WILLESDEN, an urban district of Middlesex, England, and suburb of London, lying immediately outside the boundary of the county of London (boroughs of Hammersmith and Kensington). Pop. (1931) 184,410. At Domesday the manor of Willesden and Harlesden was held by the canons of St. Paul's. In the 12th cen tury it was formed into eight manors. A shrine or image of St.
Mary (Our Lady of Willesden) was in the 15th century an object of pilgrimage, but by the middle of the following century the ceremonies had fallen into abuse, and the shrine was suppressed.
Remains of Norman building have been discovered in the church of St. Mary. There are considerable railway works attached to Willesden Junction (L.M.S. railway).