Harrow () is a large town in
Greater London
Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...
, England, and serves as the principal settlement of the
London Borough of Harrow. Lying about north-west of
Charing Cross and south of
Watford
Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne.
Initially a smal ...
, the entire town including its localities had a population of 149,246 at the
2011 census, whereas the wider borough (which also contains
Pinner and
Stanmore
Stanmore is part of the London Borough of Harrow in Greater London. It is centred northwest of Charing Cross, lies on the outskirts of the London urban area and includes Stanmore Hill, one of the List of highest points in London, highest point ...
) had a population of 250,149.
The original settlement was at
Harrow on the Hill, atop the Harrow Hill. The modern town centre of Harrow developed at the foot of the hill, in an area historically called
Greenhill, following the opening of
Harrow-on-the-Hill station on the
Metropolitan Railway in 1880. Harrow became the unofficial "capital" of the
Metroland suburbia in the early 20th century.
Harrow & Wealdstone station on the
West Coast Main Line had opened in 1837, but was more distant from Harrow, lying north of the hill. Workers were drawn to the area by the opening of several factories in
Wealdstone; Harrow was the base of the large
Kodak factory, used for the manufacture of photographic materials and
R&D, which was in operation for more than a century.
Historically in the
hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101.
In mathematics
100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...
of
Gore in the county of
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
, Harrow became part of Greater London in 1965. Today, the historic area is distinguished as
Harrow on the Hill and is a conservation area with
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
s of
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarchs of the House of Han ...
and home to
Harrow School, one of the seven major boys' boarding schools in England as defined by the
Public Schools Act 1868. The modern-day town meanwhile is an established commercial centre of outer north-west London and houses a campus of the
University of Westminster.
Etymology
Harrow's name comes from
Old English
Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
''hearg'' = '(heathen) temple', which was probably on the hill of Harrow, where
St. Mary's Church now stands. The name has been studied in detail by
Keith Briggs.
The original Greenhill hamlet derived its name from either an unidentified local green hill, or was imported from a manorial surname. It was not recorded in the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
but was mentioned as early as 1334 as ''Grenehulle''. In addition, one or more families bearing the ''Greenhulle'' or ''Greenhill'' surname lived there from at least 1247, and are likely to have taken their name from this location.
The name Greenhill survives and the local council has continued the name by using it for Greenhill Way, a road which by-passes the mainly-pedestrianised and modernised shopping area based around College Road and St Anns Road. The name is also still used for the local
electoral ward.
It is possible that Greenhill went by an even older name, ''Norbury'', c.1300, but the hamlet of Norbury has not been identified with certainty. The name may have been correspondent to
Sudbury, being north of what was then Harrow Hill.
History
The modern town centre of Harrow was formerly known as Greenhill, and was a small
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
of farms at the foot of Harrow Hill. For almost a millennium, the centre of Harrow was atop the hill, but this began to change during the 19th century. Circa 1852, the village had 8 houses, 17 cottages, and one inn, with 141 people.
This area was part of the
hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101.
In mathematics
100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...
of
Gore, in the historic county of
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
. In 1850 a
local board district was established for the central part of the
ancient parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
of Harrow on the Hill, including the old village and the adjoining hamlets of Greenhill,
Roxeth, and
Sudbury.
Urban development

By 1865, a series of roads had been built in Greenhill, including College, Roxborough, Kymberley, Headstone, Clarendon, Byron and St Anns - but few houses.
A
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
church, St John's Church, was built in 1866 on a farm and Greenhill subsequently became a separate
ecclesiastical parish in 1896. The church building has been
Grade II listed since 1994. The
Metropolitan Railway connection dates from 1880 with the building of
Harrow-on-the-Hill station, which led to a housebuilding boom and a population of 4,892 by 1902. Developments westward along the railway in the
Headstone
A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The u ...
and
Pinner as well as Roxborough and
Wealdstone engulfed Greenhill with new developments, and soon enough there was nothing left of the original village.
