At a much later point, as in the twelfth century, Kilburn became the site of an Augustinian Priory where a community of canonesses (no, spellcheck, I was not trying to write Cantonese’s, whatever that might be) who provided accommodation for travellers. This was located by a well, and Kilburn Wells became known for its waters and by the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries became a popular recreational area within walking distance of London proper, the priory having long ago fallen victim to Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries.
Also in the 18th and 19th centuries noted for boxing matches - no rounds and could last two hours until the final knockout. And duels, still legal at that time, including, apparently, one on July 2, 1792 involving Benedict Arnold. Arnold missed and his opponent refused to fire back so no great drama.
Kilburn has always sounded Irish, and there are Kilburns in Ireland but that’s not the origin of the name of the London Kilburn. The “burn” part, historians agree, means stream - and refers to a stream now non-existent - or more accurately now underground. A term still in common use in Scotland. “Kil” is less clear, but possibly refers to cattle.
Not that there have not been - and still are - Irish in Kilburn. “ For years, this corner of northwest London…was known as the 33rd county of Ireland, such was the size of its Irish community. At one point in the 1950s and ’60s, it felt like “17 out of every 18 people” in the area were Irish, as one Irish Times article put it. To this day, it still has the largest Irish community in London.” [Andrew Kersley, The Londoner, April 19/25]
They came as laborers and developed a close-knit community. There were Irish churches and pubs and butchers and newsagents. And there was music. Not only Irish but, in the seventies, The Who, Black Sabbath, David Bowie. One man remembers seeing the Pogues in pubs with only fifty or sixty people in them.
But as with many immigrant communities many of the younger generation have moved on and there are now large numbers of Asian, Turkish and Arab people. Though still, it seems, at least three Irish pubs and a newsagent’s carrying several Irish newspapers - and somebody must be reading them.
So today we follow Kilburn High Road down to the Old Bell. There’s been a pub by that name on this spot for centuries. Pretty close to the location of the original Kilburn well. This iteration dates from 1863 as its predecessor was demolished and rebuilt. We have had a pint here in the past - long before we knew its history - but don’t today. We have, appropriately, Guinness waiting at home. And across the road (Belsize Avenue) was once the rest of the priory grounds and the well itself. Now the location of a Franca Manca pizza restaurant it does have a stone plaque identifying it as the site of Kilburn Wells.
HSBC acct notices mine only
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