Inventory Site Record

The Cedars is now public open space owned by the local authority but it was part of the former gardens and parkland of a now demolished C19th house once owned by Thomas Blackwell of the well-known Crosse & Blackwell food processing company. It retains a large number of very fine trees, including notable lime, many Lebanon cedars and Wellingtonias, several large oaks and yews, interspersed with laurel shrubberies, flowering shrubs and trees.

Previous / Other name:

The Cedars Open Space

Site location:

Chicheley Gardens/Uxbridge Road/Courtney Avenue, Harrow Weald

Postcode:

HA3

What 3 Words:

brief.mock.lists

Type of site:

Public Park

Borough:

Harrow

Open to public?

Yes

Opening times:

7.30am - dusk

Special conditions:

Facilities:

playground, basketball practice goal

Events:

Public transport:

London Overground: Headstone Lane then bus. Tube: Stanmore (Jubilee) then bus. Bus: 182, 350

Citymapper    
Google Map    
streetmap.co.uk

Research updated:

01/12/2011

Last minor changes:

19/07/2023

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.harrow.gov.uk

In 1834, Thomas Blackwell, who came from a prominent local family and with his friend Edmund Crosse is famous for the food processing company that bears their names, married Jane Ann Bernasconi, the heiress to The Cedars, then known as Clock House. The house used to stand in the north west corner of the public park until at least 1956. Numerous large houses were built as the area was beginning to be developed particularly after Harrow Station opened in 1837, later renamed Harrow and Wealdstone Station. The house was later enlarged by his eldest surviving son Thomas, later Sir Thomas, Francis Blackwell, who owned and farmed much land in the area around Watford and Harrow. At his father's death in 1879 he assumed control of the Crosse and Blackwell business, and he was a prominent local benefactor. His many charitable works included the presentation of Harrow Weald Recreation Ground to the parish, the restoration of Harrow Weald's parish church of All Saints (q.v.), and the donation of a site for the church of St Anselm at Hatch End. Like his father, when he died in 1907 he was buried in Harrow Weald churchyard.

Thomas Blackwell held parties for local children in the grounds of The Cedars, which contained a small rabbit warren that provided food for residents. An area of mature woodland in the north-west was planted with numerous exotic trees and shrubs including maples, pines, Portugal and cherry laurels, rhododendron, Chinese privet and bamboo. At one time there was a sundial that commemorated a visit by Sir Walter Scott in 1806, when he was staying at Bentley Priory (q.v.), an occasion recorded in Walter Druett's 'The Stanmores and Harrow Weald Through the Ages' (1938). The former entrance has remarkable stone gate piers, wrought iron gates and curved flanking railings and remains on the Uxbridge Road.

Sources consulted:

Walter W Druett, 'The Stanmores and Harrow Weald Through the Ages' (Hillingdon Press, 1938) p234; Joanne Verden 'Ten Walks Around Pinner', (The Pinner Association) 1999 ed.; Teresa Farino, Charlotte Pagendam, Sue Swales & Mathew Frith, 'Nature Conservation in Harrow', Ecology Handbook 13 (London Ecology Unit) 1989

Grid ref:

TQ141912 (514090,191280)

Size in hectares:

3.24

Site ownership:

LB Harrow

Site management:

Environmental Services, Parks Services

Date(s):

C19th

Designer(s):

Listed structures:

LBII: gates, gatepiers & curved flanking railings 50 yds east of Courtenay Avenue

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:

No

Tree Preservation Order:

No

Nature Conservation Area:

Yes - Local Importance

Green Belt:

Yes

Metropolitan Open Land:

No

Special Policy Area:

Yes - Area of Special Character

Other LA designation:

None