Harrow on the Hill is a locality and historic village in the borough of
Harrow in
Greater London
Greater may refer to:
*Greatness, the state of being great
*Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality
*Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film
*Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record
*Greater (song), "Greate ...
, England. The name refers to Harrow Hill, ,
[Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001)] and is located some half a mile south of the modern
town of Harrow. The village dates back to early
medieval times
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire an ...
, built around the 11th-century
St Mary's Church, and is the location of
Harrow,
St Dominic's and
John Lyon schools.
Etymology
Etymology before 1398 derives from
Harrow, & The Saxon Chronicles/The Peterborough Chronicle, which first recorded Harrow Hill in 767 as ''Gumeninga Hergae''.
A suggested meaning is "
heathen temple" of a tribe called the 'Gumeningas', sons of Gumen.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name is found in 1398 as ''Harrowe atte Hille''. The hill has historically been used as a place of pagan worship.
[ It is alternatively explained to mean ''the church upon the hill''.]
Harrow on the Hill
', The Environs of London: volume 2: County of Middlesex, (1795). Date accessed: 1 January 2008.
History
Harrow on the Hill formed an ancient parish and later civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
in the Gore
Gore may refer to:
Places Australia
* Gore, Queensland
* Gore Creek (New South Wales)
* Gore Island (Queensland)
Canada
* Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community
* Gore, Quebec, a township municipality
* Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manitouli ...
hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...
of Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...
.[Vision of Britain ]
Harrow on the Hill parish
historic map
) In 1831, it had a population of 3,861 and occupied an area of . There were significant boundary changes in 1894, when the bulk of the parish was removed to create the parishes of Harrow Weald
Harrow Weald is a suburban district in Greater London, England. Located about north of Harrow, Harrow Weald is formed from a leafy 1930s suburban development along with ancient woodland of Harrow Weald Common. It forms part of the London Boro ...
, Wealdstone
Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont and Kenton, and east of Headstone.
The area accommodates ...
and Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
.[ By this time, the hamlet of Greenhill to the north had developed into what would become the modern town of Harrow.
By 1931, it occupied a reduced area of 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
The Local Government Act 1929 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made changes to the Poor Law and local government in England and Wales.
The Act abolished the system of poor law unions in England and Wales and their boar ...
in 1934,[Vision of Britain ]
Harrow on the Hill UD
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
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
and in 1965 it was transferred to Greater London
Greater may refer to:
*Greatness, the state of being great
*Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality
*Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film
*Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record
*Greater (song), "Greate ...
to form the London Borough of Harrow.
King Charles I
On 27 April 1646, King Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
, when fleeing Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
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 in the 1860s photographing the schools, families and local area. The archive of c. 80,000 glass plates still exists and much of it is online at the Harrow Photos website.[Hills & Saunders photo archive of c. 80,000 glass plates]
Harrow Photos Collection
/ref>
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 and in 2001 had a population density of 29.74 persons per hectare. There were 4,539 households in the district in 2001.[Harrow London Borough Council ]
2001 Census: Harrow on the Hill ward
/ref> The ward's boundaries encompass the majority of the hill and also Roxeth
Roxeth was a hamlet in the ancient Harrow on the Hill parish, which now forms part of the London Borough of Harrow in Greater London, England.
The ancient parish of Harrow on the Hill, or simply Harrow, was one of the largest parishes in Middle ...
, Sudbury Hill and parts of West Harrow
West Harrow is a locality directly to the west/southwest of Harrow town in the London Borough of Harrow, in the county of Greater London and historically in the county of Middlesex.
Location
As its name suggests, West Harrow is located on ...
.
The 2011 census showed ethnically Whites were largest at 47.3% (34.4% British, 9.6% "Other White" excluding Irish), 35.4% were Asian (19.1% Indian, 11.6% "Other Asian"). The most spoken foreign languages were Gujarati
Gujarati may refer to:
* something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India
* Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat
* Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them
* Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...
followed by Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
. The Asian community in Harrow is among the most affluent in the UK. Of the over 4,500 households, the amount of whole house/bungalow and of flat/maisonette accommodations are about evenly split; 57.6% of property tenures are owned, 28.8% are privately rented, and 13.8% are socially rented. A relatively large share of residents, 28.4%, have a professional occupation. The unemployment rate for working people was 4.1%. The median age was 33.5 years.
Gallery
File:West St, Harrow-on-the-Hill - geograph.org.uk - 378157.jpg, West Street
By the drinking fountain
Aspect: west
File:Harrow on the Hill (1) - geograph.org.uk - 175017.jpg, View of the north of the High Street
Taken from the junction of Church Hill
Some of the buildings are those of Harrow School
(The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God)
, established = (Royal Charter)
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school
, religion = Church of E ...
File:Harrow on the Hill, High Street - geograph.org.uk - 1655073.jpg, The High Street
A marginally lower section nearby to the south, in the conservation area
File:Harrow on the Hill, Waldron Road - geograph.org.uk - 1654376.jpg, Waldron Road
A very narrow two way road
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
by London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
standards, also close to Harrow School
(The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God)
, established = (Royal Charter)
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school
, religion = Church of E ...
File:South end of High Street, Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex - geograph.org.uk - 365387.jpg, High Street - the south end
File:Harrow on the Hill, The former King's Head public house - geograph.org.uk - 1654545.jpg, Former public house and coaching inn
Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...
