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Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west London, England, northwest 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; ...
. It includes the neighbourhoods of Alperton, North Wembley,
Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...
,
Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...
, Tokyngton and Wembley Park. The population was 102,856 in 2011. Wembley was for over 800 years part of the parish of Harrow on the Hill in Middlesex. Its heart, Wembley Green, was surrounded by agricultural manors and their hamlets. The small, narrow, Wembley High Street is a
conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
. The railways of the
London & Birmingham Railway #REDIRECT Ampersand The ampersand, also known as the and sign, is the logogram , representing the conjunction "and". It originated as a ligature of the letters ''et''—Latin for "and". Etymology Traditionally in English, when spelling alo ...
reached Wembley in the mid-19th century, when the place gained its first church. Slightly south-west of the old core, the main station was originally called Sudbury, but today is known as Wembley Central. By the 1920s, the nearby long High Road hosted a wide array of shops and Wembley was a large
suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
of London. Wembley then, within three decades, became an integral outer district of London, in density and contiguity. Wembley formed a separate civil parish from 1894, incorporated as a municipal borough of Middlesex in 1937. In 1965, when local government in London was reformed, the area merged with the Municipal Borough of Willesden, which was separated by the River Brent, to create the
London Borough of Brent The London Borough of Brent () is a London boroughs, London borough in north-west London. It borders the boroughs of London Borough of Harrow, Harrow to the north-west, London Borough of Barnet, Barnet to the north-east, London Borough of Camden ...
, one of the 32 local government districts of Greater London. The estate of Wembley Park was largely pleasure grounds when the
Metropolitan Railway The Metropolitan Railway (also known as the Met) was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933, its main line heading north-west from the capital's financial heart in the City to what were to become the Middlesex su ...
reached this part in 1894. It was chosen to host the British Empire Exhibition in 1924, resulting in the development of landmarks including the Empire Stadium, later known as Wembley Stadium, which became an iconic football stadium. Suburban protection of public parkland and low-to-mid building density of all but high-rise western Wembley Park means most of Wembley is integral to and archetypal of the once well-advertised – mainly Middlesex – Metroland. After years of debate, the 1923 stadium was replaced by a modernised stadium with a grand, skyline
arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...
which opened in 2007; it is home to the England national football team, hosts latter and/or final stages of annual competitions such as the FA Cup and has the greatest capacity nationwide. In the early 21st century the London Designer Outlet pedestrianised plaza was built.


History


Toponymy

Wembley is derived from the
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
proper name "Wemba" and the Old English "lea" for meadow or clearing. The name was first mentioned in the charter of 825 of Selvin. A further instance may be seen in the Plea Rolls of the Common Pleas, as Wambeleye.


The old manor

The village of Wembley grew up on the hill by the clearing with the Harrow Road south of it. Much of the surrounding area remained wooded. In 1547 there were but six houses in Wembley. Though small, it was one of the wealthiest parts of Harrow. At the dissolution of the monasteries in 1543, the manor of Wembley fell to Richard Andrews and
Leonard Chamberlain William Leonard Chamberlain (15 January 1889 – 21 March 1956) was an Australian first-class cricketer who played Sheffield Shield cricket for South Australia. He was also an Australian rules footballer for Norwood in the South Australian ...
, who sold it to Richard Page, , of Harrow on the Hill, the same year. There was a mill on Wembley Hill by 1673. The Page family continued as lords of the manor of Wembley for several centuries and eventually commissioned Humphry Repton (1752–1818) the landscape gardener to design what is now Wembley Park. Wembley Park thus derived its name from Repton's habit of referring to the areas he designed as "parks". The former Barley Mow pub was recorded in 1722 thus was the earliest long-lasting pub of Wembley. It has become a 1905 fire cause-replaced pub/hotel, The Greenman. The Greenman surpasses the destroyed building's grandeur and it is linked to the rest of Wembley High Street conservation area (which is, otherwise, 1880s replacements to early Georgian buildings closely facing each other, on a rough footprint of the year 1274, and 119 to 135 Wembley Hill Road which comprise large inter-war houses and one set of Moderne apartments). The connection is mainly greenery-lined open path.


