Dollis Hill

Coordinates: 51°33′51″N 0°14′03″W / 51.5641°N 0.2341°W / 51.5641; -0.2341

Dollis Hill
Dollis Hill  Dollis Hill shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ225865
London borough	Brent
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	NW2
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
EU Parliament	London
UK Parliament	Brent East
London Assembly	Brent and Harrow
List of places: UK • England • London

Dollis Hill is an area of north-west London. It lies close to Willesden, in the London Borough of Brent. As a result, Dollis Hill is sometimes referred as being part of Willesden, especially by the national press. Dollis Hill consists of the streets surrounding Gladstone Park, formerly the estate belonging to Dollis Hill House.

History

Crossing the Dudding Hill Line in late Victorian times, near the eastern end of Dudding Hill station, and at the western end of Gladstone Park

Burnley Road c. 1905

Burnley Road c. 1915 with Zeppelin flying overhead

Shops at top of Burnley Road c. 1910

The Dollis Hill Estate was formed in the early 19th century, when the Finch family bought up a number of farms in the area to form a single estate. Dollis Hill House itself was built in the 1820s.

The first railway in the area was the Dudding Hill Line, opened in 1875 by the Midland Railway to connect its Midland Main Line and Cricklewood goods yard in the east to other lines to the south-west. The Dudding Hill station on the line closed for passengers in 1902, but the line still carried freight.

Dollis Hill tube station opened on 1 October 1909 as part of the second railway in the area, the Metropolitan Line, now transferred to the Jubilee Line.

In World War I the tank design team responsible for the new Anglo-American or Liberty tank, Mark VIII was located here.

The code-breaking Colossus computer, used at Bletchley Park during the Second World War, was built at the Post Office Research Station in Dollis Hill by a team led by Tommy Flowers. The station was relocated to Martlesham Heath at the end of the 1970s. The Post Office Research Station building has now been converted into 62 flats and is now known as 'Chartwell Court'.

The Alternative War Rooms code named Paddock is located at the Post Office Research Station.

Famous residents

William Ewart Gladstone, the UK Prime Minister, was a frequent visitor to Dollis Hill House in the late 19th century. The year after his death, 1899, Willesden Council acquired much of the Dollis Hill Estate for use as a public park, which was named Gladstone Park.^[1]

Mark Twain stayed in Dollis Hill House in the summer of 1900. He wrote that "Dollis Hill comes nearer to being a paradise than any other home I ever occupied."^{[citation needed]}

Fictional references

The fictional Dollis Hill Football Club features occasionally in the British satirical magazine Private Eye as arch-rivals to Neasden Football Club, with on at least one occasion the fictional Dollis Hill South council ward used in the irregular Those Election Results In Full mock section.^{[clarification needed][citation needed]}

References

1. ^ Brent Arts Council are staging a play in Gladstone Park in July 2009 to mark the 200th anniversary of Gladstone's birth.