Little Stanmore was an ancient parish of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

which is today the residential area of

Canons Park Canons Park is a public park and the name of its surrounding residential area, in the Stanmore district of the London Borough of Harrow, north west London. Canons Park was a country estate which partially survives today as a public park. St. Law ...

in 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 ...

, England.

Toponymy

The name 'Stanmore' means "pond made of stone". Little Stanmore was named to distinguish it from Great Stanmore, which is now known as Stanmore. The parish was also known as Whitchurch. Whitchurch is a common English place-name meaning 'white church', and probably referring to a church built of stone. The name has fallen out of use and is preserved in Whitchurch Gardens and Whitchurch Lane.

History

Little Stanmore formed an ancient parish in the Gore hundred of

. It was grouped for relief of the poor and sanitary provision into Hendon Poor Law Union in 1836 and Hendon

rural sanitary district Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary dis ...

in 1875. The parish became part of

Hendon Rural District Hendon was a rural district in Middlesex, England from 1894 to 1934. The rural district was established in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894, consisting of the following parishes: The parish of Hendon became an urban district in the ...

from 1894, and was abolished as a civil parish in 1934, becoming absorbed by Harrow Urban District. The population in 1901 was 1,069 and in 1931 it was 6,918.

St Lawrence's Church

The

medieval 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 ...

St Lawrence's Church was reconstructed by James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos in the baroque style. The architect was John James, who also worked on the Duke of Chandos' nearby house called

Cannons A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder dur ...

(which was demolished in 1747). It is possible that

James Gibbs James Gibbs (23 December 1682 – 5 August 1754) was one of Britain's most influential architects. Born in Aberdeen, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England. He is an important figure whose work spanned the transi ...

oversaw the finishing touches to the church when he replaced John James as the Duke's architect in 1715. The interior retains early eighteenth-century paintings by artists such as Louis Laguerre and there is an organ played by Handel and restored in the 1990s to its original condition. In the churchyard is a tombstone to William Powell, supposedly "

The Harmonious Blacksmith ''The Harmonious Blacksmith'' is the popular name of the final movement, ''Air and variations'', of George Frideric Handel's Suite No. 5 in E major, HWV 430, for harpsichord. This instrumental air was one of the first works for harpsichord p ...

" who inspired one of Handel's keyboard works.

References

External links

*http://www.achurchnearyou.com/st-lawrence-whitchurch/ *http://www.little-stanmore.org/ {{LB Harrow Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Harrow Places formerly in Middlesex