.
In 1899, the junction of Grove Hill and Lowlands Road is said to have been the scene of Britain's first fatal car accident. There is a plaque to commemorate this at the top of Grove Hill where it meets the High Street and Peterborough Hill.
In Greenhill, there was a workmen's club from the 1860s and a public hall, Victoria Hall, by 1888.
The
Local Government Act 1894 converted local board districts such as Harrow on the Hill into
urban districts. The new town centre which had grown up around the station became known simply as Harrow to distinguish it from the original hilltop village. The name of the urban district which contained both places remained Harrow on the Hill until 1934 when the district was enlarged and renamed just Harrow. The Harrow Urban District was incorporated to become a
municipal borough in 1954, with the same area becoming the
London Borough of Harrow on being transferred from Middlesex to Greater London in 1965.
One of the oldest surviving buildings in what is today Harrow is the Grade I listed
Headstone Manor from the 15th century.
Harrow contributed to the growing photographic industry in the UK; a large industrial premises was built in 1890 by the American
Eastman Kodak company in
Wealdstone, and by 1965 there were over 100 buildings on a 55-acre site at
Kodak Harrow, employing 5,500 people,
including a research centre. This facility operated for 125 years. The long chimney has been a landmark in Harrow ever since.

In 1914, a major
department store
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...
named Sopers opened on Station Road. The site became a
Debenhams store; it closed in May 2021 after the collapse of the Debenham's chain. Its
facade dated from the 1960s.
During the inter-war period Harrow had grown into a suburb. Almost two-thirds of housing stock in the present day Borough of Harrow dates back to the interwar period.
Railway accidents
The modern town of Harrow and much of the borough overall has been defined historically by the growth of the railways, as Harrow expanded and saw housing developments as a result of the building of the
Metropolitan Railway into what was, in early Victorian times, the rural areas to the north-west of London. The borough now has many railway stations.
Harrow has been the location of several serious train accidents.
On 7 August 1838, Thomas Port died from injuries received in a
train accident near Harrow. His gravestone in the parish churchyard of
St Mary's, Harrow-on-the-Hill, states: "To the memory of Thomas Port, son of John Port of Burton-upon-Trent in the County of Stafford, Hat Manufacturer, who near this town had both legs severed from his body by the railway train. With great fortitude, he bore a second amputation by the surgeons and died from loss of blood, August 7th 1838, aged 33 years."
On 26 November 1870, two trains collided at
Harrow & Wealdstone station, killing 9 and injuring 44.
On 8 October 1952,
three trains collided at Harrow & Wealdstone station, killing 112 people. Of the dead, 64 were railway employees on their way to work. This is the greatest loss of life in any United Kingdom railway accident in peacetime.
Battle of Britain
Although
The Blitz is generally claimed to have started on 7 September 1940, many sources state that one of the earliest bombing raid from the
Luftwaffe
The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
occurred in Harrow and Wealdstone on 22 August 1940. It caused damage to cinemas, houses and a bank, but with no fatalities.
Although Harrow was then in
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
, it was classed as a London area by the civil defence as it came under the jurisdiction of the
Metropolitan Police. The very first air raid on the present day London area is believed to be the accidental bombing of
Croydon Airport on 15 August 1940, which was then in
Surrey
Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
.
Post-war
The town was part of the
Harrow Urban District, a district council within the county of
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
, from 1934 until 1965, which also included parts of
Edgware
Edgware () is a suburban town in northwest London. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex east of the ancient Watling Street in what is now the London Borough of Barnet but it is now informally considered to cover a wider area, inc ...
,
Hendon
Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...
,
Wembley and
Pinner. The
London Borough of Harrow was formed in 1965 as the only London borough unaffected by boundary changes.
