Church End, Brent

Church End, commonly known as 'Church Road', is an area of northwest London in the London Borough of Brent, and part of Willesden and Harlesden. The population is predominantly Afro-Caribbean and somali.Church RoadThe street Church Road does not contain the Church End Estate. It comes close to Brent Magistrates Court in Willesden.The Willesden part of Church End often hosts a small market.Church End EstateChurch End Estate, along with Roundwood Estate and some of Harlesden, is associated with the Church Road Soldiers street gang. Gang violence led to the fatal shootings in Church End in 2016 of two men in their twenties who were uninvolved in gangs, Oliver Tetlow and James Owusu-Ajyekum.HistoryChurch 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.