Harrow-on-the-Hill

This is the 14th station I have visited on the Metropolitan Line. The station was opened as Harrow in August 1880 when the Metropolitan Railway was extended from its previous terminus at Willesden Green. Four years later the name was changed to Harrow-on -the-Hill, which is a bit misleading as the village of Harrow-on-the-Hill is at the top of the hill. 

The journey out to Harrow-on-the-Hill wasn't too bad as they run fast and semi fast trains on this line. So instead of stopping at every station I got on the semi fast which stopped here. The Metropolitan line is the only underground line to offer this service. The station has four platforms that serve the Metropolitan line and two platforms that serve National Rail on the London Aylesbury line. This is the final Metropolitan line stop before the line splits.

The round ended art deco style waiting room is an interesting feature on the platform.

The station has two entrances which are linked by this passageway. During the station's opening hours it provides a useful shortcut preventing the longer walk round via the bridge.

I left the station via the exit on the right which took me past a few food shops and out onto College Road and the main shopping area.

  

It is a large travel interchange here with a bus station on the same road. 

Across the road from the station were a couple of shopping malls. They were only small, but they had lots of shops and it felt busy.

I returned to the station and walked through to the South exit. It is noticeably greener on this side of the station with a recreation ground across the road. The hill is 124m above sea level, so I decided to walk up there and have a look at the village.  

 This large statue of a leaf is symbolic of Harrow-on-the-Hill's green land. It is on Grove Open Space which I walked across to get to the road going uphill to the village.

At the other side of the green were some newly planted trees. 

This is the first memorial I have seen dedicated to the victims of Covid. It's good to be reminded that so many people died from Covid. To date over 200,000 have died in the UK. 

You enter the village with a view of Harrow School. The school was founded in 1572 under a Royal charter by Elizabeth I which was granted to John Lyon, a local wealthy farmer. The school was founded to provide free education for 30 poor boys of the parish. The School Master was allowed to accept 'foreigners' (boys from outside the parish) from whom he received fees. This private, independent school now has over 830 boys between the ages of 13 to 18. They are all boarders living in one of 12 houses within the village. Fees for 2022-23 are £46,710. Even if you could afford the fees, you still need to pass an entrance exam and probably have had your name down since birth. There are many famous old Harrovians such as Sir Winston Churchill, the actor Benedict Cumberbatch, Jawaharlal Nehru and so on.

This is part of the original building at Harrow. It was finished in 1615 and enlarged in 1820 and given its present distinctive appearance. 

I wandered down the High Street. It was very, very quiet in complete contrast to the High Street at the bottom of the hill by the station. It seems that the vast majority of buildings are owned by Harrow School.

One of the boarding houses.

There are a few restaurants and coffee shops. This was an interesting one with these sculptures above the doors but I couldn't find out anything about the history of the building.

This is the site of the former town well which was sunk in 1816 and was a primary source of drinking water to the residents of Harrow. In 1880 the well was replaced with this fountain. The fountain was not used for many. many years until 2004 when a restoration project run by Harrow on the Hill Trust and the London Borough of Harrow restored it and reintroduced the provision of drinking water.

After walking through the village, I stopped for lunch at The Doll's House. 

 

It was a mixture of shop and cafe.  

Being lunchtime groups of pupils from the school walked past. They were all dressed in light grey flannel trousers, dark navy blazers and straw hats. Their uniform also includes morning suits and top hats which are worn on Sundays. 

Whilst in the cafe I noticed a poster advertising free lunchtime concerts in the church. So once I had finished lunch I wandered up to the church to listen to four 13yr old boys from the school each playing a short piece of classical music. Three played the violin and the fourth played a cello. I think they probably played in order of proficiency. They were all good but the final violinist was amazing. They have free recitals in the church every Tuesday lunchtime performed by musicians from from the school. Voluntary donations were collected for the church restoration fund. Afterwards I had a look around the church.

The church of St Mary sat at the top of the hill.  A church here was completed and consecrated by St Anselm in Jan 1094. Little of the original building remains apart from the lower section of the tower.

There are many memorials in the church.

The grave of the founder of Harrow school, John Lyon.                                                  .




 

This spot at the back of the churchyard is where Lord Byron (1788-1824) sat and wrote some of his poetry.

This is the view from where he would sit. Obviously far more rural in Byron's day.

In the graveyard is a memorial to the daughter of Lord Byron 

I also found out that on some Tuesday afternoons the Old Speech Gallery at the school is open to the public for a couple of hours. I decided to walk back into the village to see if it was open. 

The Old Speech Room was completed in 1820 and was used as a space where boys could learn the art of public speaking. In 1976 it was converted into a gallery and is used to display some of the School's collection of antiquities and fine art.

When I got there, another lady was waiting outside and as it was after 2.30, she rang the bell. The curator opened the door and said only members of staff could go in and not members of the public as her assistant wasn't there. It just so happened that the other lady, who was waiting with me, was a matron at the school so, as the curator thought I was with her, I was invited inside. I had no idea what would be on display. I did explain I was not a member of staff but managed to talk my way into being given a 1:1 guided tour of this small but amazing gallery. As 2022 is the 450th anniversary of the founding of the school there were many drawings and paintings on display relating to the buildings. But also on display were its treasures such as a silver 3 pence coin from Elizabeth I's reign, dated the year the school was founded. There were three silver arrows which were given as prizes for an annual archery competition, last held in 1770. Clothes worn by the boys for the competition were also on display. I was told this would be the last time they would be displayed due to their fragility. There was a terracotta bust of Sir Winston Churchill (an old Harrovian); a Constable painting of Harrow; a stamp album with original penny black stamps. I was there for about one and a half hours. I couldn't believe my luck. Sadly, I can't share any of these items with you as no photography was allowed.

This is the 'new' Speech Room built in 1876.

In the end I was there for over four hours in the little village at the top of the hill. This was one station's environs that I thoroughly enjoyed visiting. Sometimes these stations I visit allow me to experience things I would never do or see. Harrow is a long journey from where I live and, but for this underground challenge, I would probably never just go all that way to visit the village.