In the 19th century, Harlesden, then a rural village, began to develop some of its urban appearance with the arrival of the railways. Willesden Junction, Kensal Green and Harlesden stations all had an effect on the developing village. Cottages for railway and industrial workers were built, as was grander housing for the local middle class. Harlesden increasingly lost its rural nature, with factories replacing farms and woodland. From late Victorian times until the 1930s, housing completed its spread across the area, and Harlesden became part of the London conurbation. Mainly after World War I, one of Europe's biggest industrial estates was constructed at nearby Park Royal, and large factories there included McVitie & Price from 1910, and Heinz from 1919. At 6am, January 16 1939, the Irish Republican Army blew up the Harlesden electricity cable bridge. The bridge crossed the Grand Junction Canal, and carried the power line from Battersea Power Station. No one was injured in the attack. The wedding cake for the Queen and Prince Philip, who were married in 1947, was baked at McVitie's Factory in Harlesden. The image of Harlesden today began to take shape in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Continued immigration from Ireland and new immigration from the Caribbean, the Indian sub-continent and Africa changed the racial and cultural make up of the area. More recently the area has become home to Brazilian and Portuguese communities. In 2011, 71.4% of homes were apartments across the ward, 15.8% of homes were terraced houses, 8.6% semi-detached houses and 4% detached houses; with 0.1% of the homes mobile or temporary structures. Most of the terraces are pre-1920s and the flats converted from them. Many of the flats date to after 2000. Non-mixed use terraces and private sector built apartments are the main housing types that attract high prices from private sector owner-occupiers unable to afford similar properties in nearby Kensal Green and Queen's Park. Starting in 1999, Harlesden and the nearby Stonebridge estate, witnessed a high number of murders and became a crime hotspot, because of several rival yardie gangs. During this time Harlesden turned into one of London's main crack cocaine trading centres, and one of the yardies' strongholds. By 2001 the area had the highest murder rate in Britain. There were 26 shooting incidents that year alone. Crime rates were significantly reduced in the late 2000s. During the nationwide riots of 2011, some shops in Harlesden were attacked by looters.
Demography
The 2011 census results for Harlesden ward counted a population of 17,162. Harlesden is ethnically diverse. 67% of the population identified themselves as being BAME at the 2011 census in the Harlesden ward. Ethnically, 19% of the population was Black Caribbean, followed by 19% Black African, 15% Other White, and 14% White British. The main spoken foreign languages were Portuguese and Somali.
