46-535: Brondesbury ( / ˈ b r ɒ n d z b ər i / ), which includes Brondesbury Park , is an area in the London Borough of Brent , in north London . The area is traditionally part of the Ancient Parish and subsequent Municipal Borough of Willesden , one of the areas that merged to form the modern borough of Brent. Brondesbury railway station lies 4.1 miles north-west of Charing Cross , and its proximity to
92-530: A Picturesque Landscape Gardener' in Headlong Hall . Around 1787, Richard Page (1748–1803), landowner of Sudbury , to the west of Wembley decided to convert the Page family home 'Wellers' into a country seat and turn the fields around it into a private estate. In 1792 Page employed Humphry Repton, by then famous as a landscape architect, to convert the previous farmland into wooded parkland and to make improvements to
138-471: A Willesden yeoman, in reversion in 1566. In the first decade of the 17th century Young's widow and his daughter lived here. In 1615 the latter, Christian's estranged husband, Henry Shugborow, brought an action for possession against the executors, who had re-entered because the rent had not been paid and it had been sublet to one Marsh, 'an ancient tenant'. The estate was leased for lives in 1638 to Edward Roberts but Ralph Marsh, who in 1649 bought Brondesbury from
184-430: A career as a merchant. However, Repton was befriended by a wealthy Dutch family and the trip may have done more to stimulate his interest in 'polite' pursuits such as sketching and gardening. Returning to Norwich, Repton was apprenticed to a textile merchant, then, after marriage to Mary Clarke in 1773, set up in the business himself. He was not successful, and when his parents died in 1778 used his modest legacy to move to
230-950: A chapelry in Willesden parish, Middlesex; formed in 1866. Pop. , 400. Living , a rectory. Christ Church, Willesden Lane, Brondesbury. Dist[rict] formed 1867 from St. Mary's under Dr. Charles W. Williams (d. 1889) and financed by his sisters. Declared a rectory...1868. Williams, patron and first rector, succeeded by son, Charles D. Williams 1889-1913. Patronage sold to parish c. 1930 and transferred to Lord Chancellor c. 1957. United with St. Lawrence's 1971. One asst. curate by 1896, two by 1926. High Church. Attendance 1903: 300 a.m.; 447 p.m [Sundays]. Limestone...in 13th century style by C. R. B. King: chancel, north tower and spire, nave, N. aisle, N. transept, and NW. porch 1866, S. aisle and S. transept 1899, choir vestry 1909. Damaged by land mine 1940, restored 1948. Missions: St. Lawrence ( q.v. ); Poplars Ave. c. 1918; Avenue Close 1903-39. The Catholic church has
276-425: A moderate position. His first paid commission was Catton Park , to the north of Norwich, in 1788. That Repton, with no real experience of practical horticulture, became an overnight success, is a tribute to his undeniable talent, but also to the unique way he presented his work. To help clients visualise his designs, Repton produced 'Red Books' (so called for their binding) with explanatory text and watercolours with
322-577: A perfect cricket pitch called 'home lawn' in front of the west wing, and a bowling green lawn between the gatehouse and the house. Success at Woburn earned him a further commission from the Duke of Bedford . He designed the central gardens in Russell Square , the centrepiece of the Bloomsbury development. The gardens were restored with the additional help of archaeological investigation and archive photographs, to
368-418: A professional, Repton had to produce practical and useful designs for his clients. Paradoxically, however, as his career progressed Repton drew more and more on picturesque ideas. One major criticism of Brown's landscapes was the lack of a formal setting for the house, with rolling lawns sweeping right up to the front door. Repton re-introduced formal terraces, balustrades, trellis work and flower gardens around
414-599: A small country estate at Sustead , near Cromer in Norfolk. Repton tried his hand as a journalist, dramatist, artist, political agent, and as confidential secretary to his neighbour William Windham of Felbrigg Hall during Windham's very brief stint as Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland . Repton also joined John Palmer in a venture to reform the mail-coach system, but while the scheme ultimately made Palmer's fortune, Repton again lost money. Repton's childhood friend
460-477: A specially empowered division of the large parish of Willesden as one of its eight prebends . The manor house is long-demolished. Landscape designer Humphry Repton transformed the focal 10 acres (4.0 ha) of Brondesbury Park, a varying demense but in most years 54 acres (22 ha) in the 18th and 19th century, when he designed the garden. The house had been bought by his client Lady (Sarah) Salusbury's in 1789. Repton produced one of his famous 'Red Books' for
506-520: A suburban layout and most of the associated original wave of house building. It has long had British, Irish, Jewish, black and South Asian communities. Brondesbury was once the location of residence for Black civil rights leader Billy Strachan and his family, who wrote for local newspapers gave weekly political speeches in the area. Brondesbury has two railway stations served by London Overground 's North London Line between Richmond , Highbury & Islington and Stratford . Kilburn tube station on
