It was one of twelve London County Council cottage estates built between the wars to provide "homes fit for heroes".

[1] In the 1850s, Burnt Oak referred to no more than a field on the eastern side of the Edgware Road (Watling Street).

The area was generally known as Red Hill until the opening of Burnt Oak tube station on the Northern line of the London Underground on 27 October 1924.

In September 1931 Jack Cohen opened his first Tesco store at 54 Watling Avenue, Burnt Oak.

[1] The First World War indirectly provided a new impetus, when the poor physical health and condition of many urban recruits to the army was noted with alarm.

Thus LCC was actively looking for suitable land when the Northern line was extended in 1934, opening up a new transport corridor.

LCC quickly purchased 387 acres (157 ha) of farmland adjacent to the new Burnt Oak tube station.

The report recommended housing in short terraces, spaced at 70 feet (21 m) at a density of 12 to the acre: and this defined the Watling Estate.