Railways, parish formed and development

In 1837, the
London & Birmingham Railway #REDIRECT Ampersand The ampersand, also known as the and sign, is the logogram , representing the conjunction "and". It originated as a ligature of the letters ''et''—Latin for "and". Etymology Traditionally in English, when spelling alo ...
(now part of the West Coast Main Line) was opened from London Euston through Wembley to Hemel Hempstead, and completed to Birmingham Curzon Street the following year. The changing names of the local station demonstrated the increasing importance of the 'Wembley' name. 'Sudbury' station opened in 1845, renamed as 'Sudbury and Wembley' in 1882, renamed as 'Wembley for Sudbury' in 1910, renamed as 'Wembley Central' in 1948, at the time of the Olympic Games. To modernise the service, a new Watford DC line was built alongside the main lines and Bakerloo line trains, and electric trains to Broad Street started in 1917. Electric trains to London Euston began running in 1922. Since 1917, there have been six platforms at what is now Wembley Central station. In 1880, the
Metropolitan Railway The Metropolitan Railway (also known as the Met) was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933, its main line heading north-west from the capital's financial heart in the City to what were to become the Middlesex su ...
opened its line from
Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid out the street in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detec ...
through the eastern side of Wembley, but only built a station, Wembley Park, in 1894. There are now three physically separate services, the London to Aylesbury Line, the
Metropolitan line The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between in the City of London and and in Buckinghamshire, with branches to in Hertfordshire and in Hillingdon. Printed in magenta on the tube map, the line i ...
and the Jubilee line. Only the latter two services have platforms at Wembley Park station. Anne and Frances Copland, who in 1843 inherited Sudbury Lodge and its lands, gave a plot for a church to serve the southern part of Harrow parish.Diane K Bolton, H P F King, Gillian Wyld and D C Yaxley, 'Harrow, including Pinner : Modern churches', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4 ed. T F T Baker, J S Cockburn and R B Pugh (London, 1971), pp. 257-260. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol4/pp257-260 In spite of less support from local farmers, who preferred part of Lord Northwick's property on Wembley Hill, the sisters' offer was accepted since they would bear all the cost of building. The church of Saint John the Evangelist, Wembley, designed by
George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...
and W. B. Moffatt, was consecrated in 1846, in which year Wembley became a parish. It was built of flint with stone dressings, in the Gothic style, and comprised chancel, nave, northeast chapel, and wooden bell turret. A north aisle was added in 1859 and a south aisle in 1900; extensions were made to the west to designs of G. P. Pratt in 1935. It has one church bell. In November 1905, the Great Central Railway (now, in this section, part of the Chiltern Main Line) opened a new route for fast expresses that by-passed the congested Metropolitan Railway tracks. It ran between Neasden Junction, south of Wembley, and Northolt Junction, west of London, where a new joint main line with the
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
began. Local passenger services from London Marylebone were added from March 1906, when new stations were opened, including 'Wembley Hill', next to what later became the site of Wembley Stadium – the national stadium of English sport – which opened for the FA Cup Final of April 1923, remaining open for 77 years until it closed for reconstruction in October 2000. After a long planning and redevelopment process dogged by a series of funding problems and construction delays, the new stadium finally opened its doors in March 2007. Wembley Hill station was renamed 'Wembley Complex' in May 1978, before getting its present name of ' Wembley Stadium' in May 1987. Wembley was also served by tram (route 62) and later trolleybus (route 662) which ran through the Harrow Road from Sudbury to Paddington until the abandonment of the networks. The route is now mostly served by bus route 18 which is also one of the busiest bus routes in all of London today. The 1937-built fire brigade headquarters of Middlesex County Council on Harrow Road, in Moderne style, is now a fire station of the
London Fire Brigade The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865, under the leadership of superintendent Eyre Massey Shaw. It has 5,992staff, in ...
. It is statutorily recognised and protected in the initial category, Grade II, of listed building. Wembley, in common with much of northwest London, had an extensive manufacturing industry, but much of it closed in the 1980s. Its factories included Glacier Metals (bearings), Wolf Power Tools, Sunbeam Electrical Appliances, Griffin & George (laboratory equipment) and GEC (whose research laboratories, opened in 1923, were one of the first of their type in the United Kingdom).


