Wembley

Wembley
An aerial view of Wembley, showing part of High Road, the industrial estate, Wembley Arena and Wembley Stadium
Wembley is located in Greater London
Wembley
Wembley
Location within Greater London
Population102,856 (2011 Census[1]
OS grid referenceTQ175855
London borough
Ceremonial countyGreater London
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townWEMBLEY
Postcode districtHA0, HA9
Dialling code020
PoliceMetropolitan
FireLondon
AmbulanceLondon
UK Parliament
London Assembly
List of places
UK
England
London
51°33′10″N 0°17′52″W / 51.5528°N 0.2979°W / 51.5528; -0.2979

Wembley (/ˈwɛmbli/) is a large suburb[note 1] in the London Borough of Brent, north-west London, 8 miles (13 km) northwest of Charing Cross. It includes the neighbourhoods of Alperton, North Wembley, Preston, Sudbury, Tokyngton and Wembley Park. The population was 102,856 in 2011.[2]

Wembley was for over 800 years part of the parish of Harrow on the Hill in Middlesex. Its heart, Wembley Green, was surrounded by agricultural manors and their hamlets. The small, narrow, Wembley High Street is a conservation area. The railways of the London & Birmingham Railway reached Wembley in the mid-19th century, when the place gained its first church. Slightly south-west of the old core, the main station was originally called Sudbury, but today is known as Wembley Central. By the 1920s, the nearby long High Road hosted a wide array of shops and Wembley was a large suburb of London. Wembley then, within three decades, became an integral outer district of London, in density and contiguity. Wembley formed a separate civil parish from 1894, incorporated as a municipal borough of Middlesex in 1937. In 1965, when local government in London was reformed, the area merged with the Municipal Borough of Willesden, which was separated by the River Brent, to create the London Borough of Brent, one of the 32 local government districts of Greater London.

The estate of Wembley Park was largely pleasure grounds when the Metropolitan Railway reached this part in 1894. It was chosen to host the British Empire Exhibition in 1924, resulting in the development of landmarks including the Empire Stadium, later known as Wembley Stadium, which became an iconic football stadium.[3] Suburban protection of public parkland and low-to-mid building density of all but high-rise western Wembley Park means most of Wembley is integral to and archetypal of the once well-advertised – mainly Middlesex – Metroland. After years of debate, the 1923 stadium was replaced by a modernised stadium with a grand, skyline arch which opened in 2007;[3] it is home to the England national football team, hosts latter and/or final stages of annual competitions such as the FA Cup and has the greatest capacity nationwide. In the early 21st century the London Designer Outlet pedestrianised plaza was built.

  1. ^ Wembley is made up of 7 wards in the London Borough of Brent: Alperton, Barnhill, Northwick Park, Kenton, Preston, Sudbury, Tokyngton, and Wembley Central. "2011 Census Ward Population Estimates | London DataStore". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  2. ^ "2011 Census Ward Population Estimates | London DataStore". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  3. ^ a b Architecture, Failed (20 December 2019). "How the British buried their Imperial History along with Wembley Stadium".


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