Church End, Brent

Church End Estate

Church End is a deprived community with a large Caribbean and newer Somali population. Hassan Farah was credited with getting four local British Somali youngsters from the Queen's Road Community School to Oxbridge. The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has had a serious effect on this community. At least 36 residents have died, making this cluster the second worst in England and Wales. Many of the victims have been men, like Farah in their 40s and 50s- whole families have been wiped out. Brent has the highest age-standardised coronavirus death rate in the country, excess deaths being three times the national average.

History

Church End arose as the area around St. Mary's Church near Willesden. It was known as "the Churchend" in the late 16th century. During the 18th century, a village and inns developed around the church. The arrival of the railways in the 19th century lead to further development, though the area remained agricultural to begin with. An 1876 book noted "There are a few houses about the ch., at what is called Church End" and recorded there being two inns, the White Horse and the White Hart. Industry and "poor housing" grew the area to be contiguous with Harlesden, though Roundwood Park was still green space. By the 20th century it was one of the poorest parts of London and from the 1960s was known for high rates of unemployment. Road widening and building in the 1960s changed the character of the area.

The council transferred Church End Estate and Roundwood Estate to Fortunegate in 1998 in a regeneration scheme. A regeneration plan for the Church End Neighbourhood Centre was approved by the council cabinet in 2016.{{cite news|url=http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/news/west-london-news/church-end-set-revitalised-part-10817908|title=Church End set to be 'revitalised' as part of council regeneration|last=Spendelow|first=Nathan

Crime

Church End Estate, along with Roundwood Estate and some of Harlesden, is associated with the Church Road Soldiers street gang.{{cite news|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/inside-gangland-london-i-used-get-rush-kicking-door-kidnapping-someone-1519440|title=Inside Gangland London: 'I used to get a rush kicking in a door or kidnapping someone'|last=Dean|first=Lewis

Notable residents

• Nines
• Ice City Boyz

References

References

1. (27 June 2020). "'People were abandoned': injustices of pandemic laid bare in Brent". The Guardian.
2. Mills, A. D.. (March 11, 2010). "A Dictionary of London Place-Names". OUP Oxford.
3. Thorne, James. (1876). "Handbook to the Environs of London: Alphabetically Arranged, Containing an Account of Every Town and Village, and of All Places of Interest, Within a Circle of Twenty Miles Round London, Part 2". J. Murray.
4. (March 1, 1991). "London 3: North West". Yale University Press.
5. "History of Church End, Brent and Middlesex". Vision of Britain.
6. "Church End". Brent Heritage.
7. King, Lorraine. (November 11, 2016). "Police roll out initiative to tackle violence between Church End and Stonebridge gang rivals". Kilburn Times.
8. Mills, Jen. (March 11, 2016). "Uzi-style execution in London was 'a tragic case of mistaken identity'". Metro.