The philanthropist, William Austin, built the estate of which Enbrook Street forms a part. Austin had turned to philanthropy after giving up drink at the age of 47 and, reflecting his temperance views, the estate had no pub.

It did have other amenities including shops, churches, schools, a community hall and a library, and baths and washhouses in nearby Kensal Town. In 1882, ex-pupils of one of the schools- on the corner of Enbrook Street and Third Avenue - started a football club which eventually grew into the modern day Queen’s Park Rangers.

One amenity not provided, although mentioned in the initial prospectus, was an open space for recreation. When Farrant Street, parallel with Enbrook Street, was demolished in the 1970s, residents finally got their little oasis of greenery - a century after it was promised.

Initially there were four classes of houses on the estate, with weekly rents raging from 7/6d to 11 shillings - that’s 37.5p-55p in today’s money - with a turret or a bay window costing 6d a week extra. These were set at a level designed to attract the steadier workman in regular employment likely to conform to the estate’s relatively strict set of rules. As a result of this policy, the status of the estate was much higher than surrounding areas. Only on fifth of the Queen’s Park’s inhabitants lived in poverty, for example, compared to 55% across the water in Kensal Town. This state of affairs continued well into the inter-war period.


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