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#1732852853422552-509: A system of overlays to show 'before' and 'after' views. In this he differed from Capability Brown, who worked almost exclusively with plans and rarely illustrated or wrote about his work. Repton's overlays were soon copied by the Philadelphian Bernard M'Mahon in his 1806 American Gardener's Calendar . To understand what was unique about Repton it is useful to examine how he differed from Brown in more detail. Brown worked for many of
598-434: Is a suburb and electoral ward of the London Borough of Brent . It is the part of Brondesbury which is not interwoven with Kilburn due to the naming of a major tube station ( Kilburn ) and is 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 Tiverton Green. Brondesbury Park is an alternate name for its manor ,
644-513: Is the mother of the oak" has become a tenet of rewilding , where thorny plants are used to protect young native saplings from overbrowsing by rabbits and deer. Repton published three major books on garden design: Sketches and Hints on Landscape Gardening (1795), Observations on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening (1803), and Fragments on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening (1816). These drew on material and techniques used in
690-504: The 2022 council election the two elected councillors are from the Labour Party , Erica Gbajumo and Ryan Hack. Since the 2024 general election , the ward has formed part of the re-established seat of Brent East . Humphry Repton Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) was the last great designer of the classic phase of the English landscape garden , often regarded as
736-582: The Black Country . A record of the project and the resources developed to make garden history more publicly accessible were published in 2020. Historic England have added Humphry Repton's landscapes to their interactive map of aerial photography of Designed Landscapes and commissioned Hardy Plants and Plantings for Repton and Late Georgian Gardens (1780–1820) which draws on research carried out on plants and planting schemes for late Georgian gardens (1780–1820) and conservation projects, intended to provide
782-593: The Jubilee line is about 200 m north from Brondesbury station on Kilburn High Road. Half of the area is Brondesbury Park ward, details of which are below: Narrowly, most of the other half forms the north of Kilburn electoral ward, equivalent details of which are below: Currently as the electoral wards are drawn about 20% of the area is in Queens Park ward. Its relevant statistics are as follows: Willesden parish, which included Durand's estate at Twyford and Harlesden manor,
828-465: The originally Roman A5 road (the borough's eastern boundary) sometimes leads to addresses on the eastern, Camden , side of the road to also be informally described as part of Brondesbury. It was a rural area until several decades after the coming of the railway in the Victorian era. Housing began to be built in earnest across Brondesbury in the late 1860s to 1890s and it became desirable enough to retain
874-440: The 'picturesque controversy'. In 1794 Richard Payne Knight and Uvedale Price simultaneously published vicious attacks on the 'meagre genius of the bare and bald', criticising his smooth, serpentine curves as bland and unnatural and championing rugged and intricate designs, composed according to 'picturesque' principles of landscape painting. Repton's defence of Brown rested partly on the impracticality of many picturesque ideas; as
920-617: The Church of the Transfiguration where the district traditionally is considered Kensal Rise . A late 20th century addition is the Christ Apostolic Church (Mount Joy) which is an Aladura church, the major family of churches in western Nigeria. Giles, Giles & Fripp, the forerunner to the band King Crimson , at its most successful in 1969–1974, named an album The Brondesbury Tapes . Brondesbury Park Brondesbury Park
966-693: The Red Books. Several lesser works were also published, including a posthumous collection edited by John Claudius Loudon , despite having severely criticised his approach to gardens. His published titles were: Repton contributed to the Transactions of the Linnean Society, xi. 27, a paper "On the supposed Effect of Ivy upon Trees." Repton produced designs for the grounds of many of the foremost country houses in England, Scotland and Wales: The Gardens Trust
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#17328528534221012-469: The east end. In 1789 Humphry Repton landscaped roughly 10-acre (4.0 ha) of demesne grounds and William Wilkins supplied drawings for a Gothic seat. In his 'Red Book' Repton commented favourably on the hilltop site and enhanced the view towards London. The house and 23 acres, increased by 1834 to 53 acres, was occupied by Sir Coutts Trotter, Bt. (1804–36), Lady Trotter (1836–40), Lady (Elizabeth) Salusbury (1840-3), and Charles Hambro (1843-9). The house
1058-477: The exposure, while Repton received a commission on building work. Around 1800, however, the two fell out, probably over Nash's refusal to credit the work of Repton's architect son John Adey Repton . Thereafter John Adey and Repton's younger son George Stanley Repton often worked with their father, although George continued to work in Nash's office as well. It must have been particularly painful for Repton when Nash secured
