, specializing in training steeplechasers and hunters, including those of the prince of Wales (later Edward VII). (fn. 137) The other important horse dealer was Edmund Tattersall who built a model stud farm at Willesden Paddocks. (fn. 138) There was still a horse dealer there in 1890 but on a reduced scale, most of the land having been given over to dairy farming. (fn. 139) There were stables at Neasden, Willesden Green, (fn. 140) and Church End (fn. 141) in the 1870s, and jobmasters and horse dealers in 1890 at Willesden Paddocks, Dudding Hill farm, Church farm, Withers farm at Willesden Green, and Neasden stud farm and on a smaller scale, mainly in mews, in Willesden Green, Neasden, Harlesden, and especially Kilburn. (fn. 142) Sidney Galvayne, an Australian described as a humane horse tamer, operated at Upper Oxgate in 1891 and was later at Model farm, Neasden and there was a riding school at the Slade in Cricklewood in 1892. (fn. 143) In 1870, after the peak for horse farming had been passed, there were 118 agricultural horses, 76 unbroken horses, and 8 breeding mares. (fn. 144)

The Act of 1864 making it illegal to keep cattle within the metropolis led to a rapid growth in dairy farming just outside the limits. (fn. 145) In Willesden the numbers of milk cows and other cattle (mainly calves) rose from 146 and 65 in 1866 to 806 and 170 by 1870. There were 815 milk cows and 156 other cattle in 1880. Numbers declined after 1880. (fn. 146) Joseph Bannister had sheds for 204 cows at the Rectory farm at Harlesden (Manor farm) in 1864, and after the estate was sold in the 1870s moved to Willesden Paddocks which he was still farming in 1897. (fn. 147) At Neasden there were sheds for 80 cows at Model Farm in 1878 and for 60 at Gravel Farm in 1880. (fn. 148) There were cattle at Dollis Hill in 1887, (fn. 149) and Upper Oxgate farm, which in 1851 had been a horse stud farm, was by 1871 occupied as a dairy farm. (fn. 150) Among the most important dairy farmers were Welford & Sons who had been farming since c. 1860 and who were appointed dairymen to the queen in 1876. By 1882 they had a large herd of pedigree cows and farmed over 300 a. in Willesden, much of it leased from All Souls College at Kensal Green where they had built a model dairy farm. The farm continued, though on a reduced scale, after building had swallowed up most of the farmland and the firm was absorbed into the United Dairies in the 1920s. (fn. 151) Another large dairy farm was Goddard's at Lower Place, which was closed in 1901 when the Royal Agricultural Society took over the land. At the time there were three dairy farms at Willesden Green, two at Kensal Green, and one each at south Kilburn and Harlesden. (fn. 152) There were seven cowsheds in 1910, when horse keeping was said to have been replaced by dairy farming because of the growth of motor traffic. (fn. 153)

By then, however, all farming was diminishing as farmland was sold for building. From 3,370 a. (3,035 a. grass) in 1870, the acreage had shrunk to 1,113 a. (1,037 a. grass) by 1900, 550 a. (494 a. grass) in 1920, and 52 a. (50 a. grass) in 1930. Farming persisted longest in the north, at Neasden, Dollis Hill, and Oxgate. There were sheep at Dollis Hill in the late 19th century and it was probably there that the flocks of 1,372 in 1866 and 462 in 1880 were kept. There were 464 pigs in 1866, 279 in 1900, and 77 in 1920. (fn. 154) Pigs were mainly kept by the poor in Kilburn and Kensal Green. There were some nurseries in the late 19th century, mainly in Kilburn and Brondesbury, but vegetables were probably grown on allotments or as fodder crops on farms. The highest acreages were of mangolds (29 a. in 1870, 32 a. in 1900, 4 a. in 1920). There were 8 a. of turnips and 7 a. of carrots in 1870 but the area of other crops was very small. (fn. 155)

The proportion of the population dependent on agriculture declined from 86 per cent in 1811 to 23 per cent in 1851. In 1841 the 599 people living in barns and tents at the time of the census were mainly itinerant haymakers but may also have included builders and navvies. The proportion employed in agriculture had dropped to 1 per cent in 1901. (fn. 156)

Mills.

