Kenton, London

Kenton
Kenton
	Kenton Location within Greater London
Population	12,133 (2011 Census. Brent Ward)
OS grid reference	TQ175885
London borough	Brent; Harrow;
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	HARROW
Postcode district	HA3
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	Brent North; Harrow East;
London Assembly	Brent and Harrow;
	List of places UK England London 51°34′59″N 0°18′12″W / 51.5830°N 0.3032°W

Kenton is an area in northwest London, England, partly in the London Borough of Harrow and partly in the London Borough of Brent.

History

The hamlet was recorded as "Keninton" in 1232. The name derives from the personal name of the Saxon "Coena" and the Old English "tun", a farm – and means "the farm of Coena" and his family who once lived on a site near here. Before the 20th century, the tiny settlement was concentrated around in what was Kenton Lane (the easternmost part of which remains as Old Kenton Lane to the east of Kingsbury station) and is now part of the present day Woodgrange Avenue and Kenton Road.^[2]

The Windermere is a Grade II listed public house in Windermere Avenue.^[3] It is on the Campaign for Real Ale's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors^[4] and was built in 1938.^[3] The Plough public house was Kenton's first, opening in the early 18th century; the current building is not the original. It is now an Indo-Chinese fusion restaurant and bar called Blue Ginger.

The main road through the area is Kenton Road.

The local school is Priestmead Primary School on Hartford Avenue. The local high school is Claremont High School on Claremont Avenue off Kenton Road.

Kenton station was opened by the London and North Western Railway on 15 June 1912. The Metropolitan Railway's Northwick Park and Kenton station (later renamed Northwick Park) followed on 28 June 1923.

Housing

The coming of the railways was soon followed by suburban development, most of Kenton being built between the Wars.

LCC Cottage estates 1918–1939
Estate name	Area	No of dwellings	Population 1938	Population density
Pre-1914
Norbury	11	218	867	19.8 per acre (49/ha)
Old Oak	32	736	3519	23 per acre (57/ha)
Totterdown Fields	39	1262	—	32.4 per acre (80/ha)
Tower Gardens White Hart Lane	98	783	5936	8 per acre (20/ha)
1919–1923
Becontree	2770	25769^[a]	115652	9.3 per acre (23/ha)
Bellingham	252	2673	12004	10.6 per acre (26/ha)
Castelnau	51	644	2851	12.6 per acre (31/ha)
Dover House Estate Roehampton Estate	147	1212	5383	8.2 per acre (20/ha)
1924–1933
Downham	600	7096	30032	11.8 per acre (29/ha)
Mottingham	202	2337	9009	11.6 per acre (29/ha)
St Helier	825	9068	39877	11 per acre (27/ha)
Watling	386	4034	19110	10.5 per acre (26/ha)
Wormholt	68	783	4078	11.5 per acre (28/ha)
1934–1939
Chingford^[b]	217	1540	—	7.1 per acre (18/ha)
Hanwell (Ealing)	140	1587	6732	11.3 per acre (28/ha)
Headstone Lane	142	n.a	5000
Kenmore Park	58	654	2078	11.3 per acre (28/ha)
Thornhill (Royal Borough of Greenwich)	21	380	1598	18.1 per acre (45/ha)
Whitefoot Lane (Downham)	49	n.a	n.a.
^ Source says 2589 – transcription error ^ Part of a larger PRC estate around Huntsman Road Source: Yelling, J. A. (1995). "Banishing London's slums: The interwar cottage estates" (PDF). Transactions. 46. London and Middlesex Archeological Society: 167–173. Retrieved 19 December 2016. Quotes: Rubinstein, 1991, Just like the country.

The London County Council built the Kenmore Park cottage estate between the wars. There are 654 houses on the 58 acres (23 ha) site, a housing density of 11.3 per acre. (28/ha)

Thomas Francis Nash owned building companies which from the 1920s onward built numerous private housing estates in Kenton, Ruislip and other parts of the "Metroland" area of Middlesex. F. & C. Costin was another local building company that built much of Kenton between the wars. Local estate agents still use the term "Nash-built" or "Costin-built" to describe properties built by them in Kenton.

