Burnt Oak is a suburb of London, England, located 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Charing Cross.

The earliest recorded use of the name Burnt Oak was in 1754,[2] when it was used to refer to a field on the eastern side of Edgware Road (Watling Street) in the Ancient Parish of Hendon.

The name originates from the fact that the field had contained an ancient oak tree some time before the 1750s, having been burned by a lightning strike.

A known custom from the area from the early 19th century had been established by hay farmers, who would assemble at the Bald Faced Stag pub and lead a procession to London.

The area was largely rural, having few buildings except for pubs such as the Bald Faced Stag, Royal Oak, Prince of Wales, and Load of Hay, which catered to travellers.

[3] The estate offered three main styles of houses, made of brick, wood, and steel, as well as newly constructed flats.

Most of the residents who migrated to Burnt Oak when the area became urbanised in the 1920s came from the overcrowded working-class districts of Islington and St Pancras.

[2] This led to discontent among some long-time residents, who accused the working class of pick-pocketing and possible Communist sentiments, giving the area the nickname "Little Moscow".

The area was once the site of the Stag Lane Aerodrome, where pioneering pilot Amy Johnson had learned to fly.

Stag Lane was also the site of the de Havilland aircraft works, which employed a significant number of residents in the area.

[10] The Watling Market, consisting of a hundred covered shops and stalls, opened in December 1960 but ceased trading around 2014.

In 2018, a stairwell previously used to access the marketplace was closed to the public, along with another on the opposite side which led to the derelict electrical substation.

[11] On 9 February 1948, an Avro Anson C Mk 19 TX168 crashed when attempting to land at RAF Hendon with only one engine, as part of a crew training exercise.

The census showed that 43% (9,401) of the population were White, 25.7% (5,616) were Asian, 16.5% (3,611) were Black, 2.8% (608) were Arab, 6.1% (1,326) were of mixed race/multiple backgrounds, and 5.9% (1,294) belonged to other ethnic groups.

The large size of the Romanian diaspora and its concentration in the area has earned Burnt Oak the nickname "Little Romania", or "Little Bucharest".

[16][17] Earlier, in the 1930s, the area was known by some as "Little Moscow" due to rising fears of revolutionary sentiments among working-class people who arrived to settle the Watling Estate.

London Buses routes 32, 142, 204, 251, 292, 302 all meet at the junction of Watling Avenue, Stag Lane and Burnt Oak Broadway.