A mill which formed part of a grant in 1325 by Richard of Cornhill to John, vicar of Willesden, was probably a watermill on the Brent. (fn. 157)

A windmill existed by 1295 on the estate conveyed by William of Breadstreet to John of Middleton. (fn. 158) It stood apparently north of the Sherrick brook (fn. 159) and was in ruins by 1365 when permission was given to Thomas Frowyk, the mortgagee, to take the timber from it. (fn. 160)

Soon after 1616 William Grey, a lessee of Francis Roberts, built a windmill in Dudden hill field at the point where Dudden Hill Lane entered it. (fn. 161) The mill was held by Robert Paltock in 1698 and sold by Henry Barnett to Edmund Frankland in 1727. (fn. 162) William Kilby had it in 1765 (fn. 163) but it had gone by 1817 and probably by 1787. (fn. 164)

Isaac Ennos, a tenant of Mapesbury, built Kilburn windmill at Shoot-up Hill between 1784 and 1803. (fn. 165) He was succeeded c. 1832 by William Hale, (fn. 166) who in 1851 employed five men there (fn. 167) and was succeeded before 1867 by Charles Hale. The boarded mill was burnt down in 1863 and demolished c. 1900. A steam mill was built next to the damaged windmill in 1867. (fn. 168)

Industry.

A tilekiln, first mentioned in 1438-9, (fn. 169) formed part of the All Souls estate at Harlesden, probably just south of the green, on the site of the later Tyle or Tylers Close. (fn. 170) The kiln lasted throughout the 15th and early 16th centuries, producing tiles for London using imported wood and clay. (fn. 171) Tilekiln houses at Harlesden and Kilburn formed part of the Roberts estate at the beginning of the 16th century. (fn. 172) That at Kilburn can probably be identified with the Place, tilehouses and kilns on Edgware Road sold by Thomas Roberts to Thomas Marsh in 1679, (fn. 173) and with Tile Kiln farm or Kilburn Pits, owned by the Marsh family in the mid 18th century. (fn. 174) The kiln had probably long ceased to be worked by the late 18th century when the farm was merged in the Salusbury estate, although there were brickmakers in Kilburn in 1851 and 1867. (fn. 175)

Other tile and brick works are indicated by the reservation of 'daubing earth' by Bartholomew Willesden in 1465, (fn. 176) by a brickfield on the Nicoll estate in 1739, (fn. 177) a tilekiln field at Oxgate in 1787, (fn. 178) and kiln fields on the Brondesbury estate in 1834. (fn. 179) Tenants of All Souls were producing a million bricks a year at Kensal Green in 1825. (fn. 180) The Willesden Brick & Tile works in Chambers Lane, which were owned by the Furness family and established by 1882, provided many bricks for local building until they were demolished in 1937. (fn. 181) There was also a brick and lime works next to the railway at Stonebridge in 1914. (fn. 182)

There was some tanning in the 17th century, notably at Oxgate which contained tanyards and was leased to one tanner, John Plomer, in 1665 and offered for sale to another, Ezechiel Tanner, before 1675. (fn. 183) There was a tailor in Willesden in 1624 (fn. 184) but few tradesmen or craftsmen other than the usual smiths, wheelwrights, and shoemakers before the 19th century. In 1811 only one family in ten in Willesden was dependent on trade, manufacture, or craft but by 1831 the proportion had risen to a quarter. (fn. 185) Craftsmen included a coachmaker in 1819, a glassblower at Harlesden in 1829, a piano maker at Harlesden in 1850, (fn. 186) and a wholesale perfumer with 22 employees on Edgware Road in 1851. (fn. 187) There was a brewery near Oxgate in 1819. (fn. 188) Kilburn brewery, established on the Mapesbury estate at Edgware Road by William and George Verey in 1832, (fn. 189) employed 22 men in 1851 and 66 in 1919, a year before it closed. (fn. 190)

As early as 1834 the 'contiguity' to London was adduced as the reason for the unusually large number of laundresses in Willesden, women who earned good wages to supplement the seasonal work of their husbands in agriculture and brickmaking. (fn. 191) As steam laundries developed in the later 19th century, 'factory' laundries predominated over the smaller 'domestic' laundries. (fn. 192) By 1902 there were 137 laundries employing 2,046 women. The numbers declined, to 60 factory and 28 domestic laundries in 1910, 53 and 23 in 1918, and 38 and 29 in 1934. (fn. 193) In 1919 there were 15 laundries each employing more than 40 women, the two largest, in Stonebridge and Craven Park, employing 180 and 364 respectively. (fn. 194)