File:Harrow on the Hill, The Castle - geograph.org.uk - 1654480.jpg, The Castle, West Street
File:Harrow on the Hill, The Old Fire Station and Local Board Office - geograph.org.uk - 1655009.jpg, The former fire station (right) now an estate agent, and on the left the former headquarters of Harrow Urban District (now the London Borough of Harrow
The London Borough of Harrow () is a London borough in northwest London, England; it forms part of Outer London. It borders four other London boroughs Barnet to the east of ancient Watling Street (now the A5 road), Brent to the southeast, Ea ...
)
File:HarrowPanorama.jpg, Partial Panorama
A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...
looking northwest towards Pinner
Pinner is a London suburb in the London borough of Harrow, Greater London, England, northwest of Charing Cross, close to the border with Hillingdon, historically in the county of Middlesex. The population was 31,130 in 2011.
Originally a med ...
(left) and Headstone
A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...
(right) from building at the bottom of the northern downslope of Harrow on the Hill (200m north of the mainline station) - the listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
on the left in the foreground is 315 Station Road, Harrow,
closest to the hill itself, currently occupied by NatWest
National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it ...
File:Parish Church of St Mary, Harrow on the Hill.JPG, St. Mary's Church
The parish church
File:Clementine Churchill Hospital, Harrow - geograph.org.uk - 1170964.jpg, Clementine Churchill Hospital
The local private hospital
File:West Street Harrow.jpg, West Street
File:High Street Harrow.jpg, High Street
File:Roxeth Hill, Harrow-on the -Hill - geograph.org.uk - 1083261.jpg, Roxeth Hill
Religion
Harrow on the Hill is also an ecclesiastical parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish priest ...
with St. Mary's, Harrow on the Hill at the apex. It was consecrated by St Anselm
Anselm of Canterbury, OSB (; 1033/4–1109), also called ( it, Anselmo d'Aosta, link=no) after his birthplace and (french: Anselme du Bec, link=no) after his monastery, was an Italian Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher and theologian of the ...
in 1094. There is also a Roman Catholic parish church at the foot of the hill, Our Lady and St Thomas of Canterbury, Harrow
Our Lady and St Thomas of Canterbury is a Grade II listed Roman Catholic church at 22 Roxborough Park, Harrow-on-the-Hill
Harrow on the Hill is a locality and historic village in the borough of Harrow in Greater London, England. The name re ...
, dedicated to Our Lady and St Thomas of Canterbury.
Churchfields, Harrow on the Hill, centre of the Harrow Pentagram: Hergae Mound Oak trees leading from the Yew tree grove in Churchfields to the (Leyline-linked) Yew tree grove in St Mary's Church. Hergae Mound is also a direct flight line for pipistrelle bats and barn owls - very active at dusk. The Harrow Pentagram: Centre is St. Mary's at Harrow-on-the-hill. The five points around it are: Belmont Hill Stanmore, Horsenden Hill Greenford, Barn Hill Wembley, Dabbs Hill, St. John's Pinner. Harrow on the Hill's original name 'Gumeninga hergae' suggests that the pagan practises may have still been taking place on the hill – despite increasing conversion to Christianity at the time.
The area has four Catholic school
Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...
s and three Church of England school
A Christian school is a school run on Christian principles or by a Christian organization.
The nature of Christian schools varies enormously from country to country, according to the religious, educational, and political cultures. In some count ...
s.
Transport
Harrow-on-the-Hill station
Harrow-on-the-Hill is an interchange railway station in Harrow, served by suburban London Underground Metropolitan line services and commuter National Rail services on the London–Aylesbury line. It is down the line from . Harrow-on-the-Hil ...
, although named after the settlement, is located some distance to the north of the hill. The London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...
service at Harrow-on-the-Hill is on the Metropolitan line
The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between in the City of London and and in Buckinghamshire, with branches to in Hertfordshire and in Hillingdon. Printed in magenta on the tube map, the line i ...
, and the station is also served by the Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways, formally The Chiltern Railway Company Limited, is a British train operating company that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. Since 2009, it has been a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains.
Chiltern Railw ...
London to Aylesbury Line
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...
. These services run in to central London, and out west/north west to the outer reaches of London and beyond.
About equidistant to Harrow-on-the-Hill station from the top of the hill, is South Harrow
South Harrow is the southern part of the town of Harrow, located south-west of Harrow-on-the-Hill in the London Borough of Harrow. Its development originally spread south and west from the hamlet of Roxeth in the urbanisation process and eas ...
on the Piccadilly line. The 258 and H17 London bus routes run over Harrow on the Hill itself.
Street accident fatality
A roadside plaque unveiled on 25 February 1969 states that the first recorded motor accident in Great Britain to have involved the death of the car driver took place at Harrow on the Hill on a road called Grove Hill seventy years earlier, on 25 February 1899. The plaque makes no mention of the name of the dead motorist, but it does name the civic dignitary who unveiled it: ''his'' name is given as Alderman Charles Stenhouse, who was Mayor of Harrow at the time.[
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.Daimler history]
Gives the date as July 1899
Early railway accident fatality
In the graveyard of St Mary's church is a gravestone recording the death of Thomas Port in the railway accident on 7 August 1838.
Geography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrow on the Hill
Districts of the London Borough of Harrow
Areas of London
Anglo-Saxon paganism
Places formerly in Middlesex