Empire Exhibition and the Stadium

What had been Wembley Park hosted the British Empire Exhibition of 1924–1925. Until the 2000s, remnants of the many
reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...
buildings, including the
original Wembley Stadium The original Wembley Stadium (; originally known as the Empire Stadium) was a stadium in Wembley, London, best known for hosting important football matches. It stood on the same site now occupied by its successor. Wembley hosted the FA Cup fi ...
, remained, but nearly all have now been removed, to make way for redevelopment. Most of the rest of Wembley's housing consists of inter-war semi-detached houses and terraces and of modern apartment blocks, with a significant minority of detached houses. Expansion in the town centre continued. In 1929 the Majestic Theatre was opened, later becoming Odeon Wembley cinema. It closed in 1961 and was demolished, replaced by a C&A store (today a
Wilko Wilko may refer to: People * Wilko Johnson (1947–2022), English musician * Wilko de Vogt (born 1975), Dutch football goalkeeper, mostly played for Dutch clubs * Wilko Risser (born 1982), Namibian-German football forward, mostly played for German ...
store). Another cinema in the town was an ABC cinema originally opened as The Regal in 1937, on Ealing Road, which operated until 1976. After this it operated for some years as an independent cinema showcasing Bollywood films. The building was demolished in 1987.


Post-war

During the 1960s, rebuilding of Wembley Central station, a block of flats, an open-plan shopping plaza, and a car park were constructed on a concrete raft over the railway. The retail centre of Wembley (the High Road and north end of Ealing Road) has suffered from chronic traffic congestion and from the opening of neighbouring purpose-built shopping centres, first Brent Cross Shopping Centre in the 1970s and later the
Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England ** Harrow, London, a town in London ** Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) ...
and Ealing Broadway shopping centres. Following continuing decline, Wembley had become unattractive and increasingly derelict by the century's end. However the large Indian community in the town maintained a growing jewellery market with their shops on Ealing Road. A British Army recruitment centre led away from the High Road and came under attack by an IRA bomb in 1990, seeing a soldier die and four people injured (see
1990 Wembley bombing The Provisional IRA (IRA) planted a bomb underneath a minibus at an army recruiting centre in Wembley, northwest London on 16 May 1990, killing a soldier and injuring four others. The dead victim was the van's driver, 34-year-old Sergeant Charle ...
).


Recent regenerations

The town's regeneration is one of the major development projects in London in the early 21st century, as specified in the London Plan published by the Mayor of London
Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of London from the creation of the office i ...
in 2004. A shopping plaza along High Road, an attractive shopping district in the 1950s, suffered slow decline by the 1980s and was therefore poorly maintained. Its Marks & Spencer department store closed in 2005 after 71 years trading. In a bid to reverse Wembley's fortunes, in the mid-2000s plans were created and approved to completely regenerate the place, carried out by construction company St. Modwen. The first phase, including construction of eighty-five homes, reconstruction of the plaza as a new public square and opening of new retail units including a TK Maxx, was completed in 2009. The rest was completed in phases until 2015 after nine years' time, with additional retail and housing units. The local Argos store also moved to a new unit in the redeveloped Central Square. Purpose-built Brent Civic Centre near the stadium was completed in 2013, with all Brent administration moving to this complex. As a result, other offices were closed. The Chesterfield House block on Park Lane that was used as council offices, built in the 1960s replacing a Methodist church that moved further down the road, was demolished in 2017 and replaced by 21 and 26 storey blocks of apartments. Brent House, an office complex on High Road, was sold by the council sold Brent House to a developer called Henley Homes who demolished the building and also replaced it with residential apartments. Mahatma Gandhi House on Wembley Hill Road, another council office block, was also sold off. The listed Brent Town Hall was also disposed and became a French school, Lycée International de Londres Winston Churchill. The regeneration project is focused on the " Wembley Park" site which includes Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena, about a mile northeast from Wembley town centre. The
Original Wembley Stadium The original Wembley Stadium (; originally known as the Empire Stadium) was a stadium in Wembley, London, best known for hosting important football matches. It stood on the same site now occupied by its successor. Wembley hosted the FA Cup fi ...
closed in October 2000 and was demolished in 2003. The new Wembley stadium was designed by a consortium including engineering consultant Mott MacDonald and built by the Australian firm Multiplex. It cost £798 million and opened in 2007. Grade II-listed Wembley Arena, now the SSE Arena, has been sensitively refurbished in keeping with its Art Deco style. In 2004, Brent Council approved a mixed use plan by
Buro Happold Buro Happold (previously ''BuroHappold Engineering'') is a British professional services firm that provides engineering consultancy, design, planning, project management, and consulting services for buildings, infrastructure, and the environment ...
for the development of 55 acres (223,000 m2) adjacent to the stadium, which was presented by Quintain Limited.


