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Welcome to the Brent Council website. It includes information on the services we provide including, Council Tax, bins, housing, benefits, libraries and schools.
- Bins, Rubbish and Recycling
and how you can help us keep Brent's streets clean As of...
- Parking
Brent do not request payment for parking or PCNs by text or...
- Jobs, Training and Skills
Find out about jobs in Brent and at the Council, as well as...
- Council Tax
Information on Council Tax in Brent. Check your account,...
- Planning and Building Control
View the Brent Local Plan 2029 - 2041, a collection of...
- Housing
Brent is committed to providing local people with suitable...
- Contact Us
You can contact us online, using My Account, by email and...
- My Account
You can access and manage council services quickly and...
- Bins, Rubbish and Recycling
You can contact us online, using My Account, by email and over the phone. Find out how to contact Brent customer services, libraries, Community Hubs and other teams
- Hang out at the Ace Cafe London. Petrolheads should stop by Wembley’s legendary Ace Cafe London, a popular hangout for bikers and rockers. Established in 1938, this roadside transport cafe on London’s North Circular Road offers a packed schedule of car and bike-related events and live music shows.
- Explore a traditional Hindu temple. Marvel at one of the largest Hindu temples outside India at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (also known as Neasden Temple), an architectural gem that’s admired for its exquisite workmanship.
- Find a secret garden. Discover a magical garden tucked away behind a row of houses at Cricklewood's Mapesbury Dell. One of Brent’s best-kept secrets, this award-winning park has a pond teeming with wildlife, picnic tables and manicured lawns.
- See a play at the Kiln Theatre. See a play or film at Kilburn’s Kiln Theatre (formerly the Tricycle Theatre), which has a reputation for showing plays that provoke debate and reflect the diversity of its community.
The local authority for the London Borough of Brent, a diverse and multicultural area in Greater London. Learn about its history, powers, functions, political control, and current council members.
- 11th to 16th Centuries
- Willesden Parish Vestry
- 18th Century
- Railways, Reservoirs, Cemeteries and Growth
- 20th Century Development in Wembley
- Willesden in The Second World War
- The London Borough of Brent
- The Borough of Cultures
- Local History Articles
- Further Reading
In 1134, Kilburn Priory, a convent, was set up and used as a stopping place by travellers and pilgrims. By the 15th century, Kilburn inns (pubs) such as the Red Lion and the Cock had opened to serve travellers on the Edgware Road. St Mary’s Church, Church End, became a centre of pilgrimage in the late 15th century. Both the Kilburn Priory and pilgr...
A member of the clergy (e.g. priest or vicar), the churchwardens (responsible for church maintenance) and overseers (church elders) led the Willesden parish vestry meetings, where they discussed business relating to their parish (the area served by the church). The Poor Relief Act of 1601 made the churchwardens responsible for welfare. By 1608, the...
In the 18thcentury, without a nationally managed road network, the appalling state of the Harrow Road and Edgware Road led to gifts from benevolent gentlemen like John Lyon (the founder of Harrow School) to aid their upkeep. Another problem was highway robberies, though Willesden’s connection with the thief Jack Sheppard comes from a Victorian nove...
In the early 19th century, the novelist William Harrison Ainsworth called Willesden ‘the most charming and secluded village in the neighbourhood of the metropolis’. In 1839, he published Jack Sheppard, a novel that gave a genuine highwayman a false connection with Willesden. The rural nature of Brent started changing in the 19th century with the co...
In the 1880s, Sir Edward Watkin, the Chairman of the Metropolitan Railway, acquired Wembley Park. He planned to turn it into pleasure gardens, served by Wembley Park Station. Watkin intended to build a 1200-foot (366-metre) octagonal steel tower to rival the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The half-finished tower was demolished in 1907 and became known as ‘...
Willesden was heavily bombed in the Second World War. It experienced over 1,000 air raid warnings between 1939 and 1945. This was partly due to the concentration of industry and railway lines. By the end of the war, 372 civilians were dead and 2,108 were injured in Willesden. A memorial in Willesden New Cemetery commemorates the 72 dead who had no ...
The population of Willesden and Wembley peaked at around 316,000 in around 1951. It then began to decline as people moved away, some to New Towns like Hemel Hempstead. In 1965, Willesden and Wembley joined to become the new London Borough of Brent. At this time there remained a divide between the richer, Conservative Wembley, and the less economica...
Brent is a thriving borough, producing and supporting some of the world’s biggest talents in the areas of sport, music, art and more. Brent is home to a number of cultural centres. From the 1950s to 2000s, the Galtymore dancehall in Cricklewood was an important hub for the Irish community in Brent. In Kilburn, the Kiln Theatre (previously the Tricy...
Find out more about this area by looking at our local history articles, written by volunteer researchers and members of local history societies: 1. Geoffrey Hewlett, The Architectural History of Brent(.pdf, 133.1kB) 2. Malcolm Barres-Baker, Our Belgian Guests: Refugees in Brent (1914-1919)(.pdf, 152.0kB) An article on Belgian refugees in Willesden,...
Much of the information you have read on this page came from the following resources, some of which are held by Brent Museum and Archives, and available to look at. For more information, contact us by phone 020 8937 3600 or email museum.archives@brent.gov.uk. British History Online – A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4 (London: Victoria ...
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Borough plan 2023-27. Cabinet members have agreed the borough plan for Brent for 2023-2027. The borough plan sets out what the council will focus on over the next four years. We listened to...
