Queen's Park is an area located partly in the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a city and borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of central Greater London, including most of the West En ...

and partly in the

London Borough of Brent The London Borough of Brent () is a London borough in north-west London. It borders the boroughs of Harrow to the north-west, Barnet to the north-east, Camden to the east, the City of Westminster to the south-east, as well as the Royal Borou ...

. Some of the area within Westminster forms a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

, the first to be created in London since the right of communities to establish civil parishes was enacted in 2007. The area is located north-west of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City ...

, and centred around a park, which opened in 1887 and was named in honour of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

. The area gives its name to

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

football club. Architecturally, Queen's Park is an important historic area, with a unified urban layout with a high level of building preservation. The park is a good example of a Victorian

urban green space In land-use planning, urban green space is open-space areas reserved for parks and other "green spaces", including plant life, water features -also referred to as blue spaces- and other kinds of natural environment. Most urban open spaces ar ...

, and the surrounding streets largely comprise original two- and three-storey Victorian buildings.

Administration and representation

Administrative background

Queens Park has never been an administrative unit and so it has never had formally defined boundaries; but it's roots lie in the

ancient parishes Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...

Willesden Willesden () is an area of northwest London, situated 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933, and has forme ...

(the northern part, in the

) and Chelsea (the southern part, in the

). The ''Queen Park Estate'' was developed in 1875-81, in

Kensal Town Kensal Town is a district located partly in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and partly in the City of Westminster. The area lies four miles north-west of Charing Cross and is part of the W postcode area. Kensal Town was an exclave ...

which had been an

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

of Chelsea from before the time of the Norman Conquest. In 1900 the exclave was removed from Chelsea and divided between its neighbours, with most of it, the area north of the Grand Union Canal, and including the ''Queens Park Estate'' joining with the area of the ancient parish of

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...

to form the new

Metropolitan Borough of Paddington Paddington was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in London, England. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, governed by an administrative vestry. The parish was included in the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board ...

The park was laid out in the parish of Willesden in 1886. In 1900, the

Municipal Borough of Willesden Willesden was a local government district in the county of Middlesex, England from 1874 to 1965. It formed part of the Metropolitan Police District and London postal district. Willesden was part of the built-up area of London and bordered the C ...

was formed to serve the same area as the medieval parish. In 1965, Paddington merged with

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

and

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it ...

to form what is now

, while

, became part of the new

Electoral wards

The area give its name to two electoral wards, which unusually are both named Queen's Park since they belong to two different

London boroughs The London boroughs are the 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs were all created at t ...

. The area north of Kilburn Lane is the Queen's Park ward of the

, while the area south of Kilburn Lane is the Queen's Park ward of the

Queen's Park (London Borough of Brent)

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. This ward forms part of the

Hampstead and Kilburn Hampstead and Kilburn is a constituency created in 2010 and currently represented in the House of Commons by Tulip Siddiq of the Labour Party. Glenda Jackson was the MP from 2010 to 2015, having served for the predecessor seat since 1992. Co ...

constituency, represented by Labour MP Tulip Siddiq.

Queen's Park (City of Westminster)

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 Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors. The council is currently composed of 31 Labour Party members and 23 Cons ...

. This ward forms part of the Westminster North parliamentary constituency, represented by Labour MP Karen Buck, whose spouse Barrie Taylor 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

and parish council.

Queen's Park Community Council

In June 2012, Westminster City Council approved the establishment of Queen's Park Community Council as the first parish council created in London since new legislation was enacted in 2007. The Community Council area is coterminous with the City of Westminster ward of Queens Park. The first election of councillors to the community council took place in May 2014 at the same time as other local elections. Subsequent elections are held every four years at the same time as elections to the city council, with the most recent being on 5 May 2022. Parish councils have no statutory responsibilities, but have a budget they can direct towards community projects.