1104-588: The first person to describe himself (on his business card) as a landscape gardener . Repton was born in Bury St Edmunds , the son of a collector of excise , John Repton, and Martha ( née Fitch of Moor Hall,Stoke by Clare, Suffolk). In 1762, his father set up a transport business in Norwich , where Humphry attended Norwich Grammar School . At age twelve, he was sent to the Netherlands to learn Dutch and prepare for
1150-516: The house in a way that became common practice in the nineteenth century. He also designed one of the most famous 'picturesque' landscapes in Britain at Blaise Castle , near Bristol. At Woburn Abbey , Repton foreshadowed another nineteenth-century development, creating themed garden areas including a Chinese garden, American garden, arboretum and forcing garden. At Stoneleigh Abbey in 1808, Repton foreshadowed another nineteenth-century development, creating
1196-526: The house. Repton often called the areas he landscaped 'parks', and so it is to Repton that Wembley Park owes its name. The original site that Repton so transformed was later built on in the construction of the short-lived Watkin's Tower , intended to be taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The area landscaped by Repton was larger than the current Wembley Park . It included the southern slopes of Barn Hill to
1242-521: The idea of combining his sketching skills with his limited experience of laying out grounds at Sustead to become a 'landscape gardener' (a term he himself coined). Since the death of Capability Brown in 1783, no one figure dominated English garden design; Repton was ambitious to fill this gap and sent circulars round his contacts in the upper classes advertising his services. He was at first an avid defender of Brown's views, contrasted with those of Richard Payne Knight and Uvedale Price , but later adopted
1288-459: The manor house, which has been republished, along with his Red Book for Glemham Hall in Suffolk . Repton planned a garden with views across London, but Lady Salusbury wanted shade rather than sweeping views. The grounds of Lady Salusbury's house only amounted to 10 acres (4.0 ha). Repton found very few trees, so had planted hundreds of mature trees and shrubs. Lady Salusbury was so delighted with
1334-436: The north, where Repton planted trees and started building a 'prospect house' – a Gothic tower offering a view over the parkland. Repton may also have designed the thatched lodge that survives on Wembley Hill Road, to the west of Wembley Park. It is in the cottage orné style frequently used by Repton. Regrettably, Repton's Red Book for Wembley Park, which would give a definitive answer, has not survived. Capability Brown
1380-404: The original plans and are now listed as Grade II by Historic England . The square was to be a flagship commission for Repton and was only one of three within the central London. Buildings played an important part in many of Repton's landscapes. In the 1790s he often worked with the relatively unknown architect John Nash , whose loose compositions suited Repton's style. Nash benefited greatly from
1426-523: The park with a continuous perimeter belt, Repton cut vistas through to 'borrowed' items such as church towers, making them seem part of the designed landscape (coincidentally a concept common in East Asian gardening). He contrived approach drives and lodges to enhance impressions of size and importance, and even introduced monogrammed milestones on the roads around some estates, for which he was satirised by Thomas Love Peacock as 'Marmaduke Milestone, esquire,
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1472-450: The parliamentary commissioners, seems to have occupied the land. Thomas and Ralph Marsh were described as "of Brands" in 1679 and 1694 respectively. Ralph Marsh (d. 1709) in 1708 received a lease for lives. The estate was heavily mortgaged by the Marshes from 1725 and in 1749 Ralph Marsh sold the lease to John Stace, who obtained a new lease in 1757. Stace sold the lease in 1765 to Joseph Gibson,
1518-587: The prestigious work to remodel the Royal Pavilion at Brighton for the Prince Regent , for which Repton himself submitted innovative proposals in an Indian style. On 29 November 1811 Repton suffered a serious carriage accident which often left him needing to use a wheelchair for mobility. He died at age 65 in 1818 and is buried in the graveyard of the Church of St Michael, Aylsham , Norfolk . Three roads close to
1564-482: The successor to Capability Brown . His style is thought of as the precursor of the more intricate and eclectic styles of the 19th century. His first name is often incorrectly spelt "Humphrey". Unlike Brown and other famous predecessors, he only worked as a designer, not the contractor for executing his designs, and therefore made much less money. Many of his famous sketches with folding sections survive; these gave "before and after" views for his clients. He appears to be
1610-428: The undertenant, who obtained a new lease in 1769 and whose widow and son tried to sell the estate in 1778. In 1788 Lady (Sarah) Salusbury purchased the leasehold, and in 1799 she obtained a new lease for lives. Brondesbury thereafter passed through the same ownership as Bounds, Lady Salusbury obtaining possession (all other competing leases rendered inferior) in 1842. A moated house as the manor house existed by 1538. It