From the mid 19th century the influence of London on industry became increasingly stronger, building spreading from the south to house labour for industries which often themselves moved from central London. Kilburn, the nearest area and the first to be developed, also provided early industry. A carriage manufacturer was located on Edgware Road in 1851, (fn. 195) and Elm Lodge on Edgware Road was a gelatine factory in 1858. (fn. 196) There were five coachbuilding and three cycle-manufacturing firms in Kilburn by 1890. By that date Kilburn also housed manufacturers of ladders, steel punches, perambulators, artificial limbs, and gold leaf and several masons in Willesden Lane near Paddington cemetery. (fn. 197) The largest Kilburn firm was the Patent Railway Signal Works, opened by John Saxby and John Farmer on a site between the railway line and Canterbury Road c. 1862. They provided employment for 700 men in 1872 and for 2,000 before the manufacture of signalling equipment moved to Chippenham in 1903. The premises were sold in 1906 (fn. 198) and from 1911 to 1933 were occupied by Humber Ltd., motor manufacturers. (fn. 199)

Land in Acton Road next to the canal was advertised as suitable for a brickfield or factory in 1879 (fn. 200) and industry multiplied in Harlesden and Kensal Green from the 1880s. Most firms there were small. Holland & Holland, makers of handmade guns, opened a factory on Harrow Road in 1880 and employed 48 men in 1919; although it had relinquished its shooting range for building by 1918, the factory survived in 1981. (fn. 201) By 1890 Harlesden had makers of washing machines and antiseptic fluids, an art metal company, monumental masons, and the Willesden Cycle Co. (fn. 202) In 1902 McVitie & Price opened a biscuit factory in Waxlow Road, Harlesden, and by 1919 was the largest employer in Willesden, with 1,150 workers. (fn. 203) Park Royal began to be developed during the First World War; the later industrial history of the area is treated elsewhere. (fn. 204)

Small-scale industry, masons, saw-mills, cycle-makers, printers, electrical engineering works, and makers of photographic apparatus and pencils, were established at Willesden Green and Church End in the three decades before the First World War. (fn. 205) The largest of the firms was British Thomson Houston Co. which opened its electrical engineering works north of the vicarage at Church End in 1913, employing 462 people in 1919 and 2,000 in 1949. (fn. 206) It had closed by 1964. (fn. 207) J. H. Dallmeyer, manufacturers of lenses and scientific instruments, moved to Denzil Road, Church End, from central London in 1907. They moved to High Road in the 1920s and built extensions in 1945 and 1952. By 1979 the firm employed c. 90 people on high-precision optical manufacture. (fn. 208) Industry spread northward from Church End along Neasden Lane. In 1913 the pencil works of B. S. Cohen were founded in the Britannia Works in the triangle between Neasden Lane and the two railway lines. Some 100 people were employed there in 1919. In 1926 the works passed to the Royal Sovereign Pencil Co. which established a second factory a little to the north in 1929 and by 1937 had 250 employees. By 1949 it had been replaced by Waterman's Pen Co., then employing 300 people. (fn. 209)

While Kilburn, Kensal Green, Harlesden, Willesden Green, and the northern part of Church End all used the railway lines along which they lay for transporting raw materials and finished goods, two areas were even more dependent on the railways. The low lying and poorly drained land along the river Brent was unattractive to speculative builders and in the 1880s the Metropolitan Railway Co. purchased 290 a. at Neasden, where it built a new depot and repair shops designed to employ 500 men and to replace its obsolete works in Marylebone. Houses were built for the workers employed in repairing and, from 1896, building engines and rolling stock. (fn. 210) A generating station, built in Quainton Street, Neasden, when the line was electrified in 1903-5, survived until 1967. The Great Central Railway established its depot south of the line at Neasden and c. 1900 erected housing for its workers. (fn. 211) In 1888 the Midland Railway Co. extended its workshops and sidings at Cricklewood, (fn. 212) which although in Hendon employed many people from Willesden. In 1921 the railways employed 3,277 Willesden men. (fn. 213) In 1949 London Transport's 50-a. depot at Neasden employed 500 people and British Railway's Eastern Region 109-a. works, also at Neasden, employed 650; London Midland Region's depot at Willesden Junction provided work for 820 residents of Harlesden and Stonebridge. (fn. 214)

