The Flora pub and hotel, Harrow Road, London

The Harrow Road is an ancient route in

North West London The NW (North Western) postcode area, also known as the London NW postcode area, is a group of 13 postcode districts covering around 13,895 live postcodes within part of northwest London, England. It is the successor of the NW sector, originally ...

which runs from

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...

in a northwesterly direction towards Harrow. It is also the name given to the immediate surrounding area of Queens Park and

Kensal Green Kensal Green is an area in north-west London. It lies mainly in the London Borough of Brent, with a small part to the south within Kensington and Chelsea. Kensal Green is located on the Harrow Road, about miles from Charing Cross. To the w ...

, straddling the NW10, W10, W2 and W9 postcodes. With minor deviations in the 19th and 20th centuries, the route remains otherwise unaltered. Harrow Road is also a ward of the City of Westminster. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 12,034.

Route

Kensal Green Cemetery Main Gates-2710268983

Before

urbanisation Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly the ...

the entire road was known as the "Harrow Road" but, as various local authorities came into existence and imposed independent numbering schemes and more localised descriptions on the parts of the road within their respective boundaries, the principal name was replaced in a number of places along its course. The current street names (with road numbers) running from Paddington to Harrow are as follows: Starting at the junction of Harrow Road and Edgware Road at Paddington Green in the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a city and borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of central Greater London, including most of the West En ...

: *Harrow Road (Paddington), passing through

Maida Hill Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district consisting of the northern part of Paddington in West London, west of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn. It is also the name of its main road, on the continuous Edgware Road. Maida Vale is ...

, Queens Park and Kensal Green. This stretch runs partially alongside and underneath the Westway urban motorway. At the junction of

Ladbroke Grove Ladbroke Grove () is an area and a road in West London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, passing through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue. It is also a name given to ...

the road leaves the City of Westminster and forms the boundary between the

London Borough of Brent The London Borough of Brent () is a London borough in north-west London. It borders the boroughs of Harrow to the north-west, Barnet to the north-east, Camden to the east, the City of Westminster to the south-east, as well as the Royal Borou ...

and the

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is an Inner London borough with royal status. It is the smallest borough in London and the second smallest district in England; it is one of the most densely populated administrative regions in the ...

(except for the length between Kensal Green station and the entrance to

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederick ...

where it is entirely within Brent) until reaching Scrubs Lane where it becomes entirely within the borough of Brent. *High Street (

Harlesden Harlesden is a district in the London Borough of Brent, North West London. Located north of the Grand Union Canal and Wormwood Scrubs, the Harrow Road flows through the centre of the area which goes eastwards to Central London and west toward ...

), A404 *Craven Park, A404 *Hillside, A404 *Brentfield, A404 Passing over the

River Brent The River Brent is a river in west and northwest London, England, and a tributary of the River Thames. in length, it rises in the Borough of Barnet and flows in a generally south-west direction before joining the Tideway stretch of the Thame ...

which formed the pre-1965 boundary between the former

Municipal Borough of Willesden Willesden was a local government district in the county of Middlesex, England from 1874 to 1965. It formed part of the Metropolitan Police District and London postal district. Willesden was part of the built-up area of London and bordered the C ...

and the Metropolitan Borough of Wembley (both now defunct) and from which the modern borough takes its name: *Harrow Road (

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 ...

), A404 Which passes through Tokyngton *High Road (Wembley), A404 *Harrow Road (

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal el ...

), A404, changing to A4005 at the junction with Watford Road (which continues the A404) Passing from the

into the London Borough of Harrow at the Sudbury Court Drive junction: *Sudbury Hill, A4005 *London Road (Harrow), A4005, changing to B457 at junction with Roxeth Hill *High Street (Harrow), B457

History

What is now Harrow Road was a track in

Celtic Britain The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric I ...

. By the 19th century, it had become the main street in

. In the 20th century, many properties along Harrow Road were developed into high-rise social housing, though some 19th-century houses and commercial buildings north of the Paddington Basin were retained. These included Elgin Towers, constructed between 1966 and 1969, and demolished in 1994.

Cultural references

The 1950 film '' The Blue Lamp'' is set around Harrow Road and features it prominently. In one version of the ''

Bus Driver's Prayer The Bus Driver's Prayer, also known as the Busman's Lord's Prayer, is a parody of the Lord's Prayer that takes the bus driver around Greater London (while avoiding further destinations). The words are apocryphal and have been around since 1960 at l ...

'', the line from '' The Lord's Prayer'', "Hallowed be thy name" is replaced with "Harrow Road be thy name."

References

{{coord, 51.5545, N, 0.31517, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title, format=dms Streets in the City of Westminster Streets in the London Borough of Brent Streets in the London Borough of Harrow Streets in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea District centres of London