By the 1950s, Harrow was described as the "capital city of
Metro-land". The borough's council
Civic Centre building complex was built in 1970–1972, opened 6 May 1973, on Station Road in
Wealdstone. Six storeys high and designed by architect Eric Broughton, the building is considered "outdated and costly" in 2018 and was expected to be imminently redeveloped. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, many new office blocks were built in the town, especially in Lyon Road and the western end of College Road.
In 1974, the Kodak Mural designed by
Pentagram was completed on the first floor of the recently opened Civic Centre. It contains almost one thousand photographic tiles representing Harrow and designed to commemorate the town and borough's links with Kodak.

The town underwent regeneration in the 1980s with the building of a bus station in College Road and the
pedestrianisation of St Anns Road. A statue called "Skipping Katie" was unveiled by the local council in May 1987 to celebrate the completion of the pedestrianisation. The landmark was designed by
James Butler inspired by watching his daughter
skip.
A plaque on Katie was unveiled in 2004 by
Queen Elizabeth II and the
Duke of Edinburgh
Duke of Edinburgh, named after the capital city of Scotland, Edinburgh, is a substantive title that has been created four times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not pr ...
to mark the 50th anniversary of the London Borough of Harrow.
In the autumn of 1987,
Diana, Princess of Wales visited Harrow, where she officially opened the new
St Anns shopping centre amid a large crowd of locals. Located opposite the central train station on College Road, the centre was built on demolished buildings including
Heathfield School for Girls, which moved away to
Pinner in 1982.
Nearby St Anns shopping centre, another indoor retail outlet was built which was opened as
St George's Shopping and Leisure Centre on
St George's Day
Saint George's Day is the Calendar of saints, feast day of Saint George, celebrated by Christian churches, countries, regions, and cities of which he is the Patronages of Saint George, patron saint, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bu ...
in 1996. The town's
Woolworths store on Station Road closed and was replaced by a new branch inside St George's.
Other landmarks built during the decade include the Hygeia building in 1991, which has an erected golden coloured sculpture of Roman goddess
Hygeia facing the bus station. Furthermore, in 1991, Lower Mead stadium on Station Road, the home of
Wealdstone F.C., was sold to
Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...
and demolished. In its place a new large Tesco superstore was built.
21st century

The town centre has undergone a new wave of redevelopment. In 2011, the one-way single lane section of Station Road was widened to allow two-way bus traffic. The 11 storey luxury apartments of Bradstowe House were completed in 2016 after long delays. Former office buildings on Lyon Road (including Coal House, once belonging to the
National Coal Board) have been regenerated into new mixed use buildings in the 2010s, whereas on Pinner Road behind St George's centre a new eight storey development called Trident Point was built which includes a
Morrisons supermarket opened in 2013. The former post-office sorting building on College Road, next to the train station, remained vacant for some years until plans for a 19-storey skyscraper were approved by the council in 2015. The development, called Harrow Square, was partly completed with 318 apartments across four buildings in 2018. It includes a bottom floor library still under construction which will replace the current Gayton Library on St John's Road. The building next to it, formerly First National House, has been refurbished into luxury apartments called The Hub.
The borough received a £1 million grant from the
Mayor of London
The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom.
The current ...
that will go towards a new public square and a "pop-up test eatery" at the site of the former Cumberland Hotel on Lyon Road, expected to be completed by 2020. The 1930s
art deco
Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
facade of the Safari Cinema, which has been hidden since the 1960s, is set to be restored from 2020. The council aims to invest over a billion in the town centres of Harrow and
Wealdstone and the Station Road corridor in between.
Geography

The borough of Harrow has a leafy, suburban character, much of which is a legacy of it being at the centre of the
Metroland developments of the early 20th century.
The town centre is about above sea level, almost below the top of
Harrow Hill, which is an outlying knoll.
[Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001)] The hill is half a mile south of the town centre, and the settlement contains historic architecture and has a village atmosphere. The steep climb towards the hill is clearly visible from Lowlands Road. Other parts of Harrow are not as affluent but are still mostly leafy, particularly the northern part called
Harrow Weald
Harrow Weald is a suburban district in Greater London, England. Located about north of Harrow, London, Harrow, Harrow Weald is formed from a leafy 1930s suburban development along with ancient woodland of Harrow Weald Common. It forms part of ...
. The rural northern slopes of Harrow, around
Harrow Weald Common, are part of the
Green Belt and contain a conservation area and a
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 ...
(SSSI) adjacent to another SSSI called
Bentley Priory Nature Reserve which comes under
Stanmore
Stanmore is part of the London Borough of Harrow in Greater London. It is centred northwest of Charing Cross, lies on the outskirts of the London urban area and includes Stanmore Hill, one of the List of highest points in London, highest point ...
. The area also has the highest elevation in Harrow, as high as above sea level.

There is also agricultural land close by the town, on fields at the eastern side of Harrow on the Hill, on Watford Road. This open farmland is only half a mile away from Harrow's town centre and is adjacent to
Northwick Park Hospital and
Northwick Park open space. The farm borders Harrow Park and other open spaces and golf courses that are within Harrow on the Hill; other open spaces include: The Grove open space and Harrow Recreation Ground near the town centre;
West Harrow Recreation Ground;
Kenton Recreation Ground; Alexandra Park in
South Harrow; Newton Park in
Rayners Lane; Byron Recreation Ground in
Wealdstone; and the grounds of
Headstone Manor.
Much of
Kenton, and before 1716 all of
Pinner, were parts of Harrow. Pinner is now a separate district within the borough of Harrow.
Harrow Weald
Harrow Weald is a suburban district in Greater London, England. Located about north of Harrow, London, Harrow, Harrow Weald is formed from a leafy 1930s suburban development along with ancient woodland of Harrow Weald Common. It forms part of ...
is the district north of
Wealdstone, and both of these are historically also part of Harrow. It is the principal settlement of the London Borough of Harrow, which also includes the towns of Pinner and
Stanmore
Stanmore is part of the London Borough of Harrow in Greater London. It is centred northwest of Charing Cross, lies on the outskirts of the London urban area and includes Stanmore Hill, one of the List of highest points in London, highest point ...
.
The
Harrow postcode area covers the entire borough and stretches into neighbouring boroughs: west into
Ruislip and
Northwood, and east to
Edgware
Edgware () is a suburban town in northwest London. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex east of the ancient Watling Street in what is now the London Borough of Barnet but it is now informally considered to cover a wider area, inc ...
and
Wembley. The postcodes for Harrow town itself are HA1, HA2 and HA3.

Harrow is from Pinner, each from Wembley, Stanmore and Northolt, and from Ruislip.
Economy
Central Harrow forms a commercial hub in the north-west of Greater London, with many retail outlets and commercial offices, and increasingly residential apartments in more recent regeneration schemes. Harrow is classified as one of 13 metropolitan centres in the
London Plan.
The area has two shopping centres,
St Anns and
St George's, containing
chain store
A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate many retail markets, dining markets, and service categories in many p ...
s typical of British high streets. There are also parades of shops throughout Station Road and the ascending, traditional College Road, and over of a fully
pedestranised shopping/café streets roads (north of St Anns). A large
Debenhams department store ( of floorspace) was on Station Road. After Debenhams was liquidated, the site is to become an independent department store called The Landmark due to open on 14 October 2021. There are also large
Morrisons and
Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...
superstores. As of 2012, Harrow has of total town centre floorspace, the lowest of London's metropolitan centres.
The creation of St George's in 1996, less than a decade after St Anns, gave Harrow a stronger competitive retail standing. On one index, the town centre's league position went from 106th (out of 1,000) to 71st (out of 1,400) from the mid-1980s to mid-1990s. Harrow's competing shopping centres were recognised to be
Watford
Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne.
Initially a smal ...
