Roe Green Park
Encyclopedia
Roe Green Park is a park in the London Borough of Brent
London Borough of Brent
In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough had a total population of 2,022. This rose slowly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 5,646 in the middle of the century. When the railways arrived the rate of population growth increased...

, northwest London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Its name may come from the Roe Deer
Roe Deer
The European Roe Deer , also known as the Western Roe Deer, chevreuil or just Roe Deer, is a Eurasian species of deer. It is relatively small, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapted to cold environments. Roe Deer are widespread in Western Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, and from...

 that used to roam the area until the Medieval period at Roe Green House, on the site now occupied by Roe Green Village. The Barn Hill Conservation Group maintain the Roe Green walled garden that is within the park. Roe Green Village was built between 1918 and 1920, using Prussian/German
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

 prisoners of war as cheap labour after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. The park was incorporated and thus taken under council control between 1935 and 1938.

History

This now much used park in Kingsbury
Kingsbury
Kingsbury is an area in the London Borough of Brent, northwest London. The name Kingsbury means "The King's Manor".-History:Kingsbury was historically a small parish in the Hundred of Gore and county of Middlesex. Until the nineteenth century it was largely rural with only scattered settlements....

 came about because of the rapid growth of suburban housing in this part of the district in the early 1930s. In 1933 the local Council identified a 5 acres (20,234.3 m²) site on the north side of Kingsbury Road for a park, but this was subject to plans for housing (Manor Close) by the developer, George Cloke . He had moved into Kingsbury Manor in 1929, and bought most of the land of Valley Farm the following year. Under pressure from the local Ratepayers' Association, the Council negotiated with Mr Cloke to purchase some of his other land for a park, and in March 1935 two fields on the south side of Bacon Lane (about 21 acres) were bought for about £27,000, with Middlesex County Council
Middlesex County Council
Middlesex County Council was the principal local government body in the administrative county of Middlesex from 1889 to 1965.The county council was created by the Local Government Act 1888, which also removed the most populous part of the county to constitute the County of London...

 contributing 25% of the money. As the entrance to this new park was from Roe Green, it was given the name "Roe Green Park".

While the purchase was going through, Wembley Urban District Council decided to use part of the park fronting Kingsbury Road as the site for an open air swimming pool. In 1936 and 1937 Roe Green Park was used as the venue for a week long Carnival and Fete to raise money for Wembley Hospital (which was run by a charity in these days before the National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...

) and also for brass band concerts on summer Sunday evenings, but these events were transferred to Silver Jubilee Park when work started on building Kingsbury Swimming Pool in 1938. The Olympic-sized pool opened in May 1939.

After buying the two fields, the Council wanted to acquire further land, to make the park more accessible from the main shopping centre and Kingsbury Station. After three years of negotiations, they bought the 5 acres (20,234.3 m²) Westcroft field for £13,750 from another local developer, Henry Higinbotham, in 1938. In the same year, Kingsbury Manor and its 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) grounds were purchased from George Cloke. This was a joint purchase with Middlesex County Council, who wanted to used the large, secluded house as a Maternity Hostel for unmarried mothers.

The land for the park as it now exists had been acquired, but soon the outbreak of the Second World War meant that all of the park was ploughed up to provide allotments where local people could grow vegetables and fruit. After the war, twenty "pre-fab" bungalows were built along the Kingsbury Road edge of the park between the swimming pool and the Kingsbury Manor lodge, as emergency housing for families, and it was only around 1960 that local residents could enjoy the use of all of the park again .

John Logie Baird

John Logie Baird
John Logie Baird
John Logie Baird FRSE was a Scottish engineer and inventor of the world's first practical, publicly demonstrated television system, and also the world's first fully electronic colour television tube...

, the television pioneer, leased the former stables and coach house at Kingsbury Manor in 1928. He employed H. Barton-Chapple to take charge of his experiments there, which included designing and building prototype TV receivers. In May 1929, two 25 metre high masts were erected, and the first international moving picture transmissions, from Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, were received here. The following year, the first combined sound and vision signals were received . For many years afterwards the former stables were known as Kingsbury Manor Studio, and are now the home of Kingsbury Veterans' Club. The masts were taken down at the start of the Second World War, as they would have been a landmark for German bombers, but the concrete base of one of the masts can still be seen in Roe Green Park. A plaque to commemorate Baird's work here was unveiled next to this by Wembley History Society in the 1950s, which was moved to the Veterans' Club after damage by vandals .

Homicide

The park was in the news headlines in February 2002 when the fire-blistered body of an 18-year-old Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

n man was found there. A year later, four other Sri Lankans — including ring-leader Senthamil Thillainathan — were found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment
Imprisonment
Imprisonment is a legal term.The book Termes de la Ley contains the following definition:This passage was approved by Atkin and Duke LJJ in Meering v Grahame White Aviation Co....

. They had also murdered another man in an axe attack in nearby Wembley
Wembley
Wembley is an area of northwest London, England, and part of the London Borough of Brent. It is home to the famous Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena...

eight months earlier.

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