Inventory Site Record

The Manor Farm Site contains much of historical interest centred around remains of a Norman Motte and Bailey fort. It remained in use as a farm until 1932, when it was given to Ruislip-Northwood UDC. The historic buildings include the Great Barn, Cow Byre, and the Little Barn, which have been converted for public use in a pedestrianised area with some landscaping, including a scented garden for the blind. The Manor House now provides an interpretation centre.

Previous / Other name:

Ruislip Manor

Site location:

Bury Street/St Martin's Approach, Ruislip

Postcode:

HA4 7QL

What 3 Words:

habit.roofs.lung

Type of site:

Public Gardens

Borough:

Hillingdon

Open to public?

Yes

Opening times:

unrestricted to grounds. Manor Farm: 9am-5pm Mon-Fri

Special conditions:

Facilities:

Interpretation Centre, Cow Byre art gallery and tea rooms, Manor Farm Library

Events:

Exhibitions and other activities, craft workshops, education programme

Public transport:

Tube: Ruislip (Metropolitan, Piccadilly). Bus: 331, H13, U10.

Citymapper    
Google Map    
streetmap.co.uk

Research updated:

01/10/2016

Last minor changes:

19/07/2023

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.hillingdon.gov.uk/manorfarm

The C16th Manor Farm was restored in 1958, and was sited on a mound where there appears to have been a 'Motte and Bailey' fort in Norman times when the Manor was held by Ernulf de Hesdin. The Manor was given to Abbey de Bec in c.1087 who held it until 1404, and it became a cell of Ogbourne Priory in Wiltshire. As it was the administrative centre of Ruislip Manor, the manorial courts were held here from early days until 1925. From the C15th the Manor Farmhouse was in the ownership of King's College Cambridge who, as the Lords of the Manor, gave it to Ruislip-Northwood Urban District Council in 1932, up to which point farming had taken place here. The farmyard remains to the west and the farm was still moated in the C18th; the northern side was infilled in 1888 by Henry James Ewer, then tenant of Manor Farm.

The Manor Farm buildings have now been converted for public use in a pedestrianized area with some landscaping including a scented garden for the blind. Within the complex is the Great Barn, the oldest in Middlesex and the second largest, dating from late C13th/early C14th with its original framework. The C16th Little Barn was converted to a public library in 1937. The Cow Byre at the eastern side of the yard was replaced in 1981 after the original burnt down in 1976, now an art gallery and tea room. The Bowling Green is on the former site of the Rickyard, which dated from at least 1750, and the Farm Pond was called Horse Pond in the C16th. The C19th Lodge to the southern entrance is now a toilet and the car park is on a site that once housed a Dovecote. Set along the internal wall at the entrance from Bury Street are a number of gravestones that were salvaged from the former dog cemetery at St Catherine's Farm in Howletts Lane. The Winston Churchill Hall was built in 1965 on land originally given by the former Chairman of the then Ruislip-Northwood UDC to the Ruislip Village Trust in 1948, later conveyed to the LB Hillingdon. Near Manor Farm is the historic Ruislip parish church of St Martin's and Churchfield Gardens (q.q.v.). Adjacent is the War Memorial.

Following a successful application for funding from the HLF, restoration work began in March 2007 to fully restore the Manor House, which now includes a new interpretation centre. Other works included enhancing the Great Barn, provision of artists' studios in the cart sheds, and also landscaping works.

Sources consulted:

Walter W Druett, 'Ruislip-Northwood Through the Ages', (King and Hutchings Ltd, 1957); Bridget Cherry & Nikolaus Pevsner, 'The Buildings of England, London 3: North West' (Penguin, 1999 ed) p.347/8; Ben Weinreb & Christopher Hibbert, 'The London Encyclopaedia' (Macmillan, revised ed. 1993), p.705; Joanne Verden 'Ten Walks Around Pinner', (The Pinner Association) 1999 ed p.81; Eileen Bowlt, 'Ruislip History Trail: Manor Farm & Village'' LB Hillingdon (n.d.); K J McBean 'A History of the Manor Farm site' on Hillingdon Council website

Grid ref:

TQ089878 (509070,187820)

Size in hectares:

8.9

Site ownership:

LB Hillingdon

Site management:

Green Spaces Team

Date(s):

medieval

Designer(s):

Listed structures:

Motte & Bailey: SAM. LBII: Great Barn, Cowsheds and sties to east and south of farmyards, Little Barn

On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens:

No

Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965:

No

Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931:

No

Local Authority Data

The information below is taken from the relevant Local Authority's planning legislation, which was correct at the time of research but may have been amended in the interim. Please check with the Local Authority for latest planning information.

On Local List:

No

In Conservation Area:

Yes

Conservation Area name:

Ruislip Village

Tree Preservation Order:

Not known

Nature Conservation Area:

No

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

No

Special Policy Area:

No

Other LA designation:

north part: Green Chain

Manor Farm Site - farmhouse - Photo: Colin Wing
Date taken: 14/06/21 13:33

Click a photo to enlarge.

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