Served by the railway and Edgware Road, industry began to establish itself at Cricklewood before the First World War. W. J. Fowler & Son, printers, was founded at Cricklewood Broadway in 1898. (fn. 215) On the All Souls estate factories were built for scene-painting (1906), motor repairs (1909), and firewood (1912), (fn. 216) but the largest works, that of the Imperial Dry Plate Co., manufacturers of photographic plates and paper, was built by George Furness & Co. c. 1893 a little farther north. (fn. 217) In 1919 it had 200 employees. (fn. 218)

The First World War was a strong stimulus to industry in Willesden, especially in the new districts of Cricklewood and Park Royal. Firms established at Cricklewood, near the airfields and factories of Hendon and Kingsbury, included Nieuport & General Aircraft Co. and British Caudron Co., manufacturers of aeroplanes, which employed 500 and 400 people respectively in 1919. Farther south, in High Road, Kilburn, the Central Aircraft Co. employed 350 workers and other aeroplane manufacturers in Willesden Lane had 200 and 70 employees respectively. (fn. 219) The largest factory in Cricklewood, S. Smith & Sons (later Smiths Industries Ltd.), opened on Edgware Road south of the railway in 1915 to manufacture fuses, instruments, and accessories. (fn. 220) By 1919 Smiths employed 1,000 munition workers. (fn. 221) In 1920 all manufacturing was transferred from the firm's headquarters in Great Portland St. to Cricklewood and the company survived the slump of the 1920s, acquiring before 1939 firms which made electrical motors and aircraft accessories and electric clocks, and forming a new subsidiary in 1944 to make industrial instruments. As the company grew it acquired other companies and sites overseas but Cricklewood remained the most important site, expanding from the original factory to house 8,000 employees in 1937 (fn. 222) and 1978. Smiths, although the largest, was one of many firms involved in the motor industry, which received a great impetus from the First World War. Others included, by 1919, McCurd Lorry Manufacturing Co. and Lamplough Radiator & Engineering Co., each with 80 employees on Edgware Road at Cricklewood, the Grosvenor Carriage Co. and Humber Ltd. with 70 and 100 employees respectively in Kilburn, and the British Ensign Motor Co. with 130 at Willesden Green. (fn. 223) Park Ward opened as high-class coach builders in Willesden Green in 1919. It was purchased by Rolls Royce in 1939, and after 1971 as Rolls Royce Motors (Mulliner Park Ward Division) was one of two factories (together employing 600 workers in 1977) producing bodies for Rolls Royce cars. (fn. 224) The number of motor and cycle makers increased from 12 in 1918 to 32 in 1925 and 63 in 1934. (fn. 225)

Willesden changed from a dormitory exporting workers to a net recipient of incoming workers after the First World War. It remained a net recipient, even though many who had travelled from outside Willesden to work in the munitions and aircraft factories of Cricklewood and Park Royal moved into new housing within Willesden when munitions gave way to light industry. With the construction of the North Circular Road factories and council estates were built along the hitherto empty land of the Brent valley, linking the existing sites at Cricklewood and Park Royal. (fn. 226) The number of factories increased from 60 in 1910 to 166 in 1918 and 237 in 1925; (fn. 227) 226 factories and workshops were built during the period 1922-34 (fn. 228) and by 1939 there were 461 firms, 57 of which had been established since 1929 at Staples Corner, (fn. 229) the area at Cricklewood named from Staples & Co., manufacturers of mattresses, who built their factory at the junction of the North Circular and Edgware Road in 1925. (fn. 230) Other firms at Cricklewood included Rolls Razor, which moved to Edgware Road from Battersea in 1926; (fn. 231) York Shipley (after 1956 York Division, Borg-Warner Ltd.), refrigerator manufacturers, which moved to the North Circular Road from Regent Street in 1927 and employed 150 people there in 1978; (fn. 232) Western Electric Co. (later Westrex), which opened in 1929 in Coles Green Road, where it employed c. 100 people in 1978; (fn. 233) and Shepherd Tobias & Co., which opened its glass works on the North Circular Road c. 1930, employing c. 150 workers in 1950. (fn. 234) By 1933 there were 32 factories employing 6,975 people in Cricklewood and along the North Circular. (fn. 235) The industries were light, depending upon road transport and showrooms in London, electrical or engineering skills, and often recent inventions. Motor cars and their accessories, wireless, and films featured among them. (fn. 236)

