Harrow on the Hill

Harrow on the Hill
Harrow on the Hill  Harrow on the Hill shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ155865
London borough	Harrow
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	HARROW
Postcode district	HA1
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
EU Parliament	London
London Assembly	Brent and Harrow
List of places UK England London

Harrow on the Hill is an area of north west London, England, and part of the London Borough of Harrow. The name refers to Harrow Hill, 408 feet (124 m). The district includes Harrow School.

Etymology

The earliest recorded use of the name is found in 1398 as Harrowe atte Hille. Etymology before then derives from Harrow, which is first recorded in 767 as Gumeninga hergae. A suggested meaning is heathen temple of a tribe called the Gumeningas. The hill has historically been used as a place of pagan worship. It is alternatively explained to mean the church upon the hill.

History

View near Harrow on the Hill, spire of St Mary's Church visible in the distance. Francis Jukes, 1798.

Harrow on the Hill formed an ancient parish and later civil parish in the Gore hundred of Middlesex. In 1831 it had a population of 3,861 and occupied an area of 9,870 acres (39.9 km²). There were significant boundary changes in 1894, when the bulk of the parish was removed to create the parishes of Harrow Weald, Wealdstone and Wembley. By 1931 it occupied a reduced area of 2,129 acres (8.62 km²) and had a population of 26,380. It formed the Harrow on the Hill Urban District of Middlesex from 1894 and was abolished by a County Review Order in 1934, with the bulk of the area forming part of a new civil parish and urban district of Harrow. In 1954 the urban district was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Harrow and in 1965 it was transferred to Greater London to form the London Borough of Harrow.

King Charles I

On the 27 April 1646, King Charles I, when fleeing Oxford on his way to Southwell, where he was due to surrender to the Scottish Army, stopped at Harrow on the Hill near St Mary's Church, so that he could take a final glimpse at London and also to water his horses. A plaque on Grove Hill near Harrow School marks the spot, and also says that the spring below has ever since been called King Charles' Well.

Photo Record

The Hills & Saunders photography company had a studio on Harrow on the Hill from the 1860s photographing the schools, families and local area. The archive of c. 80,000 glass plates still exists and much of it can be seen today online at the Harrow Photos website.

Demography

The population of the Harrow on the Hill ward of the London Borough of Harrow was 9,578 in 1991 and 10,632 in 2001. It occupies an area of 357 hectares though the hill itself occupies approximately 100 hectares (250 acres) and in 2001 had a population density of 29.74 persons per hectare. There were 4,539 households in the district in 2001. The ward's boundaries encompass the majority of the hill and also Roxeth, Sudbury Hill and parts of West Harrow.

Gallery

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  36-40 High Street, School Tours Centre and Outfitters Shop, West Street
  At Centre: Listed Drinking Fountain

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  West Street
  By the drinking fountain
  Aspect: west

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  View of the north of the High Street
  Taken from the junction of Church Hill
  Some of the buildings are those of Harrow School

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  The High Street
  A marginally lower section nearby to the south, in the conservation area

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  Waldron Road
  A very narrow two way road by London standards, also close to Harrow School

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  High Street - the south end

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  Former public house and coaching inn

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  The Castle, West Street

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  Partial Panorama looking northwest towards Pinner (left) and Headstone (right) from building at the bottom of the northern downslope of Harrow on the Hill (200m north of the mainline station) - the listed building on the left in the foreground is 315 Station Road, Harrow,
  closest to the hill itself, currently occupied by NatWest

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  St. Mary's Church
  The parish church

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  Clementine Churchill Hospital
  The local private hospital

Religion

Harrow on the Hill is also an ecclesiastical parish with St. Mary's, Harrow on the Hill at the apex. It was consecrated by St Anselm in 1094. There is also a Roman Catholic parish church at the foot of the hill, dedicated to Our Lady and St Thomas of Canterbury.

The area has four Catholic schools and three Church of England schools.

Transport

Harrow-on-the-Hill platform sign

Harrow-on-the-Hill station, although named after the settlement, is located some distance to the north of the hill. The London Underground service at Harrow-on-the-Hill is provided by the Metropolitan line, and the station is also served by the Chiltern Railways London to Aylesbury Line.

Street accident fatality

A roadside plaque unveiled on 25 February 1969 stated that the first recorded motor accident in Great Britain to have involved the death of the car driver had taken place at Harrow on the Hill on a road called Grove Hill seventy years earlier, on 25 February 1899. The plaque made no mention of the name of the dead motorist, but it did name the civic dignitary who had unveiled it: his name was given as Alderman Charles Stenhouse.

The driver involved in the crash was 31-year-old engineer Edwin Sewell, driving a 6HP Daimler. A rear wheel collapsed after breaking its rim and the car hit a sturdy brick wall. Sewell was killed immediately when he and his passenger, a Major Richer, were thrown from the vehicle. Richer died three days later in hospital.

Railway accident fatality

In the graveyard of St Mary's church is a gravestone recording the death of Thomas Port, from a railway accident on 7 August 1838.

External links

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