Governance

Wembley falls within the UK Parliament constituency of Brent North, currently represented by
Barry Gardiner Barry Strachan Gardiner (born 10 March 1957) is a British politician who served as Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade from 2016 to 2020. A member of the Labour Party, he ...
MP ( Labour). It falls within the London Assembly constituency of Brent and Harrow. Wembley formed part of the large ancient parish of Harrow on the Hill in the Gore hundred of Middlesex. In 1894 Wembley was split from Harrow, creating a new parish and urban district. It included Alperton,
Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...
, North Wembley,
South Kenton Kenton is a district in north-west London, England, to the east of Harrow, London, Harrow and historically in Middlesex. As with surroundings in Harrow, Wembley and Kingsbury, London, Kingsbury, the area was a product of Metro-land, Metroland su ...
, Tokyngton,
Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...
, Wembley Park and Northwick Park. The urban district included the neighbouring parish of Kingsbury until 1901 and again from 1934. In 1937 it was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Wembley. Wembley Town Hall on Forty Lane, built in 1938, became Brent Town Hall when the municipal boroughs of Wembley and Willesden were amalgamated in 1965 to form the
London Borough of Brent The London Borough of Brent () is a London boroughs, London borough in north-west London. It borders the boroughs of London Borough of Harrow, Harrow to the north-west, London Borough of Barnet, Barnet to the north-east, London Borough of Camden ...
and transferred to
Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...
.


Willesden merger and split proposal

Brent proved to be one of the more unpopular of the mergers occurring during the creation of the modern
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 ...
. Reasons for this included the limited road links between the two main areas of Wembley and Willesden (with the A4088 and A404 Harrow Road, the only major road links across the Brent valley boundary), the lack of a focal point or ‘heart’ for the borough and the contrasting characteristics; with Willesden more inner-city in nature, and Wembley more suburban. Widening schemes for the North Circular Road, which passed along the Brent valley, close to the boundary between the two, increased this sense of separation. The clash quickly turned political amid the plans to build
Chalkhill Estate Chalkhill Estate is located in the Wembley Park area of North West London. It was originally one of three large council estates built in the London Borough of Brent by the early 1970s, along with Stonebridge and South Kilburn. The design wa ...
, as Wembley was Conservative while Willesden was Labour; the balance of power between the two parties contributed to the borough council becoming a byword for polarised politics. The unpopularity persisted and in 1989 more than ten thousand people signed a petition calling for Wembley to regain its independence or else join with the London Borough of Harrow with which it had historic administrative links, had better transport integration and had shared common suburban interests. The 1994, the Boundary Commission considered this, and other requests, considering a wide range of options including restoring independence to the districts, or joining them to different neighbouring boroughs – an option the Commission preferred. Wembley and Harrow were felt to be a natural match, and the London Borough of Harrow supported these proposals and called for a boundary rationalisation with Barnet so that the A5 Road (Watling Street) formed the enlarged borough's entire eastern boundary. Willesden was harder to satisfactorily match with a neighbour, with
Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was histor ...
considered the most natural choice, the main problem being the lack of a focal point, with the industrial areas of
Park Royal Park Royal is an area in North West London, England, partly in the London Borough of Brent and partly the London Borough of Ealing. It is the site of the largest business park in London, but despite intensive existing use, the area is, toget ...
, Old Oak Common and North Acton forming a relatively ill-connected barrier between the two. The Commission concluded that there was insufficient justification for the disruption caused by the changes, and that such changes should only be considered during a comprehensive review of London's boundaries.


Geography

Until the nineteenth century, Wembley was rural. In broadest terms Wembley has eight main green spaces, all but the golf course being public (no farms or private parks exist). The formal five are King Edward VII Park, set out in 1914 slightly north of the centre (10.5 hectares), Barham Park (10.5 hectares), One Tree Hill Park, Sudbury Green and Brent River Park / Tokyngton Recreation Ground (20.26 hectares) has been restored, returning the river to a more natural course. The informal three are Horsenden Hill, Vale Farm sports ground (30 hectares) and partly horse-grazed Barn Hill (19.9 hectares), east of which is its Kingsbury continuation: Fryent Country Park. Sudbury Golf Course abuts the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, with a towpath running into central London. Sudbury Squash and Tennis Club has outdoor tennis courts, an indoor squash court, and a clubhouse. Wembley is a short distance away from the Welsh Harp reservoir and open space, created in the early 19th century by damming the River Brent to provide water for the Grand Union Canal. Wembley is made up of six wards: Wembley Central, Alperton, Tokyngton, Barnhill,
Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...
and
Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...
. The town takes up the south-western quarter of the borough of Brent, being west of Harlesden and Willesden and south of
Kenton Kenton may refer to: Places Canada *Kenton, Manitoba South Africa *Kenton-on-Sea United Kingdom *Kenton, Devon *Kenton, London **Kenton station, Kenton Road, Kenton, London *Kenton, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear *Kenton, Suffolk **Kenton ra ...
. It is also east of Greenford and Northolt in the neighbouring London Borough of Ealing. The area is identified in the Mayor of London's London Plan as one of thirty-five major centres in Greater London. Wembley is part of both HA0 and HA9 post codes, and has its own post town.


