Harrow Weald is a suburban district 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. Located about north of Harrow, Harrow Weald is formed from a leafy 1930s suburban development along with ancient woodland of

Harrow Weald Common Harrow Weald Common is an 18-hectare area of woodland, heath and pasture in Harrow Weald in the London Borough of Harrow. It is considered of considerable importance for wildlife, and it was formerly part of the ''Stanmore and Harrow Weald Common ...

. It forms part of 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 ...

. Harrow Weald is bordered by

Bushey Heath Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It has a population of over 25,000 inhabitants. Bushey Heath is a large neighbourhood south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow re ...

(north),

Stanmore Stanmore is part of the London Borough of Harrow in London. It is centred northwest of Charing Cross, lies on the outskirts of the London urban area and includes Stanmore Hill, one of the highest points of London, at high. The district, which ...

(west),

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 ...

(south), and is near to

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 ...

and

Hatch End Hatch End is an area of North West London, situated within the London Borough of Harrow. It is located north west of Charing Cross. Attractions Hatch End is home to Harrow Arts Centre, a complex which centres on the 404-seat Elliott Hall and ...

. It is in the

HA postcode area The HA postcode area, also known as the Harrow postcode area, is a group of ten postcode districts in England, within seven post towns. These cover part of northwest London, plus a very small part of south Hertfordshire. The main sorting office ...

Etymology

The word ''Weald'' is

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

in origin, meaning woodland. It was recorded as ''waldis'' in 1303 and ''welde'' in 1382, but the name ''Harrow Weald'' is not recorded until 1553. It was then part of the great

Forest of Middlesex The Forest of Middlesex was an ancient woodland covering much of the county of Middlesex, England, that was north of the City of London and now forms the northern part of Greater London. A path was cut through the forest for the creation of Watling ...

Geography and locale

All Saints, Uxbridge Road, Harrow Weald, Middlesex (geograph 1677403)

Ancient woodland on high ground fills most of the northern part of Harrow Weald on the border of Greater London (and the traditional county 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 ...

) with

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. The area is one of the highest in Greater London; the highest point in Middlesex is near the woods at . The eastern part of the woods merges into those of

and encompasses

Bentley Priory Bentley Priory is an eighteenth to nineteenth century stately home and deer park in Stanmore on the northern edge of the Greater London area in the London Borough of Harrow. It was originally a medieval priory or cell of Canons Regular, Augus ...

. The priory's grounds are now

Bentley Priory Nature Reserve Bentley Priory Nature Reserve is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Local Nature Reserve in Stanmore in the London Borough of Harrow, surrounding the stately home of Bentley Priory. It is a 55 hectare mosaic of ancient woodland, unimpro ...

, a biological

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

. Along the southern edge of the high ground runs the road Old Redding and a car park here gives views over parts of London. The western part of the woodland forms

, which adjoins

Harrow Weald SSSI Harrow Weald SSSI is a 3.7 hectare (9 acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Harrow Weald in the London Borough of Harrow. It was formerly part of the Stanmore and Harrow Weald Commons and Bentley Priory SSSI. It is a Geological Co ...

, a geological

. Other smaller woods surround the

Grim's Dyke Grim's Dyke (sometimes called Graeme's Dyke until late 1891)How, Harry ''The Strand Magazine'', Vol. 2, October 1891, pp. 330–41, reprinted at ''The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive'', 20 November 2011 is a house and estate in Harrow Weald, in nort ...

Hotel, the former country house of

W. S. Gilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most f ...

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

s are frequently performed here. The house is named after the nearby earthwork

Grim's Ditch Grim's Ditch, Grim's Dyke (also Grimsdyke or Grimes Dike in derivative names) or Grim's Bank is a name shared by a number of prehistoric bank and ditch linear earthworks across England. They are of different dates and may have had different funct ...

, a long

ancient monument In British law, an ancient monument is an early historical structure or monument (e.g. an archaeological site) worthy of preservation and study due to archaeological or heritage interest. The '' Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 197 ...

that runs from Harrow Weald to

Pinner Green 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 ...

. The monument remains largely mysterious but is known to have been named in the

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

era. The ditch hints at a long history of habitation in the area and many artefacts have been found on the common to support this.
Boxtree Park Friends group
is based at Harrow Weald Recreation Ground. It is run by a group of local volunteers who look after and maintain the park on behalf of the community and in collaboration with Harrow Council. The south of the area is a suburban development with houses, schools, small shops, supermarkets and pubs (notably Bombay Central, formerly the ''Weald Stone Inn'', and before that the ''Red Lion''). The area expanded around the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and continued to grow quickly: the population grew from 1,517 in 1901 to 10,923 in 1931. The Harrow Weald campus of

Harrow College Harrow College is a further education college in the London Borough of Harrow, England, with two campuses in Harrow and Harrow Weald.http://www.educationuk.org/pls/hot_bc/bc_profile.page_pls_profile_details?x=133784075207&y=0&a=0&z=869&p_prof_i ...

(previously a grammar school, then a 16+ college) and Harrow Weald Cemetery are at the northern edge of the built up area. All Saints churchyard and its extension adjoin this cemetery and their most famous interment is of

Leefe Robinson William Leefe Robinson VC (14 July 1895 – 31 December 1918) was the first British pilot to shoot down a German airship over Britain during the First World War. For this, he was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallan ...

, a pilot who was awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

. Also buried at All Saints is the English-born Hollywood actor

George Arliss George Arliss (born Augustus George Andrews; 10 April 1868 – 5 February 1946) was an English actor, author, playwright, and filmmaker who found success in the United States. He was the first British actor to win an Academy Award – which he ...

(1868-1946), who won the

Academy Award for Best Actor The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. The ...

in 1930.

Demography

The 2011 census showed that in the Harrow Weald ward, 53% of the population was white (41% British, 6% Other, 5% Irish). The largest non-white group was Indian at 19%. Of the 4,160 household tenures, 68.4% of them are owned, 15.9% are socially rented and 13.7% are privately rented. The unemployment rate of economically active people was 4.9%. The median age of the population is 39.

Transport

There are no train stations in the centre of Harrow Weald, but

Headstone Lane railway station Headstone Lane is a railway station near Headstone, in the London Borough of Harrow. The station is in Travelcard Zone 5. Services The typical off-peak service is four trains per hour to London Euston, and four trains to Watford Junction, call ...

is to the west, whereas

Harrow & Wealdstone station Harrow & Wealdstone is a London Underground and railway station on the Watford DC line and West Coast Main Line in Harrow and Wealdstone in the London Borough of Harrow. It is on the line from London Euston station. It is also the northern ter ...

is to the south.

Buses

London Bus Buses have been used as a mode of public transport in London since 1829, when George Shillibeer started operating a horse-drawn ''omnibus'' service from Paddington to the City of London. In the decades since their introduction, the red London b ...

routes 140, 182, 186, 258, 340, 640, H12, H18, H19 and N18 operate through the area. The N140 bus also goes through Harrow Weald, it was introduced on 17 June 1972.

Governance

Harrow Weald ward is in the

Harrow East Harrow East is a constituency in Greater London created in 1945 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Bob Blackman, a Conservative. Constituency profile The censuses of 2001 and 2011 show the overwhelmingl ...

constituency, represented by Conservative MP

Bob Blackman Robert John Blackman (born 26 April 1956) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Harrow East (UK Parliament constituency), Harrow East since 2010 United Kingdom general ele ...

. The ward is represented by Conservative Cllrs Pritesh Patel, Cllr Stephen Greek and Cllr Ramji Chauhan.

References

{{LB Harrow Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Harrow Places formerly in Middlesex