Ruislip Manor

This is the 18th station I have visited on the Metropolitan line. It is on the Uxbridge branch line and serves both the Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines. The station opened as a basic wooden halt in August 1912. Completely rebuilt by Charles Holden in 1938 and then rebuilt at platform level in 2008

Here is another 'labyrinth' by the artist Mark Wallinger. There is one on every station apart from the two newest stations on the Northern Line. They were created in 2013, to celebrate 150 years of the London Underground. Each one is unique and is numbered. If I find them at the stations I will post a photo.  I should come across 1/270 when I reach the terminus of the next branch line of the Metropolitan line. The reason for that being number one is that that is the start of the tube Challenge and the last one is at Heathrow Terminal 5 where the Challenge normally ends. The tube Challenge requires you to visit every station on the underground network. According to the Guiness Book of Records, the record for fastest  completion time stands at 15 hours, 45 minutes and 38 seconds.

The original signage in the ticket hall.

Not much of a frontage to the station. Looks better from further away.
 

The station exited onto a wide, busy High Street.

 I turned off the high road to have a look at a large Catholic Church on Pembroke Road. This large Catholic church  was opened in 1939. The colonnade and halls were added in 1984.

Just around the corner from the Catholic church is this Baptist church. In 1937 a wooden hall was built on this site and in 1950 a red bricked hall was constructed next to the wooden church. The building was extended in 1960. Then in 2000 the church took over this building which was redeveloped and provides much needed space for more meeting rooms, offices and a larger kitchen. 

I walked down a few roads and then crossed over the River Pinn a couple of times. A riverside  walk would take me back to Eastcote gardens which I visited a couple of weeks ago when I explored the area close to the last tube station.

During the Second World War the River Pinn was dammed near Pinner High Street to provide water for putting out fires from air raids.

This field is called Copwell Mead, The fields are in the floodplain of the River Pinn and have flooded naturally for thousands of years. Fresh soil and nutrients spread onto the land by the water would have created rich meadows for grazing livestock in summer.

From the river I walked up to Ruislip Manor Farm which has recently been renovated and is now open to the public, free of charge. The manor was first mentioned in the Domesday book of 1086. This was an inventory of the land in England, who owned and who lived there. It was William the Conqueror's idea as he wanted to know what he owned and how much it was worth and how much tax he could raise. The entry for Ruislip Manor shows that the last owner before the Norman Conquest was a Saxon named Wlward Wit.  In 1086 the land was owned by Ernulf de Hesdin and was worth £20.

The Manor Farm House, built c1508 is a grade II listed building that sits at the heart of the Manor of Ruislip. When the lordship of the manor passed to King's College Cambridge in 1451 it was decided that visiting college dignitaries required more comfortable lodgings than the old Priory. A new manor house was built for them. The provost and scholars leased the manor to tenants who were usually of high status and normally non-resident. The tenant then sub-let to farmers who lived in the house and farmed the land. The house provided the venue for manor courts and was known as Ruislip Court until Victorian times. The hall was the courtroom. The house also contained high status lodgings for the Provost or Steward who came from Cambridge to hold courts and deal with any other business. These were in the cross-wing. The cross-wing and the hall formed the High End of the house. The Low End of the house was the residence of the farmer and his family, but they may have used the other rooms when there were no visitors.

The house had its own court room where two types of courts were held. The Court Leet heard cases involving land disputes, assaults and other minor offences while the Court Baron dealt with more administrative matters such as title deeds and wills. Representatives from King's College presided over the manor court which was held twice a year. Court cases and decisions were meticulously recorded in court rolls which can still be seen today in the College archives.

1617 in the stocks:

Case heard by Ralph Hawtry: Richard Godson, joiner, accused and punished of abusing John Cogges, the constable, in the execution of his duties. It is written that he was to be 'sett in the stocks at Ruislippe before the alehouse dore where he was drunke, to sitt there from the beginning of morning prayer until the end of evening prayer upon Sunday'

In 1932 Kings College gave the Manor Farm site as a gift to the people of Ruislip.

I didn't take any photos inside the building as there were a number of families looking around and the rooms were quite small. There were lots of information boards and a few exhibits on display which had been found during the refurbishment.

This bone carving c1420 was found under the floorboards during the restoration works. The carved bone shows an angel holding a shield against a background of foliage.

Establishing the age of the farmhouse.

I thought the brickwork on the outside was very attractive. Apparently this is called 'nogging' where bricks were laid into the spaces between the timber uprights. Nogging was used for decoration and was a sign of wealth and status.

The Little barn was constructed some time before the 1600. With the Great Barn and other outbuildings it formed the main farmyard of Ruislip Manor. It continued in use as a farm barn until the 1930s when the Manor Farm passed into the care of the Ruislip and Northwood Urban District Council. The Little Barn was found to be dilapidated but sound and was restored and converted to become the local library. 

The Cow Byre dates back to the 19th century and forms part of the farm courtyard. In the last century the building was used by the Ruislip Horticultural Society until a disastrous fire in1976. The rebuilding of the Byre in 1981 uncovered flints and wooden stakes thought to be from a much earlier building, possibly a guesthouse for the use of the priory which stood on this site in medieval times.

This is the oldest timber-framed barn in Greater London. It was built c1300 during the reign of Edward I (1272-1307) to store the crops and other produce of Ruislip manor and its farmland. The huge timbers used to construct it were grown in Ruislip woods. Although repaired many times, much of the original structure remains and the Great barn looks almost exactly as it did when built.

Also on the Manor Farm site is this 1960s purpose built community theatre and function space.

