Kenton

Kenton hamlet was first recorded as ’Keninton’ in 1232 with the name deriving from the personal name of the Saxon ’Coena’ and the Old English ’tun’ (a farm).

The Plough public house was the first in Kenton, opening in the early 18th century – the current building is not the original. The nearby ’Windermere’ pub, built in 1938, is Grade II listed and situated in Windermere Avenue.

Before the 20th century, the settlement was concentrated around in what was Kenton Lane (the easternmost part of which remains as Old Kenton Lane) and is now part of the present day Woodgrange Avenue and Kenton Road.

Kenton station was opened by the London and North Western Railway on 15 June 1912. The Metropolitan Railway’s nearby Northwick Park and Kenton station (later renamed Northwick Park) followed on 28 June 1923.

Kenton’s centre moved towards the Wealdstone direction after the opening of Kenton station – Kenton had grown into a suburb by the 1920s.

Thomas Francis Nash owned building companies built numerous private housing estates in Kenton. F & C Costin was another local building company that built much of Kenton between the wars. Local estate agents still use the term ’Nash-built’ or ’Costin-built’ to describe properties built by them in Kenton. Also active in building was the London County Council which built the Kenmore Park cottage estate between the wars.




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