Queen's Park Neighbourhood Plan

In November 2021 the City Council formally ‘made’ (adopted) the Queen's Park Neighbourhood Plan. It is therefore now part of the statutory Development Plan for Westminster and will be used alongside the council’s own planning documents and the Mayor’s London Plan in determining applications in the Queen's Park Neighbourhood Area.

History

19th century

The ''Queens Park Estate'' was developed between 1875 and 1881, in what is now the

, by the

Artizans, Labourers & General Dwellings Company The Artizans, Labourers & General Dwellings Company (Artizans Company) was a nineteenth-century philanthropic model dwellings company, which later became a multinational property developer before being absorbed into Sun Life. Origins The Artizans ...

, and named in honour of

. The park, which shares the name, lies a short distance north of the estate in the

. It was laid out in 1886 by the City of London, and opened the following year. In 1879 the Royal Agricultural Society annual show was held on the area which would become Queen's Park. The 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

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. 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 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 The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

, conditional on Parliamentary sanction. At 3:00p.m. 5 September 1887 Queen's Park officially opened with several thousand people present. Queens Park - geograph

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. 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. The football team

was formed when a local boys team, founded by the vicar of the nearby St John's Church, merged with Christ Church Rangers and took their name from the area. They went on to become a professional team in 1889. In July 2011 a plaque commemorating the event was unveiled by former star

Stan Bowles Stanley Bowles (born 24 December 1948) is an English former professional footballer who as a player in the 1970s was known for his skills as a forward, and also gained a reputation as one of the game's great non-conformists and mavericks. Club ...

on St Jude's Institute on Ilbert Street.

20th century

In 1915 the

Bakerloo Line The Bakerloo line () is a London Underground line that goes from in suburban north-west London to in south London, via the West End. Printed in brown on the Tube map, it serves 25 stations, 15 of which are underground, over . It runs partl ...

was extended to Queen's Park station, the nearby Kensal Green station appearing in 1916. Both stations offer easy access to

, Charing Cross and Waterloo mainline stations In 1917 Queens Park Rangers moved away from the area to the

Loftus Road Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers. In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...

stadium in nearby

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character ...

. In summer 1979

The Jam The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 1 ...

recorded their music video When You're Young in Queen's Park, making use of the bandstand. 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.

Geography

Neighbouring areas

Neighbouring areas include

to the south,

Kensal Green Kensal Green is an area in north-west London. It lies mainly in the London Borough of Brent, with a small part to the south within Kensington and Chelsea. Kensal Green is located on the Harrow Road, about miles from Charing Cross. To the w ...

to the west,

to the north and Kilburn and

Maida Vale Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district consisting of the northern part of Paddington in West London, west of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn. It is also the name of its main road, on the continuous Edgware Road. Maida Vale ...

to the east. There is a degree of overlap in perceptions of the extent of these areas.

The park

The park was laid out by Alexander McKenzie between March 1887 and June 1887. McKenzie was a leading figure in Victorian park design, part of an influential group of landscape designers which included Robert Marnock, Joseph Meston and William Robinson who led garden design away from the parterres and geometry of earlier Victorian gardens to a more natural style of gardening. Designed without any straight paths, Queen's Park makes extensive use of bold tree planting and shrubberies with natural outlines, and large open areas of lawn for recreation and sport. Facilities in the park include six all-weather tennis courts, a pitch-and-putt course, an ornamental quiet garden, a children's playground with paddling pool, a children's animal farm and a café. Queens Park - geograph

A landmark in the park is the bandstand, which was completed in 1887 using ironwork supplied by Walter Fariane & Co. of Glasgow, and a timber roof with wrought-iron scrolled devices to each facet, and a central wrought- iron lantern. The bandstand was Grade-II listed in 2000. The park is managed by the

. In 2020 it won Green Flag status for the 24th year in a row, and an additional Green Heritage Site award for its care and conservation of open space and facilities. The City of London focuses on sustainable management, recycling as much waste as possible. Grass clippings and wood are used to make mulch for shrubberies; everyday waste like cans, bottles and plastics are separated and recycled. Residents bring in their Christmas trees, which are mulched and return for use on their own gardens. Rain water is recycled via a new drainage system. All water runs into a holding tank underground and can be pumped to various areas when needed.

