Rayners Lane is a suburban district 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 ...

that forms the western part of Harrow. Located between

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 ...

and West Harrow, it takes its name from a road in the area, also called Rayners Lane (formerly also spelt ''Rayner's Lane'') which runs from Marsh Road in Pinner to Eastcote Lane in

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 ...

History

During the

Middle Ages 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 ...

the Rayners Lane road was used when transporting grain to the mill on

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 road was originally called Bourne Lane as it crossed several streams including the

Yeading Brook Yeading Brook is the dominant source of the River Crane, in outer North West then West London. The western branch flows south. It rises in the far south of suburban Pinner and drains all of the western suburbs of Harrow, insofar as they have ...

. During the first half of the nineteenth century the area was in the hands of the Rayner family, who owned a farm. The area was drastically built up between 1929 and 1938 by Harrow's biggest interwar housebuilder T.F. Nash, who created a shopping parade on Alexandra Avenue. The area to the north of the tube station was originally named Harrow Garden Village by its developer, and was one of Metro-land's flagship points. Exotic constructions, Rayners Lane - geograph

Exotic constructions, Rayners Lane - geograph

Former

Cunard Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Ber ...

officer Commodore Harry Grattidge, one of the last captains of the RMS ''Queen Elizabeth'', lived at number 33 High Worple, Rayners Lane until his death in the 1970s. The area is most widely known as the location of

Rayners Lane tube station Rayners Lane is a London Underground station in the district of Rayners Lane in north west London, amid a 1930s development originally named Harrow Garden Village. The station is on the Uxbridge branch of both the Metropolitan line, between Ea ...

, first built in 1906, and most of the settlement is built around the tube station. The station links both the Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines and therefore has good connections with the rest of London. The other principal point of architectural interest is the former cinema, an

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

building featuring a curved projection on the front somewhat resembling an elephant's trunk. This is a listed building. It is currently occupied by the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe, and is used as a

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...

centre - the only official temple of its type in the UK. Before this, it was an Odeon cinema. Despite being a relatively small area, it boasts many retail chains, mainly due to the presence of the tube station, including

Sainsbury's Local Sainsbury's Local (a trading name of Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd) is a chain of 770 convenience shops operated by the UK's second largest supermarket chain Sainsbury's. History In 1998, Sainsbury's piloted its first Local shop in Hammersmith ...

Tesco Express Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

Pizza Hut Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and desse ...

Subway Subway, Subways, The Subway, or The Subways may refer to: Transportation * Subway, a term for underground rapid transit rail systems * Subway (underpass), a type of walkway that passes underneath an obstacle * Subway (George Bush Intercontin ...

Costa Coffee Costa Coffee is a British coffeehouse chain with headquarters in Dunstable, England. Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by Sergio Costa as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops. I ...

and KFC. Up until the end of 2017, the head office of the bookmaking and e-gaming company

Ladbrokes Ladbrokes Coral is a British gambling company founded in 1886. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. The business is split into two divisions, UK and International. UK operations a ...

was based in Rayners Lane. The area's last remaining bank,

Santander UK Santander UK plc (, ) is a British bank, wholly owned by the Spanish Santander Group. Santander UK plc manages its affairs autonomously, with its own local management team, responsible solely for its performance. Santander UK is one of the l ...

closed in June 2019.

Demography

The largest ethnic group in Rayners Lane ward in the 2011 census was Indian (28%), followed by White British (27%) and other Asian (21%). It has one of London's largest

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, na ...

communities.

Sport

The area also has its own football club,

Rayners Lane F.C. Rayners Lane F.C. are a football club based in Rayners Lane in the London Borough of Harrow, England. They are members of the . History Rayners Lane Football Club was established in 1933. By the 1960s the club had joined the Spartan League. T ...

who currently play in the Spartan South Midlands Football League, Division One. It also has a sports club called Harrow Town Sports club which has been in existence since the 1890s. It is the home of the Harrow Town Cricket Club, the Venceremos FC and the HT Tennis Club.

Notable people

Dev Patel

Dev Patel Dev Patel (; born 23 April 1990) is a British actor. His breakthrough came in 2008 with the leading role of Jamal Malik in Danny Boyle's drama ''Slumdog Millionaire'', for which Patel was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Lead ...

is a BAFTA award-winning internationally renowned British actor who grew up in Rayners Lane.

Jai Paul

Jai Paul Jai Paul is an English songwriter, record producer and recording artist. His early demo "BTSTU" led to his online discovery and a subsequent recording contract with XL Recordings. Together with its follow-up "Jasmine", these songs have been reg ...

is an electronic music recording artist signed to

XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. Although only releasing an average of six albu ...

, whose influential songs of the 2010s have been sampled by

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

and

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

. He and his brother A. K. Paul grew up in Rayners Lane.

Transport

London Underground

* Rayners Lane Station (

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 lin ...

and

Piccadilly line The Piccadilly line is a deep-level London Underground line running from the north to the west of London. It has two branches, which split at Acton Town, and serves 53 stations. The line serves Heathrow Airport, and some of its stations are ...

)

Bus routes

* 398 * H9 * H10 * H12

Nearby places

North Harrow North Harrow is a suburban area of North West London, situated north-west of central Harrow within the London Borough of Harrow. Its residential roads have expanded from North Harrow tube station, a station on the Metropolitan line of the Lo ...

Eastcote Eastcote is a suburban area in the London Borough of Hillingdon, in northwest London. In the Middle Ages, Eastcote was one of the three areas that made up the parish of Ruislip, under the name of Ascot. The name came from its position to the e ...

* West Harrow *

Ruislip Ruislip ( ) is an area in the London Borough of Hillingdon in West London, and in the historic county of Middlesex. Ruislip lies west-north-west of Charing Cross, London. The manor of Ruislip appears in the Domesday Book, and some of the ear ...

References

Sources

Conservation Area Appraisal
{{Authority control Districts of the London Borough of Harrow Areas of London Streets in the London Borough of Harrow Middlesex District centres of London