,
Uxbridge
Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...
and
Brent Cross Shopping Centre. A 2003 council report showed that Harrow was less competitive as a retail centre by comparison.
In 2015, Harrow ranked 99th in the Hot 100 UK retail locations published by
CACI; it was 5th in Greater London, behind
Croydon
Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...
,
Kingston upon Thames,
Bromley
Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023.
Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...
and
Enfield Town. In 2018, Harrow was ranked 59th in the nationwide "High Street Investment Ranking" carried out by
Knight Frank, and 6th in Greater London beaten by Uxbridge and
Richmond.
The
Wealdstone district has a strong industrial connection, having been the location for the manufactures
Winsor & Newton (artists' materials), Whitefriars Glass, and
Kodak.
Demography
The town includes its localities within the Harrow post town:
Harrow on the Hill,
Harrow Weald
Harrow Weald is a suburban district in Greater London, England. Located about north of Harrow, London, Harrow, Harrow Weald is formed from a leafy 1930s suburban development along with ancient woodland of Harrow Weald Common. It forms part of ...
,
Headstone
A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The u ...
,
North Harrow,
Kenton,
Rayners Lane,
South Harrow,
Wealdstone and
West Harrow. The Borough's population was 250,149 in 2011.
Harrow Borough's proportion of Jewish, Muslim and Hindu residents is above average. The
ethnic minority population includes a large and established
Gujarati Indian community, who originally settled in large numbers in the borough after their
expulsion from Uganda in 1972.
The highest life expectancy (as of 2009–2013) for females was 89.5 years in Headstone North, and for males was 83.8 years in West Harrow. The lowest expectancies were 82.4 years in Wealdstone and 78.6 years in Greenhill respectively. The median age was highest in Headstone North (40 years) and lowest in Greenhill and Wealdstone (both 33 years). The life expectancies for Harrow are lower than both Pinner and Stanmore in the borough.
According to a 2018 survey by the
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; ) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible fo ...
(ONS), the borough of Harrow was the "happiest" in London and scored higher than the English average. Adversely, in another survey by an estate agent in 2019 the borough was found to be the "least friendly" in London.
Average house prices within the borough stood at £479,682 as of 2017.
Governance
Harrow Council has been governed by the
Labour Party since 2014. The town of Harrow generally is represented by 13
wards,
each represented by three councillors.
Harrow is in the
Brent and Harrow constituency for the
London Assembly which has been represented since May 2021 by
Krupesh Hirani (
Labour). Prior to this, it was represented by
Navin Shah (
Labour) between 2008 and 2021.
Keekira Thammaih was the first Indian and a first Asian to be the Mayor of Harrow, England in 2000 – 2001.
Since the
2010 general election, most of Harrow town has been part of the
Harrow West parliamentary constituency, most recently represented by
Gareth Thomas (
Labour), but eastern districts such as Kenton fall within the
Harrow East constituency which is represented by
Bob Blackman
Robert John Blackman Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), MP (born 26 April 1956) is a British politician who has been the chairman of the 1922 Committee and chair of the Backbench Business Committee since 2024. A member of the Conservative ...
(
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
).
Education
Harrow is best known for
Harrow School. An independent
boarding school
A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...
for boys, founded in 1572, Harrow School is considered one of the finest secondary schools in the world. The nearby
John Lyon School is another boys' independent school, while another known school is the
North London Collegiate School for girls located further in the borough in
Edgware
Edgware () is a suburban town in northwest London. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex east of the ancient Watling Street in what is now the London Borough of Barnet but it is now informally considered to cover a wider area, inc ...
.
Harrow is also home to a large
University of Westminster campus, located near
Northwick Park and
the hospital. It serves as the university's base for Media, Arts and Design. The school dates back to 1897 specialising in art, photography and fashion, becoming a college in the 1960s under the name Harrow College of Higher Education. It merged with Polytechnic of Central London (PCL) in 1990, now known as the University of Westminster.
