The north western end of Abbey Road begins in Kilburn, at the junction with Quex Road and West End Lane. The road was once a track leading to Kilburn Priory and its associated Abbey Farm, and was developed in the beginning of the 19th century. It continues south east for roughly a mile, crossing Belsize Road, Boundary Road, and Marlborough Place, ending at the junction of Grove End Road and Garden Road.
History
The Abbey National Building Society was founded in 1874 as The Abbey Road & St John's Wood Permanent Benefit Building Society in a Baptist church on Abbey Road. '', features the Beatles walking across the northwestern zebra crossing on the intersection of Abbey Road and Grove End Road. EMI's Abbey Road Studios is located at the south eastern end, at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood. The Beatles, Brockhampton and many other famous popular music performers have recorded at this studio, and the Beatles named their last studio LP after this street. The album's cover photograph shows the four group members walking across the zebra crossing just outside the studio entrance. As a result of its association with the Beatles, since 1969, this part of Abbey Road has been featured on the London tourism circuit. The crossing was given status of Grade II Listed Building by English Heritage in December 2010. The zebra crossing featured on the Beatles cover has become a popular photo opportunity area, despite the road still being the busy thoroughfare for traffic. There have been some ungrounded stories about the zebra crossing having been shifted from its original location, but these are ungrounded myths based on the storm water drain located on the north eastern corner of the crossing which has been there since the establishment of the sewer system in the city of Westminster. The album cover of the Beatles has been parodied many times over the years. The street sign on the corner of Grove End Road and Abbey Road is now mounted high on the building on the corner, to save the local council the expense of cleaning and replacing the sign, which was frequently defaced or stolen. The council repaints the wall next to the zebra crossing every three months to cover fans' graffiti. Abbey Road is also a ward of the City of Westminster. At the census of 2011, this ward had a population of 11,250.