During the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) this pond was known as the horse pool and was one of the busiest places on Manor farm. It was larger then than it is today and this is where all the farm horses were brought to have a drink and be washed down after a day's work. Today it is known as the Duck pond and gives its name to the twice monthly market held here.

 My visit coincided with the market. It was a very interesting market with an eclectic mix of goods for sale. There was a delicious looking bread stall with numerous different varieties. It was so busy I couldn't get close to take a photo. A meat stall, olive stall, candles, two gin stalls and other hand made items.

This was a fudge stall. I wasn't going to buy anything until I tasted the fudge. It was so delicious I ended up buying three different flavors: pistachio, fruit and nut, lime and coconut. My mouth is watering as I am writing this and recalling those delicious mouthfuls of fudge. I enjoyed my visit to Ruislip Manor with its fascinating history and its market.

Eastcote

Family commitments and winter weather have meant that it has been a few weeks since I last made a visit to an underground station. I also think I am put off by the distance I need to travel to complete the Metropolitan Line. However, a few days ago on a dry but cold Sunday morning . I decided to make the effort to visit Eastcote station. Due to engineering works, I had to get a train to Charing Cross, the Bakerloo line to Marylebone rail station; a train to Harrow on the Hill and from there I picked up the metropolitan line to Eastcote! I just hoped I would find something more than just a housing estate.

Eastcote station serves both the Metropolitan and the Piccadilly lines. Originally there wasn't a station here but a halt stop which opened in 1906. This attracted numerous day trippers from London who arrived to enjoy not just the countryside but a visit to one of the local tea gardens.  At the beginning of the 20th century the population of Eastcote was just 600. By 1939 the population had increased to 15,000. The halt just couldn't cope with the increase in passengers and a station was needed.

I was delighted to see that Eastcote station was designed in 1936 by Charles Holden who designed a number of Underground stations. His station designs followed similar patterns and he created an identity which included benches, lighting and shelters as well as the buildings. Almost 90 years after he designed this station, the design still looks good and fulfills its purpose.

I liked the large windows in the waiting room. 

The signs, advertising space and lighting are combined into single units. 

The ticket hall is above the tracks and the platforms are accessed by stairs on either side of the ticket hall. The hall is a double height brick box with a flat roof. On the platforms he uses concrete to create cantilevered roofs providing shelter for the passengers. The station has been little altered and still has the original doors, platform clocks and signage.

On either side of the ticket hall are large metal framed windows which flood the hall with natural light.

From the outside the main entrance has two separate sets of doors and is set back from the single storey shops with their large curved glass windows. Above each shop is a large pole mounted Underground roundel. The station was awarded Grade II listed status in 1994.

I was surprised when I left the station as I was expecting just a few shops but it was a very long,wide high street full of shops and cafes. 

Some of the shops had maisonettes above with a walkway overlooking the high street.

When this pub was refurbished recently they changed the name to The Ascott which was the medieval name for Eastcote dating back to the 14th century.

Every village has some form of war memorial. This one is dedicated not only to those who died in WW1 and WW2 but also all Eastcote men who served in HM Forces, volunteers and the wounded who passed through Eastcote VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment) hospital.

As I mentioned in my previous couple of posts on the underground, this area is often referred to as 'Metroland'. With the extension of the Metropolitan Line out this way there was a need to increase the number of houses which in turn meant the need for churches and schools.

St Thomas More Catholic church opened in 1937

Eastcote Methodist church replaced the Wesleyan chapel in 1951

St Lawrence church opened in 1933. Five new schools opened in the 1950s.

My impression of Eastcote was of an affluent area with its mature tree lined streets and neat housing estates rather than blocks of flats. 

I walked through the town and onto Eastcote gardens. Eastcote House which stood in these gardens from around 1507 until it was demolished in 1964, was the principal residence of the Hawtrey Deane family. During the 19th century the family were the largest landowners in the area. All that's left now is the walled garden, dovecote and stables.The stables  on  the left were part of a group of outbuildings surrounding the courtyard behind the house. All the other outbuildings were demolished with the house in 1964. The council bought the whole site in the 1930s. As part of the 2014/5 restoration work, the building was repaired and the front entrance relocated to its former position. The building is now used as a community hall.

The smell of freshly cooked bacon followed me around the garden but the seating inside the cafe was very limited and it was too cold to sit outside. 

The walled garden was where fruit and vegetables would have been produced for Eastcote House. It was very much in its winter state but signs of life were beginning to emerge. 

There has been a dovecote or pigeon house on this site since Elizabethan times. The present one dates from the 18th century. Doves and pigeons provided a source of food as well as manure for the garden.

Running through the park was the River Pinn. On a pleasanter day I may have been tempted to follow the riverside path which is 12 miles long but has a number of places enroute to leave the path and return by public transport.

Across the road from Eastcote gardens is this traditional pub. Originally a 17th century building, it was refurbished in the 1930s to give it a more rural interior. It has a very unusual name: 'The case is altered'. The phrase was first used by the lawyer Edmund Plowden (1518-85). It referred to the effect of new evidence on the case he was dealing with in court. Apparently there are a number of pubs throughout the country with this name and it is said that it is often a local legend to do with some legal case or other,  that is the origin of the name.

The pub is next to the Eastcote Cricket Club.

On my way back to the station I stopped in one of the cafes on the high street for a hot drink and sausage roll. The glass teapot was accompanied by a timer with three different times. I was told the correct coloured timer for the tea I had ordered. 

I had enjoyed my time in Eastcote. Many people I passed greeted me with a smile and 'good morning'. I obviously need to get out of London a bit more.