1656-582: The vicinity of his cottage at Hare Street (now renamed Main Road) in the Gidea Park area of Romford were named after him; Repton Avenue, Repton Gardens and Repton Drive, respectively. A plaque was unveiled on the former site of his cottage on 19 April 1969. The cottage was long since demolished and a branch of Lloyds TSB is situated on the junction of Hare Street and Balgores Lane. In addition to his innovations in landscape architecture, Repton's 1803 quote "the thorn
1702-497: The wealthiest aristocrats in Britain, carving huge landscape parks out of old formal gardens and agricultural land. While Repton worked for equally important clients, such as the Dukes of Bedford and Portland , he was usually fine-tuning earlier work, often that of Brown himself. Where Repton got the chance to lay out grounds from scratch it was generally on a much more modest scale. On these smaller estates, where Brown would have surrounded
1748-411: The work that she gave Repton a bonus of £50. Some street names allude to the inclosed private park (garden) dominating the north of the area and notable manorial owners. The street named Brondesbury Park leads into Salusbury Road. Repton also worked on Wembley Park including what became Wembley Stadium today in the same borough. The ward returns two councillors to sit on Brent Council . After
1794-495: Was a large-scale contractor, who not only designed, but also arranged the realisation of his work. By contrast, Repton acted as a consultant, charging for his Red Books and sometimes staking out the ground, but leaving his client to arrange the actual execution. Thus many of Repton's 400 or so designs remained wholly or partially unexecuted and, while Brown became very wealthy, Repton's income was never more than comfortable. Early in his career, Repton defended Brown's reputation during
1840-570: Was awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund grant to run a ‘Sharing Repton’ project in 2018–19, working with volunteers to deliver five projects aimed at including participation from local communities, based around five Repton sites across the country. The project took place at Kenwood , London, with London Parks and Gardens Trust and English Heritage ; Wicksteed Park , Kettering , with Northamptonshire Gardens Trust; Catton Park , with Norfolk Gardens Trust and Broadland District Council ; Blaise Castle , Bristol, with Avon Gardens Trust, and Warley Woods in
1886-428: Was described in 1649, probably with the remnants of the moat, and was depicted in 1749 as a large, apparently L-shaped building with a central cupola. It appears to have been rebuilt in the third quarter of the 18th century and by the time of Lady (Sarah) Salusbury was a three-storeyed villa with a central canted entrance bay rising the full height of the north front. A lower wing, presumably an addition, ran southward from
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1932-536: Was divided between eight variable, ecclesiastical prebends: East Twyford in the south-west, Neasden in the north-west, Oxgate in the northeast, Harlesden in the centre and south, and Chambers, Brondesbury, Bounds, and Mapesbury in the east. The manor Brondesbury, Brands or Broomsbury almost certainly derived its name from Brand (seen in documents of about 1192 and 1215), sometimes confused with Brownswood in Hornsey of Roger Brun listed as prebendary of Brondesbury. The estate
1978-476: Was extended westward and a semicircular bay was added to the south front in the early 19th century. By 1849 the demesne fell to 27 acres and the house, described in 1816 as being commodious yet having 'no regularity of architectural character' and in 1822 as an 'elegant seat', three-storeyed. It continued as a gentleman's residence under Mrs. Howard (1850-3), Henry Vallence (1853-6), Mrs. Geach (1856–61), John Coverdale (1862-7), and Thomas Brandon (1867–76), and in 1877
2024-692: Was held by the prebendaries until it was vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1840 under the Act of that year. In 1649 the parliamentary commissioners sold it to Ralph Marsh but it reverted at the Restoration (1660). The leasehold interest of Brondesbury was bought with what remained too of Bounds manor in 1856 and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners retained the freehold until the 1950s and 1960s. Forty-year leases were made of Brondesbury to William Peter, gentleman of London, in 1538 and to Thomas Young,
2070-479: Was offered for sale with 52 acres. After remaining empty it was leased as a school, to Margaret Clark (1882–98) and Lucy Soulsby (1898-1915). In 1891 the school added a classroom and dormitory block on the east and later a chapel beyond that. The house continued as a school until 1934 when, described as 'shabby-looking', it was bought by C. W. B. Simmonds, a builder, and was pulled down to make way for Manor Drive. The Imperial Gazetteer of 1870-72 reads: Brondesbury,
2116-461: Was the botanist James Edward Smith , who encouraged him to study botany and gardening; Smith reproduces a long letter from Repton in his Letter and Correspondence . He was given access to the library of Windham to read its works on botany. His capital dwindling, Repton moved to a modest cottage at Hare Street near Romford in Essex. In 1788, aged 36 and with four children and no secure income, he hit on
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