Demographics

Wembley is known for its high degree of ethnic and religious diversity, and the population includes a large number of people of Asian, Afro-Caribbean and Eastern European origin. According to the
1991 census A nationwide census, commonly known as Census 1991, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday 21 April 1991. This was the 19th UK census. ''Census 1991'' was organised by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys in England and Wales, th ...
, 49.2% of the Wembley Central ward identified themselves as Asian (39% Indian). The ward along with neighbouring Tokyngton (eastern Wembley) and Alperton were in the top 10 most diverse in London. In the 2001 census, 78.6% of the ward identified themselves as being of black or minority ethnic ( BME) groups. The White British population of Wembley Central (792 people, 5.3% of the population) in the 2011 census makes it the sixth least White British ward in London (seventh in the country). Other ethnicities include 7.0% Other White, 66.2% Asian (46.2% Indian), and 13.9% Black. In 2011, 86% of Wembley Central ward was of BAME background, which is the highest in Brent and 5th highest in Greater London. In Wembley the lowest BAME ward was Northwick Park, 68.8%. The 2011 census also showed that, in the Wembley Central ward, the unemployment rate stood at 5.3%. Of the 4,380 households, 2,065 of the properties were tenure owned, 1,469 was privately rented and 684 was socially rented from the council. The largest religion was Hinduism (45%) followed by Christianity (25%). The median age was 32. By far the most spoken foreign language was Gujarati. Wembley Central only covers Wembley town centre and the whole district is represented by five other wards. There are varying levels of social deprivation in the area. Places such as the central area and Chalkhill have had relatively high deprivation, with the latter having been troubled for a long time. In more recent years, regeneration has helped these areas fare better albeit with a higher general cost of living. Some parts of the town meanwhile are among the least deprived in the borough, especially Barn Hill estate and North Wembley's Sudbury Court Estate.


Media

Local news in Wembley is provided by the ''
Brent & Kilburn Times The ''Brent and Kilburn Times'' is a British weekly newspaper published by Archant in the London Borough of Brent The London Borough of Brent () is a London boroughs, London borough in north-west London. It borders the boroughs of London Bo ...
'' and the '' Harrow Times'' in print and online forms.


Economy

The main shopping area was generally centred on Wembley High Road, Central Square, and Ealing Road. Unlike typical British high streets Wembley does not have a town centre network or pedestrianised high streets, with almost all commercial high street businesses along a 1000-yard stretch of road (High Road). In 1971 the High Road was seen as being the 11th best place to shop in London. However, it had fallen to 24th place by 1987. Ealing Road remains important as a centre of South Asian jewellery and gold shops, attracting people from as far afield as
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...
, but otherwise the focus of shopping has shifted north and east to the more recent development of London Designer Outlet in Wembley Park, which is part of the Stadium's complex and also includes a fully pedestrianised street near the Stadium. The regenerations were co-funded by Brent Council to add an attractive shopping destination. The Wembley Sunday Market was a popular market held weekly from the 1970s until 2014 and run by Wendy Fair Markets. The market was ousted by the landowners, Quintain, in favour of the London Designer Outlet development. The market was then set up at the former Unisys tower near Stonebridge Park station before it was closed within a year by the council citing traffic disruption.
IKEA IKEA (; ) is a Dutch multinational conglomerate based in the Netherlands that designs and sells , kitchen appliances, decoration, home accessories, and various other goods and home services. Started in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA has been t ...
Wembley is in the Brent Park retail area near North Circular Road, Neasden. It opened in 1988 and was the Swedish retailer's second store in the UK after the initial store in Warrington. The Air France-KLM European Sales and Service Centre, which is a sales channel for 15 European countries, is in Brent Civic Centre in Wembley Park.


