Inventory Site Record

Headstone Manor Recreation Ground is a remnant of a medieval estate once owned by the Archbishops of Canterbury, and the moated manor house remains in the park. The land was worked as a farm until the 1920s, and in 1925 it was sold to Hendon Rural District Council and opened as Headstone Park in 1928. Headstone Manor became a Museum and Heritage Centre in 1968 and since 1986 has been Harrow Museum and Heritage Centre.

Previous / Other name:

Headstone Manor, Harrow Museum & Heritage Centre

Site location:

Pinner View/Headstone Lane/Parkside Way, Headstone

Postcode:

HA2

What 3 Words:

closed.over.humble

Type of site:

Public Park

Borough:

Harrow

Open to public?

Yes

Opening times:

Park: unrestricted. Museum: Wed-Fri 12.30-5pm; Sat/Sun: 10.30am-5pm

Special conditions:

Facilities:

Children's play area, football and soccer pitches, cricket squares, tennis courts, basketball practice goal; car park. Museum/ Heritage Centre has café, shop, displays

Events:

Annual Harrow Show each August Bank Holiday. Music in summer (Sat and Sun); lectures between March-Dec

Public transport:

London Overground: Headstone Lane. Rail: North Harrow then bus. Tube: North Harrow (Metropolitan). Bus: 350

Citymapper    
Google Map    
streetmap.co.uk

Research updated:

01/01/2012

Last minor changes:

19/07/2023

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

Headstone Manor is the earliest timber-framed house in Middlesex, dating from c.1344. It is encapsulated within a later house and sited on the only complete moat in the county, also C14th, which is fed by the Yeading Brook and was probably ornamental. Headstone Manor was owned by the Archbishops of Canterbury from the C9th with an estate of some 250 acres. In 1344 the manor house was rebuilt by John Strafford who was then Lord of the Manor. After 1546 ownership of the manor went to Sir Edward North. During the Civil War in 1631 it was owned by Simon Rewse and his family, among whose members was Francis Rewse, a cavalier knighted by Charles I. In 1649 debts forced Rewse to sell the manor to William Williams. In the 1770s the house was extended. The garden of the manor is north-east of the house and remains as a simple lawn. Headstone Manor may have been the inspiration of Anthony Trollope's Monkton Grange in his novel 'Orley Farm' written in 1862. He lived in Harrow 'in utter misery' from 1816-1834.

Headstone Manor Recreation Ground is a remnant of the medieval estate. The land was worked as a farm until the 1920s although by then the estate was increasingly sold off for housing development. The area that is now the recreation ground was sold to Hendon Rural District Council in 1925 and opened as Headstone Park in 1928. Within the area of the recreation ground is Headstone Copse, which is enclosed by fencing to the south-east of the moated manor. It has probably existed as woodland for centuries, with mature oak and ash, and old hedgerow along the east. The Yeading Brook runs through it. Towards the end of the C19th Headstone Races had been held in a couple of fields but this activity was suppressed in 1899 due to rioting.

Headstone Manor became a Museum and Heritage Centre in 1968 and since 1986 has been Harrow Museum and Heritage Centre. The site includes a tithe barn, small barn and granary. The tithe barn dates from 1506 and is c.150ft long and 25ft wide; it was used for stabling and crop storage by the Archbishops and tenant farmers. By the 1920s it had become dilapidated but in 1943 some repairs were undertaken and it became The Barn Theatre, used as part of the wartime Holiday-at-Home Scheme. The outer cladding was renewed in 1972. The small barn is probably late C18th/early C19th and was burnt in the mid-1970s and remained a skeleton until 1995 when reconstruction began, re-opening in 1996 and used for displays. In 1991 a late C18th Granary was brought from Pinner Park Farm, where it had stood near the site of the moat. Heritage Lottery Funding has been received to restore the manor house.

Mainly used for sports, the recreation ground is used by a number of local clubs such as Bessborough Cricket Club and West Harrow Cricket Club, founded in 1908 and 1918 respectively. More recently-formed clubs using the ground include Pinner Albion Football Club and Headstone Manor Football Club.

Sources consulted:

'Harrow Museum and Heritage Centre at Headstone Manor: A Friendly Guide', 1996

Grid ref:

TQ139895 (513957,189586)

Size in hectares:

23.07

Site ownership:

LB Harrow

Site management:

Park: Environmental Services, Parks Services. Manor: Harrow Arts Council

Date(s):

C15-18; Recreation Ground 1928

Designer(s):

Listed structures:

LBI & SAM: Headstone manor. LBII*: C16th Barn south-west of Manor. LBII: C17th outbuilding parallel to barn to south of Manor; small barn and granary

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:

Not known

Nature Conservation Area:

Yes - (Copse of 0.8 ha) Borough Importance II

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

Yes

Special Policy Area:

No

Other LA designation:

None

Headstone Manor - Photo: Colin Wing
Date taken: 11/05/21 14:21

Click a photo to enlarge.

More photos