Places of worship

Imam Khoei Islamic Centre, Queens Park - geograph

Queen's Park has a range of places of worship: * St Anne with Holy Trinity, Brondesbury (

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

) * St Luke's West Kilburn, Fernhead Road (

) * St John the Evangelist, Kensal Green, Kilburn Lane (

) * Church of The Transfiguration (

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

) * West Kilburn

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul c ...

Church * Imam Khoei Islamic Centre * Harrow Road Jamme Mosque, Lancefield Street

Culture

The local community host two annual festivals at Queen's Park. *Queen's Park Day in September brings together a funfair, stalls for local community groups and shops, various entertainments (including acrobats and bird of prey displays) and live music hosted by the Rhythm Studio who foster young bands and singers in the Queens Park area. *The Queen's Park Book Festival, in June, mixes national and international writers with local writing groups as part of the growing book festival movement across England.

Economy

The economic centre of Queen's Park is Salusbury Road, where there are many shops, pubs, cafes and restaurants. The weekly Queen's Park Farmers' Market has around 40 stalls and takes place every Sunday between 10am and 2pm in the grounds of Salusbury Primary School on Salusbury Road, draws people from across north west London. The market was awarded market of the year at the Farmers’ Market and Retail Association Local Food Awards in 2012.

AMC Networks AMC Networks Inc. is an American entertainment company headquartered in 11 Penn Plaza, New York. AMC Networks owns and operates the eponymous cable channel and its siblings, IFC, We TV, and Sundance TV; the art house movie theater IFC ...

opened a UK headquarters office housing 200 employees on Salusbury Road in 2017. It closed in 2022 and was replaced with a

Jobcentre Plus Jobcentre Plus ( cy, Canolfan byd Gwaith; gd, Ionad Obrach is Eile) is a brand used by the Department for Work and Pensions in the United Kingdom. From 2002 to 2011, Jobcentre Plus was an executive agency which reported directly to the Mini ...

Education

The area has several schools: * Salusbury Primary School * Ark Franklin Primary academy *

Islamia Primary School Islamia Primary School is a voluntary aided primary, Islamic faith school in Queen's Park, London, England. It is located in the London Borough of Brent. History Islamia Primary School was founded in October 1983 by Yusuf Islam, the singer/son ...

, established in 1983 by

Yusuf Islam Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later i ...

, a

voluntary-aided A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation), contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In mo ...

Islamic faith school that educates around 390 pupils aged 4 to 11. * Al-Sadiq and Al-Zahara Schools *Queen's Park Primary School in Droop Street is also home to the Westminster Children's University

*Princess Frederica C of E Primary school *St Luke's CE Primary School, Fernhead Roa

*The St Marylebone CE Bridge School, Third Avenu

*Wilberforce Primary School, Beethoven Street

*Hopscotch Under 5's *Kenmont Primary school

Transport

Queen's Park (London) station, Queen's Park station is a tube and

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's len ...

station in Travelcard Zone 2; it has direct links to south and central London via the

Bakerloo line The Bakerloo line () is a London Underground line that goes from in suburban north-west London to in south London, via the West End. Printed in brown on the Tube map, it serves 25 stations, 15 of which are underground, over . It runs partl ...

or to Euston, Watford Junction and intermediate stations via

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a large part of Greater London as w ...

trains or to Harrow & Wealdstone station using Bakerloo line trains. Brondesbury Park station, on the London Overground

North London Line The North London line (NLL) is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of west, north-west, north, and east London, England between Richmond in the south-west and Stratford in the east, avoiding central London. Its route is a ro ...