Sport and leisure

Wembley has two local
non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...
clubs,
Wembley F.C. Wembley Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in Wembley, in the London Borough of Brent, London, England. Founded in 1946, the club currently play in the . They play in red and white and are nicknamed "The Lions", d ...
and
South Kilburn F.C. South Kilburn Football Club are a football team from Wembley, London. History The club was formed in 2005 and joined the Middlesex County Football League for the 2005–06 season. One season later the club finished as champions of Division O ...
, that both play at Vale Farm stadium in nearby
Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...
. Nearby is Vale Farm Sports Centre. There once were two golf clubs in Wembley. Wembley Golf Club, founded in 1896, was situated north of the Metropolitan Railway line in what is now the Fryent Country Park. The club closed in the late 1920s. Wembley Park Golf Club was founded in 1912 in Sir Edward Watkin's Wembley Park pleasure gardens, improving on the 9-hole course that had opened, along with Watkin's Wembley Park, in 1896. The course itself became the site of the British Empire Exhibition. The rugby union club, Wasps RFC, was based at Repton Avenue in Sudbury from the 1920s until 1996.


Landmarks

Apart from Wembley's earliest church, which is to St John the Evangelist of 1846 (see above) another listed building is what was Saint Andrew's Presbyterian Church built in 1904, designed by Thomas Collcutt and Stanley Hemp. It is made mainly of brick and the design was influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement. It is listed in the initial, mainstream, Grade II category since 1993. It was converted into the
Central Mosque Wembley The Wembley Central Mosque (formerly the St Andrew's Presbyterian Church) is a mosque in the London Borough of Brent. The principal mosque in North West London, it is located on Ealing Road, Wembley, and serves the United Kingdom’s fifth larg ...
in the late 1990s. To the south on Ealing Road is the Shree Sanatan Hindu Mandir, a major mandir opened in 2010. The Roman Catholic church of Saint Joseph, a post-war church, became equally listed in 2016. The Ace Cafe is unusually a transport café, opened in 1938 and re-opening in 1997 after decades of closure. This venue has been used to hold and plan car and bike events by motoring enthusiasts, nationally and internationally. Wembley Point, formerly Station House, is a 21-storey building next to Stonebridge Park station. It was Brent's first skyscraper, built in 1965, and is visible from a radius of several miles. The building has had various uses, including partly as a gym and offices. Brent's only English Heritage
blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...
is on Forty Lane, commemorating the comedian and entertainer Arthur Lucan. The prime landmark is Wembley Stadium, rebuilt 2003–07 at a cost of £827 million, which is approached via the White Horse Bridge designed by the
London Eye The London Eye, or the Millennium Wheel, is a cantilevered observation wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames in London. It is Europe's tallest cantilevered observation wheel, and is the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United ...
architects. About half of the stadium's width northwest is the SSE Arena, a Grade II-listed concert venue built in 1934 as the Empire Pool, a multi-use facility built for the 2nd Empire Games and much renovated. The former Wembley (later Brent) Town Hall is likewise listed on Barn Hill remotely facing Wembley Stadium; it has now been refurbished as a French school, the Lycée International de Londres Winston Churchill. The
London Borough of Brent The London Borough of Brent () is a London boroughs, London borough in north-west London. It borders the boroughs of London Borough of Harrow, Harrow to the north-west, London Borough of Barnet, Barnet to the north-east, London Borough of Camden ...
's council chamber and main offices occupy Brent Civic Centre, Engineers Way, Wembley Park.


Transport


Tube/train

Stations in the town are: # Wembley Stadium (
Chiltern Railways Chiltern Railways, formally The Chiltern Railway Company Limited, is a British train operating company that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. Since 2009, it has been a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains. Chiltern Railw ...
) # Wembley Central ( Bakerloo line,
Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...
, West Midlands Trains and Watford DC line) # North Wembley ( Bakerloo line and Watford DC line) # Wembley Park ( Jubilee line and
Metropolitan line The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between in the City of London and and in Buckinghamshire, with branches to in Hertfordshire and in Hillingdon. Printed in magenta on the tube map, the line i ...
) # Sudbury Town (
Piccadilly line The Piccadilly line is a deep-level London Underground line running from the north to the west of London. It has two branches, which split at Acton Town, and serves 53 stations. The line serves Heathrow Airport, and some of its stations are n ...
) # Preston Road (
Metropolitan line The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between in the City of London and and in Buckinghamshire, with branches to in Hertfordshire and in Hillingdon. Printed in magenta on the tube map, the line i ...
) # Alperton (
Piccadilly line The Piccadilly line is a deep-level London Underground line running from the north to the west of London. It has two branches, which split at Acton Town, and serves 53 stations. The line serves Heathrow Airport, and some of its stations are n ...
) # Stonebridge Park ( Bakerloo Line and Watford DC line)