Culture and media

Apart from the infamous appearance of several of Kenton's streets in the "Gourmet Night" episode of the BBC-TV comedy series Fawlty Towers starring John Cleese,^[5] the only known reference to Kenton in modern popular culture is the song "Kenton Kev",^[6] by the Berlin-based punk-jazz band The Magoo Brothers on their album "Beyond Believable", released on the Bouncing Corporation label in 1988. The song refers to the "pleasant valley" high suburban boredom factor then prevalent in the area, and cites local characters and places, some fairly well known. It is said that "Kenton Kev" refers in fact to Kevin Jones, the US-based property magnate, who was actually born in Kenton. The song was written by Paul Bonin, Philip Ulysses Sanders and Melanie Hickford, all of whom grew up and lived in the area.

Transport

Buses

The following London Bus routes operate through the area:

Route	Start	End	Operator
114	Mill Hill Broadway	Ruislip	London Sovereign
183	Golders Green	Pinner	London Sovereign
223	Harrow	Wembley	Metroline
H9/H10 Circular	Harrow H9: anticlockwise	Harrow H10: clockwise	London Sovereign
H18/H19 Circular	Harrow H18: anticlockwise	Harrow H19: clockwise	Arriva Shires & Essex

Tube/trains

Stations in the area are:

Kenton Station (Bakerloo line & Watford DC Line)
South Kenton Station (Bakerloo line & Watford DC Line)
Northwick Park Station (Metropolitan line)

Geography

Notable people

Actress Michele Austin, best known as PC Yvonne Hemmingway in ITV's The Bill, attended Claremont High School in Kenton
Cricketer Denis Compton (1918–1997) lived in Kenton
TV exercise instructor Mr Motivator (Derrick Evans) lived in Kenton
Stage actress Annette McLaughlin attended Claremont High School in Kenton
Mary Millington (1945–1979), 1970s sex symbol, was born in Kenton
Actress Sophie Okonedo lived in Kenton
Stuart "Psycho" Pearce, football manager and former player, attended Claremont High School in Kenton^[7]
Actress Pam St. Clement, best known as Pat in BBC soap EastEnders, lived in Kenton
Journalist and broadcaster John Timpson (1928–2005) was born in Kenton
Footballer Darren Ward was born in Kenton
Actress Mary Wimbush (1924–2005), best known as Julia Pargetter in BBC Radio 4's The Archers, was born in Kenton
Doctor Amieth Yogarajah, best known as Amieth in BBC Three's "Junior Doctors", was born and raised in Kenton

References

Notes

^ "Brent Ward population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
^ Ordnance Survey maps, various, from 19th century to 1930s
^ ^a ^b "The Windermere public house". National Heritage List for England. English Heritage. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
^ Brandwood, Geoff (2013). Britain's best real heritage pubs. St. Albans: CAMRA. p. 89. ISBN 9781852493042.
^ Torquay: the horrible truth, The Independent, 27 August 1999
^ GEMA work no.: 2142940-001
^ Jack Royston (31 March 2010). "Claremont High's Cup Glory". Harrow Times. Retrieved 29 March 2016.

Further reading

Ebdon, John (1985) Ebdon's England David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-8595-X

External links

Kenton Recreation Ground – Kenton Recreation Ground featuring The Old Bowls Cafe

[5] Source says 2589 – transcription error

[6] Part of a larger PRC estate around Huntsman Road

[1] "Brent Ward population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 20 October 2016.

[2] Ordnance Survey maps, various, from 19th century to 1930s

[EnglishHeritage-3] "The Windermere public house". National Heritage List for England. English Heritage. Retrieved 22 May 2014.

[Brandwood-4] Brandwood, Geoff (2013). Britain's best real heritage pubs. St. Albans: CAMRA. p. 89. ISBN 9781852493042.

[7] Torquay: the horrible truth, The Independent, 27 August 1999

[8] GEMA work no.: 2142940-001

[9] Jack Royston (31 March 2010). "Claremont High's Cup Glory". Harrow Times. Retrieved 29 March 2016.

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