Originally part of one of the 8
manors within the district of
Willesden, Kensal Green is first mentioned in 1253, translating from old English meaning ''the King's Holt'' (King's Wood). Its location marked the boundary between Willesden and the then Chelsea & Paddington, on which it remains today. It formed part of one of 10
manors, most likely Chamberlayne Wood Manor, named after Canon Richard de Camera (
of the Chambers). In the 15th century the then
Archbishop of Canterbury Henry Chichele (1414–1443), acquired lands in Willesden and Kingsbury. In 1443 he founded
All Souls' College, Oxford and endowed it with the same lands in his will. As a result, most of Willesden and Kensal Green remained largely agricultural until the mid-1800s, well into the
Victorian era. In 1805, the construction of the
Grand Junction Canal passed through the district to join the
Regent's Canal at
Paddington. As the combined
Grand Union Canal, this allowed passage of commercial freight traffic from the
Midlands to
London Docks, and hence onwards to the
River Thames. There were two
dairy farms in Kensal Green by the early 1800s, which expanded greatly after the 1864
Act of Parliament which made it illegal to keep cattle within the
City of London. Although by the late 1800s residential development had greatly reduced the farmland, still in the 1890s many sheep and pigs were raised in the district. One of the farms later became a
United Dairies creamery, supplied by
milk trains from
Mitre Bridge Junction. St. John's Church was built on the corner of what is now
Harrow Road and
Kilburn Lane in 1844 and was extensively refurbished in 2017 and fitted with new bells in anticipation of the 175th anniversary in 2019. The church was followed by a school, now Bales College, and more inns including The Plough on the opposite corner of the junction. In 1832
Kensal Green Cemetery was incorporated by Act of Parliament and opened in January 1833. This led to a revaluation of the surrounding lands, and in 1835 ecclesiastical commissioners were appointed by the Crown, who reported in 1846 that: "the larger portion of the Prebendal Estates possess, in our opinion, a value far beyond their present agricultural value." which opened in November 1914 and was located on the corner of Chamberlayne Road and Bannister Road. The construction of the
Great Western Railway started in 1835, with the first of line, from
Paddington station to
Maidenhead Bridge station, opened on 4 June 1838. In 1901, its major carriage washing and servicing facilities and
locomotive depot were developed at
Old Oak Common, bringing further employment and more immigrants to the district. The first major immigrant population had been
Irish people fleeing the
Great Irish Famine, and then post-
World War I. In
World War II, due to the railway facilities, the district suffered greatly from German
Luftwaffe bombing. As of June 2014 the area had seen significant gentrification as people had been priced out of surrounding areas such as Notting Hill. In 2015 it was described as 'celebrity haunt-meets-Nappy Valley'. ==Demographics==