Buses

Wembley has numerous Transport for London bus routes that run through its centre on High Road, namely routes 18, 79, 83, 92,
182 Year 182 ( CLXXXII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sura and Rufus (or, less frequently, year 935 ''Ab urbe condita'') ...
,
204 __NOTOC__ Year 204 (CCIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cilo and Flavius (or, less frequently, year 957 ''Ab urbe co ...
,
223 __NOTOC__ Year 223 ( CCXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Maximus and Aelianus (or, less frequently, year 976 ' ...
, 224,
297 __NOTOC__ Year 297 ( CCXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerius and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 1050 '' ...
,
483 __NOTOC__ Year 483 (Roman numerals, CDLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aginantius without colleague (or, le ...
, H17, and night route N18.


Road

Wembley lies very close to the A406 North Circular Road. The A404 Harrow Road passes through its centre. The town centre is served by three pay-and-display car parks.


SSE Arena access

Wembley Arena is served by Wembley Park station on the London Underground via Olympic Way, Wembley Stadium on the
Chiltern Railways Chiltern Railways, formally The Chiltern Railway Company Limited, is a British train operating company that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. Since 2009, it has been a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains. Chiltern Railw ...
line from London Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill, and Wembley Central (walking via the White Horse Bridge). Bus
route 92 The following highways are numbered 92: International * European route E92 Canada * Newfoundland and Labrador Route 92 * Ontario King's Highway 92 (Former) ** County Road 92 (Simcoe County, Ontario) China * G92 Expressway Iceland * Rout ...
stops directly outside. The onsite parking facilities are close by, with a multistorey car park called Red Parking and a surface level car park on the eastern flank of the Stadium called Green Parking. Disabled parking is available at a reduced rate but on a first-come first-served basis.