Other educational institutes in or near central Harrow include:
Harrow High School,
Whitmore High School,
St Dominic's Sixth Form College,
Salvatorian College and
Harrow College.
Greenhill School was built in the 1880s, but the building was demolished in 1967 to make way for shops on St Anns Road. The site is now home to a
Marks & Spencer.
Culture
Arts
The borough's
Harrow Arts Centre is located in
Pinner and includes a theatre and several meeting rooms for various arts groups.
The
St George's centre has a large
Vue cinema. Formerly Sheepcote Road was home to Granada Theatre, opened in 1937, which became a 3 screen cinema in 1973. The building, interior designed by
Theodore Komisarjevsky,
was
Grade II listed in 1988.
The cinema went through ownership and name changes from 1989 until it was permanently closed in 1996, six months after the other cinema opening at St George's. After a few years in a derelict condition, the building became a health club gymnasium operated by
Gold's Gym. The theatre's original
Wurlitzer organ is retained in the building, although currently not accessible to the public,
is reported to remain in perfect working condition.
An art-deco cinema called Dominion opened in 1936 adjoining Lower Mead football ground, on much of the site of Greenhill Farm.
It was later purchased by
ABC Cinemas, and the Dominion's original
art deco
Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
design (by
F.E. Bromige) was covered in new metal cladding in 1962. In the 1970s the lower floor was converted to a bingo hall and in the 1990s the cinema became the Safari, showing Bollywood films. This closed in the 20teens and it was not until January 2020 when plans to restore the art deco (and building 78 flats at the site) were approved by Harrow council. This is currently under re-construction.
Religion
Some of the major churches in Harrow include the Grade I listed
St Mary's Church, St John's Greenhill, All Saints Harrow Weald, Holy Trinity Wealdstone, Christ Church Roxeth, and Kenton Methodist Church.
Harrow has a Hindu temple dedicated to Sri Lord Ayyappa and is known as Sri Ayyappan Kovil, located in the
Wealdstone neighbourhood. In the same area is the large
Harrow Central Mosque, and a smaller local mosque, Masjid Imam Muqbil, is located in
South Harrow. On Bessborough Road in the town is the
Mosaic Reform Synagogue, and there is a
United Synagogue in the
Kenton part of Harrow. There is a
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, ...
centre in
Rayners Lane.
Media
The 1918 novel ''
The Return of the Soldier'' is based in Harrow.
The wedding of characters
Peggy Mitchell and
Frank Butcher
Frank Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Mike Reid (actor), Mike Reid. Frank makes his first appearance on-screen as a guest character in 1987, but due to a positive viewer reception, he is reintr ...
of ''
EastEnders
''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...
'' in 1999 was filmed in Harrow. The classroom in ''
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' was filmed at the Fourth Form Room of
Harrow School. The school was also used to shoot many scenes of the drama ''
The Crown
The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...
''. The British Asian soap drama ''Cloud 9'' was shot in Harrow in 2013. The exterior of Clark's house in the 2016 film ''
Me Before You'' was shot in Harrow.
The ''
Harrow Times'' is a local newspaper for the borough, and formerly the historic ''
Harrow Observer'' that dates back to the 19th century. The ''
Brent & Kilburn Times'' and ''
Watford Observer'' also cover Harrow.
Radio Harrow is a local charity radio that broadcasts from
Northwick Park Hospital. Launched in 2015 in its current form, its predecessor Radio Northwick Park had already been broadcasting for four decades before. A
student radio called Smoke Radio broadcasts from the
University of Westminster campus since 2004.
Sports
Harrow is represented by the
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
club
Wealdstone F.C., who play in the
National League (fifth tier); they are based in
Ruislip, moving from their original stadium in Harrow in 1991. Another local club is
Harrow Borough F.C. who are based at
Earlsmead Stadium and currently play in the
Isthmian League Premier Division (seventh tier).
