Kilburn History
Kilburn is an old village which straddled the Roman road called Watling Street (now the road towards Edgware). The name Kilburn is usually thought to be derived from the stream that rose in Hampstead and flowed down the hill through West End to Kilburn. Kilburn is spelt in various ways in ancient documents, such as Kylebourne and Kelebourne. Its meaning was probably derived from the Anglo-Saxon Kyle (cold) and Bourne (water).
The Kilburn Priory
‘At the beginning of the 12th Century a hermit built himself a hermitage at ‘Cuneburn’ next to the stream. For 400 years nuns provided food for travellers and pilgrims to St Albans. It had several buildings including a church, a house, a brewery and a bakehouse. After the Dissolution of the monasteries in 1536, the priory became a private house and a farm, until the remains were pulled down in 1790.
Some of the buildings still standing along Kilburn High Road have history including “The Red Lion” pub, which has a plaster lion and a plaque recording its establishment in 1444. Some of the early shops on Kilburn High Road include a branch of J Sainsburys (Nos 292-294), this was their Brondesbury ‘high class’ shop opened in 1888. BB Evans (Nos 142-162, 1900s, a premier department store), The Golden Carp (1850s, selling fishing rods as well as making and repairing umbrellas), Fosters, the wine merchants (on the corner of Willesden Lane) and Waugh & Co, a boot and shoe shop (No 239 in the 1890s).