, is near the northeast corner of Queen's Park. To the northwest of the area is Kensal Rise station also on the

North London line The North London line (NLL) is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of west, north-west, north, and east London, England between Richmond in the south-west and Stratford in the east, avoiding central London. Its route is a ro ...

and to the west of Queens Park is Kensal Green station which serves the Bakerloo line on the underground and Watford DC line on the overground. The area is also well served by the

London Bus Buses have been used as a mode of public transport in London since 1829, when George Shillibeer started operating a horse-drawn ''omnibus'' service from Paddington to the City of London. In the decades since their introduction, the red London ...

network with the 6, 18, 28, 36, 52, 187, 206, 228, 316, and 452 all passing through or along the boundaries.

Notable residents

* Alison Brooks – architect *

Lily Allen Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Her music career began in 2005 when she made some of her vocal recordings public ...

– singer / songwriter and author *

Daniel Craig Daniel Wroughton Craig (born 2 March 1968) is an English-American actor who gained international fame playing the secret agent James Bond in the film series, beginning with '' Casino Royale'' (2006) and in four further instalments, up to '' ...

– actor * Jason Isaacs – actor *

Sienna Miller Sienna Rosie Diana Miller (born December 28, 1981) is an American-British actress. Born in New York City and raised in London, she began her career as a photography model, appearing in the pages of Italian ''Vogue'' and for the 2003 Pirelli ca ...

– actress *

Cillian Murphy Cillian Murphy (; born 25 May 1976) is an Irish actor. Originally the lead singer, guitarist, and lyricist of the rock band The Sons of Mr. Green Genes, he turned down a record deal in the late 1990s and began acting on stage and in short an ...

– actor *

Thandie Newton Melanie Thandiwe Newton ( ; born 6 November 1972), formerly credited as Thandie Newton, is a British actress. Newton has received various awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for ...

– actress *

Michael Page Michael Jerome Reece-Pagewkaassociation.com, Retrieved 28 August 2017. (born 7 April 1987) is a British kickboxer, boxer, and mixed martial artist. He is recognised in the MMA community for his unorthodox fighting style, which originated fro ...

– professional boxer and mixed martial artist *

Alexandra Shulman Alexandra Shulman (born 13 November 1957) is a British journalist. She is a former Editor-in-Chief of British ''Vogue'', and became the longest serving Editor in the history of the publication. After assuming the role in 1992, she presided ov ...

– ex-editor of British ''Vogue'' * Zadie Smith – author *

Samantha Spiro Samantha Spiro (born 20 June 1968) is an English actress and singer. She is best known for portraying Barbara Windsor in the stage play '' Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick'' and the television films ''Cor, Blimey!'' and ''Babs'', DI Vivien F ...

- actor *

Edward Sutcliffe Edward Sutcliffe (born 1978) is a British painter based in London. He is known for still-life and portraiture, and he has painted prominent figures such as Neil Kinnock and Glenda Jackson. Education Sutcliffe was educated at Aberystwyth Universi ...

- Painter *

Fredo Fredo is a masculine given name, and diminutive of Alfredo or Federico, which may refer to: People * Getúlio Fredo (born 1954), Brazilian football manager * Fredo Santana (1990–2018), stage name of American rapper Derrick Coleman (born 1990) ...

– rapper *

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( , ; born ) is an English and Albanian singer and songwriter. Possessing a mezzo-soprano vocal range, she is known for her signature disco-pop sound. Lipa has received numerous accolades, including six Brit Awards, three Grammy A ...

– popstar * Karen Buck – Member of Parliament for Westminster North *Eartha Pond - former professional footballer, campaigner, and Chair of Queen's Park Community Counci

References

External links

Queens Park Area Residents' Association

Queens Park Day

Queens Park Community CouncilCity of London – Queen's Park
{{Model dwellings companies Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Brent Districts of the City of Westminster Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Brent Parks and open spaces of the City of London Corporation Civil parishes in London