Education


Notable people

* British Actor
Ricardo P. Lloyd Ricardo P Lloyd (born 20 November 1993) is a British actor and presenter. He began his career in theatre, appearing in productions, including those by Shakespeare's Globe. In 2020, ''The Voice'' named him one of the Top 20 to watch out for. In ...
, grew up in Wembley * Politician Luciana Berger (born 1981), The Independent Group MP, grew up in Wembley. * Drummer
Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who achieved international fame as the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a graphic artist, Watts developed an i ...
, founding member of The Rolling Stones, was born in Wembley. * Engineer and Formula One aerodynamicist, John Barnard, who is credited with introducing the first semi-automatic gearbox, the first carbon fibre composite chassis and the "coke bottle" shape of the rear bodywork, was born in Wembley in 1946. * Actor Riz Ahmed, star of satirist Chris Morris's black comedy '' Four Lions'' (2010), was born in Wembley. * Scientist
John D Barrow John David Barrow (29 November 1952 – 26 September 2020) was an English cosmologist, theoretical physicist, and mathematician. He served as Gresham Professor of Geometry at Gresham College from 2008 to 2011. Barrow was also a writer of popul ...
FRS, Professor of Mathematical Sciences at Cambridge University, cosmologist, Templeton prize winner and author of many popular science books and the award-winning play Infinities was born in Wembley in 1952 and attended Barham Primary School. * Composer Peter Fribbins was born, and grew up, in Wembley. * British
ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...
to Israel
Matthew Gould Matthew Steven Gould (born 20 August 1971) is a British civil servant who is CEO of NHSX, the body which oversees digital policy and programmes in NHS England. He was Ambassador to Israel (2010–15) and Director General for Digital and Med ...
grew up in Wembley. * Astrologer Russell Grant lived in Wembley. * Scholar
Vivian H. H. Green Vivian Hubert Howard Green (18 November 1915 – 18 January 2005) was a Fellow and Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford, a priest, author, teacher, and historian. He was also celebrated for his influence on his pupil at Sherborne School and later at ...
(1915–2005), the model for author John le Carré's spymaster character George Smiley, was born in Wembley. * Matthew Harrison was born in Wembley in 1979. * Actor and comedian Lenny Henry lived in Wembley. * Actor and musician
Gary Holton Gary Frederick Holton (22 September 1953 – 25 October 1985) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and actor from London. He was the frontman of the band Heavy Metal Kids (1972–1977), worked with Casino Steel (1981–1984), and played ...
(1952–1985), Wayne in '' Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' and frontman of Heavy Metal Kids, lived in Wembley at the time of his death. * Footballers Raheem Sterling, Jerel Ifil, and
Jerome Thomas Jerome William Thomas (born 23 March 1983) is an English former footballer who is now head of academy recruitment at club Watford. During his playing carer he played predominantly as a left-winger and scored 25 goals in 292 league and cup appe ...
lived in Wembley. * Musician John Lingwood, drummer in Manfred Mann's Earth Band, was born in Wembley. * The actor Arthur Lucan (Arthur Towle), famous for his performances as 'Old Mother Riley', lived at 11 Forty Lane, Wembley, as did his wife and co-star, Catherine 'Kitty' McShane. * Rock drummer
Keith Moon Keith John Moon (23 August 19467 September 1978) was an English drummer for the rock band the Who. He was noted for his unique style of playing and his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour and addiction to drugs and alcohol. Moon grew ...
of The Who, was born in Wembley. * Singer Maxine Nightingale, best known for her soul hit records in the 1970s, was born in Wembley. * Figure-skater Valda Osborn was born in Wembley. * Nurse, journalist, broadcaster and novelist Claire Rayner lived in Wembley. * Dancer, author, musician and bandleader
Victor Silvester Victor Marlborough Silvester OBE (25 February 190014 August 1978) was an English dancer, writer, musician and bandleader from the British dance band era. He was a significant figure in the development of ballroom dance during the first half ...
was the second son of J. W. P. Silvester, vicar of St. John the Evangelist
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
church, Wembley. * Composer John Tavener was born in Wembley. * Musician Harvey Shield grew up in Wembley. * Mick Whelan, head of the ASLEF trade union, lives in Wembley. * Sir
Henry Cooper Sir Henry Cooper (3 May 19341 May 2011) was a British heavyweight boxer, best remembered internationally for a 1963 fight in which he knocked down a young Cassius Clay before the fight was stopped because of a cut eye from Clay's punches. Coo ...
, British Heavyweight Champion, after the key bout with Cassius Clay, 1963, retired to the town of the venue; he opened a greengrocer's shop at the top of Ealing Road, Wembley.


Gallery

High Road, Wembley (1) - geograph.org.uk - 216336.jpg, High Road, looking west towards the junction with Park Lane Parade of shops, High Road, Wembley - geograph.org.uk - 5121815.jpg, Building built as Marks and Spencer outlet, mainly divided in four vertically High Road, Wembley - geograph.org.uk - 278409.jpg, Western section of High Road, looking east Shops at the south end of Wembley Hill Road - geograph.org.uk - 5121088.jpg, Shops near the High Road/Wembley Hill Road junction Mannions Free House - geograph.org.uk - 307824.jpg, Mannions Free House, Irish pub, on High Road Stonebridge Park, Wembley Point - geograph.org.uk - 624741.jpg, Wembley Point skyscraper, next to the North Circular Road Old and new buildings in Wembley Park - geograph.org.uk - 5332664.jpg, York House and London Designer Outlet Blands, High Road, Wembley (geograph 5121821).jpg, Bland's, a small department store on High Road that traded from 1911 to 2017 Wembley Way.jpg, Wembley Way connects, for pedestrians, Wembley Park Station and Wembley Stadium Grand Union Canal - geograph.org.uk - 801144.jpg, Grand Union Canal Towpath, by Sudbury Golf Course Alperton, Shree Sanatan Hindu Mandir - geograph.org.uk - 795127.jpg, Shree Sanatan Hindu Mandir Central Mosque, Wembley - geograph.org.uk - 273451.jpg, Central Mosque, Wembley Wembley, King Edward VII Park - geograph.org.uk - 2408376.jpg, King Edward VII Park Barn Hill Triangulation Pillar - geograph.org.uk - 476193.jpg, Barn Hill public open space


Notes


References


External links

{{Authority control Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Brent Major centres of London Places formerly in Middlesex