Queen's Park, London

Queens Park has never been an administrative unit and so it has never had formally defined boundaries; its northern part lies in Willesden (in the modern London Borough of Brent), while the south lies in Paddington (in the modern City of Westminster). These areas were a Municipal and Metropolitan Borough respectively, and have their origins in early medieval ancient parishes.

The area also included a detached 120-acre (0.49 km²) exclave of the parish of Chelsea which adjoined the boundaries of both Paddington and Willesden. This was in the vicinity of the (like Queens Park, also informally defined) Kensal Green and Kensal Town areas.[6]

All three of these parishes were in the Ossulstone Hundred of Middlesex. In 1855 the vestry of the Chelsea parish was incorporated as a local council in the metropolitan area of London governed by the Metropolitan Board of Works. Willesden parish remained outside the area and formed a local government district from 1874. In 1889 the area of the Metropolitan Board of Works that included the southern section of Queen's Park was transferred from Middlesex to the County of London. In 1900 the anomaly of the Chelsea exclave was removed by uniting it with the parish and borough of Paddington.[7][8]

In 1965, Paddington merged with Westminster and St Marylebone to form what is now City of Westminster while Willesden became part of the new London Borough of Brent.

Like Queens Park, Kilburn is another informally defined area that spans the boundaries of more formally defined areas. Some areas of Queen's Park are also sometimes described as part of Kilburn. Not to get it confused Kensal Rise is part of the wider Queen's Park area although Kensal town and Kensal Green are not, they come under north Kensington.

Neighbouring areas include North Kensington to the south, Kensal Green to the west, Willesden to the north and Kilburn and Maida Vale to the east. There is a degree of overlap in perceptions of the extent of these areas.

The area around Queen's Park was developed from 1875, and was named to honour Queen Victoria.[9] The open space opened in 1887, located to the north, also shares the name.[9]

In 1879 the Royal Agricultural Society annual show was held on the area which would become Queen's Park. The 100-acre site was chosen for its proximity to the railway network, Queen's Park Station having opened on 2 June 1879 on the main line from London to Birmingham, just in time to facilitate the movement of heavy machinery and stock. By the 1870s the annual shows had become major events and the Kilburn show was to be the largest ever held. The show was opened on 30 June 1879 by the Prince and Princess of Wales and saw an entry of 11,878 implements, 2,879 livestock entries and over 187,000 visitors. Poor weather and deep mud led to low attendance, but a visit by Queen Victoria on the fifth day, where she was driven on a specially constructed drive of ballast and brick from the new station along Salusbury Road on a route lined with cheering crowds, rallied visitors.[10]

In 1884 the North West London Park League was formed to secure the site as a people's park. The league appealed to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners not to sell the land for building until the future of the site could be assured as a public open space. In 1885 the Estates Committee of the commissioners agreed to offer the use of the central portion of the land of 30 acres (12 ha) for public use and that the remaining portion of the site would be laid out as housing to derive the most benefit from the frontage onto the proposed park. The offer was to be made through the lord mayor to the City of London Corporation, conditional on Parliamentary sanction. At 3:00 p.m. 5 September 1887 Queen's Park officially opened with several thousand people present.[10]

Victorian houses on Chevening Road in Queen's Park, built around 1899.

The houses around Queen's Park were erected over a number of years starting with the north side of Harvist Road of which the majority were completed by 1899.[5] The west side of Chevening Road was also under construction in 1899 by local builders Bennet and Gimbrett to the design of G. A. Sexton. Many builders contributed to the estate which helped to generate the varied architectural character that can be seen on Kempe, Keslake and Chamberlayne Roads.[5]

The football team Queens Park Rangers was formed in Queen's Park in 1886, and became a professional team in 1889.[11]

A map showing the Queen's Park ward of Paddington Metropolitan Borough as it appeared in 1916.

In 1915 the Bakerloo Line was extended to Queen's Park station,[10] the nearby Kensal Green station appearing in 1916. Both stations offer easy access to Paddington, Charing Cross and Waterloo mainline stations [12]

In 1917 Queens Park Rangers moved away from the area to the Loftus Road stadium in nearby Shepherd's Bush.

In summer 1979 The Jam recorded their music video When You're Young in Queen's Park, making use of the bandstand.[13]

In 1986 Brent Council with the support of English Heritage made the area around Queen's Park a Conservation Area in recognition of its special architectural and historic character. Subsequently, in 1993 the designated area was extended westwards towards Chamberlayne Road.[5]

The Queen's Park ward in the south-east of the London Borough of Brent is represented by three Labour Party councillors on Brent London Borough Council as of the 2018 election.[14] This ward forms part of the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency, represented by Labour MP Tulip Siddiq.

The Queen's Park ward in the north west of the City of Westminster is represented by three Labour Party councillors on Westminster City Council.[15] This ward forms part of the Westminster North parliamentary constituency, represented by Labour MP Karen Buck. In an example of how interconnected the community is Karen Buck’s spouse is Barrie Taylor who represented the Queen’s Park ward from 1986 to 1990 then again from 1994 to 2018 in which year the title of Honorary Alderman was conferred upon him by the City Council.

In May 2012 residents of the ward voted in favour of the establishment of a Queen's Park civil parish and parish council.

In June 2012, Westminster City Council approved the establishment of Queen's Park Community Councill as the first civil parish created in London since new legislation was enacted in 2007.[16] The first election of councillors to the Community Council took place in May 2014 at the same time as other local elections.[17][18] Subsequent elections are held every four years at the same time as elections to the city council, with a new parish council being elected as part of the 2018 Westminster City Council election .