Harrow Leisure Centre and
Harrow Skate Park are located by Byron Park in Wealdstone.
There is a golf course at
Northwick Park.
Public services

Harrow borough is patrolled by the
Metropolitan Police (the
territorial police force in Greater London). The service is mainly provided through Harrow Police Station on Northolt Road in South Harrow, and the borough overall has contact points supported by 22
Safer Neighbourhoods teams. Previous police stations at Kirkland House and in Wealdstone have closed down in the 2010s. The borough's
basic command unit is combined with the London boroughs of
Barnet and
Brent.
Harrow is served by
Northwick Park Hospital and specialists
St Mark's Hospital and
Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (in
Stanmore
Stanmore is part of the London Borough of Harrow in Greater London. It is centred northwest of Charing Cross, lies on the outskirts of the London urban area and includes Stanmore Hill, one of the List of highest points in London, highest point ...
), which are run by
National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...
. The local
Harrow CCG manages public provision of homecare throughout Harrow which is state funded. A private hospital called Clementine Churchill is located in Harrow-on-the-Hill.
Transport
Rail and London Underground

Harrow is served by many
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England.
The Undergro ...
and
National Rail services:
*
Harrow-on-the-Hill (
Metropolitan line &
Aylesbury Line/
Chiltern Railways)
*
Harrow & Wealdstone (
Bakerloo line,
London Overground
London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, it now serves a large part of Greate ...
,
London Northwestern Railway and
Southern)
*
West Harrow (Metropolitan line)
*
South Harrow (
Piccadilly line)
*
Rayners Lane (Metropolitan/Piccadilly lines)
*
North Harrow (Metropolitan line)
*
Kenton (Bakerloo line & London Overground)
*
Headstone Lane (London Overground)
*
Northolt Park (
Chiltern Main Line/Chiltern Railways)
n Boundary between Ealing & Harrow*
Sudbury Hill Harrow (
Chiltern Main Line/Chiltern Railways)
*
Northwick Park (Metropolitan line)
n boundary between Brent & Harrow*
Sudbury Hill (Piccadilly line)
Harrow-on-the-Hill is the town's central station, located on College Road/Lowlands Road. The station provides direct Underground and rail links to the
West End, the
City
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
,
Uxbridge
Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...
, and through the
Chiltern Hills to
Aylesbury
Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Waterside Theatre. It is located in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycombe and Milt ...
. The other major station - and both the largest and busiest of Harrow - is
Harrow & Wealdstone, a short distance north from the town, which has direct trains to the West End,
Croydon
Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...
,
Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport , also known as London Gatwick Airport (), is the Airports of London, secondary international airport serving London, West Sussex and Surrey. It is located near Crawley in West Sussex, south of Central London. In 2024, Gatwic ...
,
Watford
Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne.
Initially a smal ...
,
Hemel Hempstead and beyond towards
Brighton
Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
and
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
respectively. Both stations are in
Travelcard zone 5. Trains towards
Gerrards Cross are served by the smaller
Sudbury Hill Harrow station which also provides an alternative route towards the
West Midlands.
Harrow-on-the-Hill is a much busier tube station compared with the town's other principal station, Harrow & Wealdstone, recording over 10.3 million London Underground passengers in 2018/2019. However, the latter is served more extensively by National Rail services, as well as the London Overground and because of this it's a busier National Rail station.
A short railway line called the
Stanmore branch line formerly ran from Harrow & Wealdstone via
Belmont to , but this line was closed in 1964.
On 23 December 1991, the
IRA exploded a bomb on a train at
Harrow-on-the-Hill station; there were no injuries.
Bus
Harrow bus station is adjacent to
St Anns shopping centre and
Harrow on the Hill railway station. All buses are managed by
Transport for London and links are provided to
Ruislip,
Watford
Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne.
Initially a smal ...
,
Edgware
Edgware () is a suburban town in northwest London. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex east of the ancient Watling Street in what is now the London Borough of Barnet but it is now informally considered to cover a wider area, inc ...
