Mapesbury is a residential area of northwest

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. It forms one of twenty-one

electoral wards The wards and electoral divisions in the United Kingdom are electoral districts at sub-national level, represented by one or more councillors. The ''ward (subnational entity), ward'' is the primary unit of English electoral geography for civil pa ...

of the

London Borough of Brent Brent () is a London boroughs, borough in north-west London, England. It is known for landmarks such as Wembley Stadium, the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir London, Swaminarayan Temple and the Kiln Theatre. It also contains the Brent Reservoir, W ...

Geography

The ward covers parts of the Kilburn and

Cricklewood Cricklewood is a town in North London, England, in the London Boroughs of Camden, Barnet, and Brent. The Crown pub, now the Clayton Crown Hotel, is a local landmark and lies north-west of Charing Cross. Cricklewood was a small rural hamlet ...

areas. Mapesbury ward is bounded to the north by

Dollis Hill Dollis Hill is an area in northwest London, which consists of the streets surrounding the Gladstone Park, London, Gladstone Park. It is served by a London Underground station, Dollis Hill tube station, Dollis Hill, on the Jubilee line, providi ...

ward, to the west by Dudden Hill ward, to the south west by

Willesden Green Willesden () is an area of north-west London, situated 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933; it has forme ...

ward, to the south by

Brondesbury Park Brondesbury Park is a suburb and electoral ward in the London Borough of Brent, centred on Brondesbury Park railway station and the street, an avenue, which shares its name. The area has a number of open spaces, primarily Queen's Park and Tiv ...

ward, and to the east by the

London Borough of Barnet The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban London boroughs, London borough in north London, England. Forming part of Outer London, the borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It is the ...

and (further south) the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London boroughs, borough in Inner London, England. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the former Metropolitan boroughs of the Cou ...

Early history and name

The area formed part of the

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

parish and manor of

Willesden Willesden () is an area of north-west London, situated 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933; it has formed ...

, which was held by the

chapter Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

by the time of the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

. The manor was divided into eight

prebend A prebendary is a member of the Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the choir ...

s to support the various members of the chapter. One of these duly gained the name "Mapesbury" after

Walter Map Walter Map (; 1130 – 1209/1210) was a medieval writer. He wrote '' De nugis curialium'', which takes the form of a series of anecdotes of people and places, offering insights into the history of his time. Map was a courtier of King He ...

, prebendary from 1173–c1192. Willesden Lane was known as Mapes Lane until the 1860s.

Development

Mapesbury remained countryside until the 1860s, when residential development began. By 1875 there were a number of large suburban villas. Four years later 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 in the area, and building lots were let for "first class residences". Mapesbury Farm was leased to builders in 1893, and Mapesbury Road constructed in the following year. The main development took place between 1895 and 1905, consisting of brick-built houses with extensive tree planting. In 1982 Mapesbury was designated a conservation area.

Politics

The ward returns three councillors to sit on

Brent Council Brent London Borough Council, also known as Brent Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Brent in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majority contro ...

. At the 2006 election, the ward which had been a Labour/

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

marginal elected three

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

councillors. They retained their seats at the 2010 election, but at the 2014 election Labour took 2 of the 3 seats from the Liberal Democrats. The ward forms part of the

Brent Central Brent Central was a constituency in Greater London, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2015 until its abolition for the 2024 general election by Dawn Butler of the Labour Party. Under the 2023 Periodic Review of We ...

parliamentary constituency and is represented in parliament by

Dawn Butler Dawn Petula Butler (born 3 November 1969) is a British Labour Party politician who is member of parliament (MP) for Brent East. She previously served as MP for Brent Central (2015–2024) and Brent South (2005–2010). Born in London to Jama ...

of the Labour Party.

Demographics

Mapesbury ward has strong links to Irish culture and over 10% of its population are Irish. In the 2011 census it had the second largest number of Irish residents among wards in London.

Notable residents

Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English former politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was Local Government Act 1985, abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of Londo ...

, former

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...

and MP for Brent East between 1987 and 2001, lives in Mapesbury. *

Paul Celan Paul Celan (; ; born Paul Antschel; 23 November 1920 – c. 20 April 1970) was a German-speaking Romanian poet, Holocaust survivor, and literary translation, literary translator. He adopted his pen name (an anagram of the Romanian spelling Ancel ...

's paternal aunt Berta Antschel – one of the few relatives of his who had survived the Holocaust – lived in a flat in Mapesbury Road, where Celan visited her in April 1968 and wrote the poem "Mapesbury Road", which was published posthumously in the collection Schneepart in 1971.

References

Districts of the London Borough of Brent Areas of London Places formerly in Middlesex {{London-geo-stub