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 in a northwesterly direction towards

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England ** Harrow, London, a town in London ** Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) ...

. 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 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 status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, 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 cent ...

: *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 p ...

, Queens Park and Kensal Green. This stretch runs partially alongside and underneath the Westway urban motorway. At the junction of Ladbroke Grove 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 boroughs, London borough in north-west London. It borders the boroughs of London Borough of Harrow, Harrow to the north-west, London Borough of Barnet, Barnet to the north-east, London Borough of Camden ...

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 Kensal Green is a railway station served by London Underground Bakerloo line and London Overground trains. It is located in College Road, London NW10 close to the junction with Harrow Road. It is about 0.5 mile (750m) route distance from the ol ...

and the entrance to Kensal Green Cemetery where it is entirely within Brent) until reaching Scrubs Lane where it becomes entirely within the borough of Brent. *High Street ( Harlesden), A404 *Craven Park, A404 *Hillside, A404 *Brentfield, A404 Passing over the River Brent which formed the pre-1965 boundary between the former Municipal Borough of Willesden and the

Metropolitan Borough of Wembley Wembley was an urban district and later a municipal borough in Middlesex, England from 1894 to 1965. History Wembley Urban District was created by the Local Government Act 1894 from part of the existing Hendon Rural Sanitary District, and origi ...

(both now defunct) and from which the modern borough takes its name: *Harrow Road ( Wembley), 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 e ...

), 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 Ire ...

. By the 19th century, it had become the main street in Paddington. 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 Elgin may refer to: Places Canada * Elgin County, Ontario * Elgin Settlement, a 19th-century community for freed slaves located in present-day North Buxton and South Buxton, Chatham-Kent, Ontario * Elgin, a village in Rideau Lakes, Ontario * ...

, 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 The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

'', "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