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The London Borough of Harrow is a London borough of outer northwest London. It borders Hertfordshire to the north and other London boroughs: Hillingdon to the west, Ealing to the south, Brent to the southeast and Barnet to the east.

History

Harrow was formed in 1934 as an urban district of Middlesex by the Middlesex Review Order 1934, as a merger of the Harrow on the Hill Urban District, Hendon Rural District, and Wealdstone Urban District.

The urban district gained the status of municipal borough on 4 May 1954. The 50th anniversary of the incorporation as a borough was celebrated in April 2004, which included a visit by Queen Elizabeth II.

In 1965 the municipal borough was abolished and its area transferred to Greater London under the London Government Act 1963 to form the London Borough of Harrow. It is uniquely the only London borough to replicate exactly the unchanged boundaries of a single former district. This was likely because its population was large enough. According to the 1961 census it had a population of 209,080 making it the largest district or borough in Middlesex.

Demographics

The presence of Harrow School often gives the impression the Borough is an affluent, leafy area. This was once true, but the relative affluence of Harrow-on-the-Hill is now surrounded by typical north west london suburbia of semidetached houses and flats. It is still considered affluent in comparison to other similar areas of London. Harrow has a low overall crime rate, but street crime remains high. Harrow Council is focusing regeneration efforts on several tired areas such as Wealdstone and South Harrow and many new 'key service workers' type-flats are springing up. Recently the seemingly terminal decline of its village and town high streets is showing a reverse in fortune with new retail regeneration in several areas. This will take time, but it is inevitable as more people move in and demand modern facilities. In the north part of the Borough, there is a greenbelt strip of highly affluent housing located in the areas of Northwood, Pinner and Stanmore. Its location on and near the greenbelt and ease of access to central London (10 minutes by train to Marylebone) makes Harrow a good place to live not only for families but affluent singles as well. Rising property prices in all London areas has helped to see a large increase in property redevelopment of its existing Edwardian and 1920s to 1940s housing stock , which in turn is attracting new residents looking for a clean, safe and relatively green environment to live in, close to central London.

Although once perceived as a white elderly borough, Harrow is now very ethnically diverse and younger. It has the highest density of Gujarati Hindus in the UKMinority religions mainly in London. National Statistics. Accessed 5 Jun 2006. and there are a growing number of settlers from the African continent, especially from Somalia. There are also a lot of Irish people living in the borough. A large number of Jewish people live in Stanmore and Hatch End, though some are now moving out and being replaced by Hindus. Harrow also has the highest proportion of stable marriages in the UK, probably due to its ethnic make-up.

In 2005, Harrow's first multi-cultural music festival, Under One Sky, was held to celebrate its ethnic diversity.

Education

The Borough is often perceived as having a good educational record. The Borough features many state funded primary and secondary schools, as well as a handful of large tertiary colleges. The state school system differs slightly from the majority of London Boroughs with entry to secondary school starting at the age of 12+ as opposed to 11+. Similarly, for a long time the secondary schools of Harrow did not feature integrated sixth-form education, with all school leavers having to join the large tertiary colleges such as Harrow College, Stanmore College or St Dominic's College. There have been critics of the tertiary colleges, with many arguing the standard of education does not continue the standard set by the Borough's secondary schools. Indeed, Harrow suffers a significant number of pupils leaving the Borough for their tertiary education. However, as of 2005-2006 session, select Harrow secondary schools are now introducing sixth-forms in a hope to retain more of the pupils and to provide them an alternative to the large tertiary colleges.

The Independent schools of the Borough are dominated by the presence of Harrow School and North London Collegiate School for girls, which consistently ranks as one of the best schools in the country. Other notable Independent schools in the Borough are the two secondary schools, John Lyon School for boys and Heathfield School for girls. Notable Independent primary schools are Orley Farm School and Reddiford School, both of which are co-educational.

There are also a number of Voluntary Aided schools in the Borough. Examples include: Salvatorian College (Roman Catholic), The Sacred Heart Language College (Roman Catholic) and The Moriah Jewish Day School (Jewish).

The secondary schools in the London Borough of Harrow are:

  • Bentley Wood High School for Girls
  • Canons High School
  • Harrow High School
  • Hatch End High School
  • Nower Hill High School
  • Park High School
  • Rooks Heath High School
  • Salvatorian College (Roman Catholic)
  • The Sacred Heart Language College (Roman Catholic)
  • Whitmore High School
  • Harrow School

Districts

The borough includes the areas:

See also

References

Districts of London | Harrow

Harrow (londýnský obvod) | London Borough of Harrow | Harrow | Harrow (distrikt) | Harrow (burg)

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "London Borough of Harrow".

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