Industry in Neasden developed during the 1920s and 1930s, partly because of increased accessibility provided by the North Circular Road and the widening and straightening of Neasden Lane in connexion with the Wembley Exhibition of 1924. By 1933 three firms in the southern part of Neasden Lane, British Thomson Houston Co. (electrical engineers), the Royal Sovereign Pencil Co., and Neasden Waxed Paper Co., employed 2,500 people. (fn. 237) The last named had opened in 1926 and employed 230 workers, mostly women, by 1937. (fn. 238) Oxford University Press was established in Press Road off the northern part of Neasden Lane by 1932, primarily as a warehouse for the distribution of books; 356 people were employed there by 1979. (fn. 239) The Book Centre next to the North Circular opened in 1938 and by the 1970s contained warehouses with 11,000,000 books and employed 100 staff. (fn. 240) TI Gas Spares (formerly Ascot Gas Water Heaters) opened a factory on a 15-a. site on the North Circular at Neasden in 1934 and employed 400 people there in 1978. (fn. 241) Other factories on the North Circular at Neasden included the cosmetic firms Amami Silvikrin in 1945 and J. Grossmith & Son shortly afterwards. (fn. 242)

In 1928 Hall's Telephone Accessories (later Associated Automation Ltd.) opened a small factory in Dudden Hill Lane which expanded during the Second World War and in 1960, until by 1974 it employed some 920 people, reduced by 1978 to 600. (fn. 243) By 1939 Church End had become wholly industrial, with motor body, furniture, paint, sheet metal, and die-casting works. (fn. 244)

In the absence of town planning Willesden was saturated by the late 1930s. In 1937 it was described as the largest manufacturing borough in Britain. (fn. 245) A survey made after the Second World War to establish a plan to deal with over-industrialization and over-population found that there were 445 firms in 1948, compared with 462 in 1939. Over half had been established in the period 1919-39. Of the 37,000 people employed within Willesden borough, 30 per cent were employed at Park Royal, 19 per cent at Cricklewood, 14 per cent at Church End, and the rest in the residential areas. Only one factory, Smiths of Cricklewood, employed more than 2,000 people. There were four others with more than 1,000 employees and twelve with 500-1,000. (fn. 246) In the older centres industry, commerce, and housing were mixed together and in those areas of small industry, like Kilburn and Willesden Green, three quarters of the workforce, mostly female, lived locally. (fn. 247) Industry often occupied obsolete buildings: a third of the premises in use in 1948 had been constructed before 1900, a quarter between 1919 and 1930. The policy of Willesden borough, in conjunction with the Greater London Plan, was to reduce the population and to move industry out to new towns, especially from the older, congested areas like Kilburn which were to become almost wholly residential. By c. 1960 there were 168 'conforming' firms employing 36,092 people in Willesden, of which 60 (with 10,861 workers) were at Staples Corner, 52 (with 14,464 workers) at Park Royal, and 26 (with 5,142 workers) in Church End. There were 345 non-conforming firms with 7,903 workers, mostly small concerns with a short history. (fn. 248)

Although the total number of factories increased, the number of jobs declined, dropping from 147,000 in 1967 to 88,000 in 1969 and contracting still further thereafter. The contraction was part of a national trend but also reflected local factors. Firms and skilled workers left the often obsolete and overcrowded Willesden sites for more spacious surroundings. When large firms moved out the smaller firms dependent on them had to close, and many of them were encouraged to move by the council's policy. (fn. 249)

As the skilled white workers left, immigrants, mostly unskilled from Ireland, the Caribbean, and the Indian subcontinent, moved in, creating unemployment at a time when firms were closing because of the lack of skilled labour. (fn. 250) The initial attractions of Willesden's proximity to London were offset by high cost of rents, rates, and wages. (fn. 251) In 1973 Willesden became a focus of national attention in the clash over union power in the film-processing firm of Grunwick at Church End. Grunwick's was typical of many firms in the area in reducing its work force, from nearly 500 in 1973 to c. 250 by 1977. (fn. 252) There was also a movement away from manufacturing towards offices and warehousing. Multi-storeyed office blocks were built along the North Circular for TI Gas Spares in 1961, (fn. 253) for the E. Alec Colman Group in 1963, (fn. 254) and for O.U.P. next to their warehouse in Press Road in 1965. (fn. 255) During the 1970s vacated factory sites were often used for warehousing, (fn. 256) and several vacant sites along the North Circular Road and in Cricklewood were advertised for warehousing in 1978. As factories closed the sites were often given over to other uses.