,
Northwood,
Golders Green,
Wembley,
Ealing
Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...
,
Hayes and
Heathrow Airport. Many local buses have a H-prefix in the range 9–19.
During the
privatisation of London bus services, Harrow was one of the first places with its own
London Regional Transport operating unit, called Harrow Buses and operating from November 1987 in red and cream branded livery. The scheme was not successful and the service gained the nickname "Harrowing Buses" from the local press.
Harrow was the place where the first major electronic contactless
smart card
A smart card (SC), chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card), is a card used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an Embedded system, embedded integrated circuit (IC) chip. Many smart ...
technology was being tested on buses. In a £2 million trial that started in February 1994, cards were provided by
London Transport at the bus station and could be used on 21 bus routes in Harrow, the largest trial of its kind in the world. Within two months, 9,000 smart photocards were issued. The scheme was a success by the time it ended in December 1995, and led to the development of the
Oyster card in 2003.
Road
There are no
trunk road
A trunk road is a major highway with a specific legal classification in some jurisdictions, notably the United Kingdom, Sweden and formerly Ireland. Trunk roads are planned and managed at the national-level, distinguishing them from non-trunk ro ...
s in the vicinity of Harrow. The
A312 road starts in Harrow as Bessborough Road - however the A312's section in Harrow is merely an urban road, and the primary trunk road starts over 3 miles away in
Northolt. It is here where there is a crossing with the
A40 Western Avenue. The
A406 is 5 miles away via
Neasden,
Wembley or
Hanger Lane Gyratory. There is access to junction 2 of the
M1 motorway 6 miles away via the
A41 in
Edgware
Edgware () is a suburban town in northwest London. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex east of the ancient Watling Street in what is now the London Borough of Barnet but it is now informally considered to cover a wider area, inc ...
.
Gallery
Station Road, Harrow.jpg, Station Road, Harrow
Royal Oak Harrow.jpg, Royal Oak public house on St Anns Road has existed since the early 20th century and is locally listed
St_Ann's_Road,_Harrow_2.jpg, St Anns Road
St Anns Road, Harrow.jpg, St Anns Road
Harrow Era Mix.jpg, Middle section of Station Road, showing shops and the Time Building and apartments on Lyon Road behind it
Harrow Bus Station 2.jpg, Harrow's central bus station
Fat Controller, Harrow.jpg, Former Fat Controller pub, closed in 2010
Premier Supermarket, Station Road, Harrow - geograph.org.uk - 380202.jpg, Premier Supermarket on Station Road (1963), now an Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
supermarket; the site was originally home to the Harrow Coliseum cinema which was demolished in 1956
Moon on the Hill, Harrow, HA1 (6163372441).jpg, Moon on the Hill pub
Harrow Square blocks.jpg, New built Harrow Square blocks
Debenhams in Harrow shortly before its final closure (1).jpg, The old Debenhams shortly before its closure in May 2021. The site is becoming an independent department store called The Landmark.
Time Building.jpg, The Time Building on Station Road with a Miller-branded clock - formerly home of Time nightclub in 2000; today part converted into residential use
Notable people
Some notable people who were born and/or grew up in the Borough of Harrow are shown below.
Peter Andre.jpg, Peter Andre
Kate Nash (8179628760).jpg, Kate Nash
Stuart Pearce.jpg, Stuart Pearce
Diane Abbot Corbyn leadership rally August 2016.jpg, Diane Abbott
Elton John Cannes 2019.jpg, Sir Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...
Dev Patel (29870651654).jpg, Dev Patel
Dev Patel (; born 23 April 1990) is an English actor and filmmaker. List of awards and nominations received by Dev Patel, His accolades include a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and two Golden Globe A ...
Notes and references
;Notes
;References
External links
Harrow Council Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrow, London
Areas of London
Districts of the London Borough of Harrow
Metropolitan centres of London