In 767 Offa, King of Mercia 757–96,
granted 30 hides (manentes) between Harrow and the
Lidding to Abbot Stidberht in exchange for land in
Wycombe (Bucks.). An extra 6 hides and a dwellinghouse east of the brook were added as a gift. (fn. 36) Although
the charter was confirmed in 801 by Pilheard, an
under-king of Cenwulf, King of Mercia 796–821,
and although Cenwulf exempted the land from
royal taxes and services, (fn. 37) the property had returned
to the royal house by 824. At the Council of Clovesho,
Cwenthryth, Abbess of Southminster (Kent) and
daughter of Cenwulf, agreed to surrender 100 hides
in Harrow, Herefrething Land, (fn. 38) Wembley, and
Yeading in reparation for her father's spoliation of
archiepiscopal property. Beornwulf, King of Mercia
823–5, agreed to free (liberabat) all of the property
which had not been freed in 801, and Cwenthryth
was instructed to deliver her landbooks to the archbishop, although she failed to hand over three hides
and the books for 47 hides. In 825 the second Council
of Clovesho ratified her reconciliation with Archbishop Wulfred, which was bought with the landbooks, 4 more hides at Harrow and 30 hides in
Kent. (fn. 39) Wulfred gave the Harrow lands to his
kinsman, Werhard, a priest, for life. Werhard in 845
exchanged one hide at Roxeth, formerly belonging to
Greenford township, with Werenberht the thegn, (fn. 40)
and devised the land to the monks of Christ Church,
Canterbury. Harrow was held by King Harold's
brother, Earl Leofwine, in 1066, but Canterbury regained it after the Conquest. When the Canterbury
lands were divided by Lanfranc between the archbishop and Christ Church, Harrow and Hayes were
allotted to the former. (fn. 41)
Except sede vacante, when it was administered by
the Crown, (fn. 42)
HARROW manor was held by the
archbishops until Cranmer was forced to exchange
it with Henry VIII on 30 December 1545. Six days
later, the king sold it to Sir Edward (later Lord)
North (d. 1564), Chancellor of the Court of Augmentations. (fn. 43) Dudley (d. 1666), the 3rd baron, who,
according to Camden, 'consumed the greatest part
of his estate in the gallantries of King James's
court', (fn. 44) sold Harrow manor in 1630 to Edmund
Phillips and George and Rowland Pitt. (fn. 45) In 1636,
after Phillips's death, Rowland Pitt quitclaimed his
interest to George Pitt (d. c. 1653) (fn. 46) and his heirs. (fn. 47)
George Pitt's son, Edmund, was dead by 1666 and
the manor descended to Edmund's daughter, Alice,
and her successive husbands, Edward Palmer (fn. 48) and
Sir James Rushout, Bt. (d. 1698). (fn. 49) In spite of an
attempted sale in 1764 (fn. 50) it remained with the Rushouts, who acquired the barony of Northwick in 1797,
until the 3rd baron, Sir George Rushout-Bowles,
died in 1887. (fn. 51) His relict, Lady Elizabeth Augusta,
sold some of the estate (fn. 52) but on her death in 1912
the bulk passed to her grandson, Capt. E. G.
Spencer-Churchill. He sold the remaining land in
the 1920s (fn. 53) but retained the manorial rights until his
death in 1964, (fn. 54) when they passed to his executors. (fn. 55)
Until the creation of Rectory manor, which is discussed below, (fn. 56) 'Harrow manor' described both
manorial rights over the whole area and the chief
demesne farm in the centre of the parish. To distinguish it from the Rectory estate at Harrow-on-theHill, the demesne was, from the 14th century, called
SUDBURY manor or SUDBURY COURT. (fn. 57)
Its descent followed that of Harrow manor. Sudbury
manor in the Middle Ages comprised about 620 a.
and a grange, which may have been the archbishop's
original residence since it included a chapel. (fn. 58) It was
leased out from the late 14th century and afterwards
divided into several farms, of which Sudbury Court
Farm remained the most important. (fn. 59) Although there
were traces of an earlier building, (fn. 60) the farm-house
which stood on the north side of Sudbury Court
Road until its demolition in 1957 dated from the
late 16th or early 17th century, with additions made
in the 18th century, 1842, and 1888. (fn. 61)
A second demesne farm, WOODHALL manor,
consisting of a grange and 312 a. in north Pinner, (fn. 62)
existed by 1236. (fn. 63) It descended with Harrow manor
until 1630 when the manorial rights (fn. 64) were combined
with those of Harrow and Sudbury and sold to
Edmund Phillips and the Pitt brothers, while
the demesne farm was sold to William Pennifather
(d. 1658), Sheriff of London and lord of Northolt
manor. (fn. 65) In 1637 Pennifather conveyed Woodhall to
William Wilkinson. It passed to Wilkinson's grandson, Henry Neville, but in 1754 Margaret Conyers
and her nephew Cosmo Neville were ejected by the
heir of Anthony Collins, sole surviving trustee of a
settlement made by Wilkinson in 1655. Under this
settlement Woodhall was sold in 1760 to John Lawes,
who six years later alienated it to John Drummond.
In 1795 the estate was held in trust for Drummond's
grandson, George, (fn. 66) who was in possession in 1817. (fn. 67)
In 1864 it was held by A. W. Tooke, of Pinner Hill. (fn. 68)
Although the land was sold for modern housing, the
farm-house, built in the early 19th century on the
site of a 16th- or 17th-century predecessor and
containing a Tudor fireplace, still stood to the west
of Woodhall Drive in 1968. (fn. 69)
Although there was a small settlement at Headstone by the early 14th century, most of the land was
probably still held by the de la Hegge or de la Haye
family who had an estate there in the 13th century. (fn. 70)
During the 1330s it passed to Robert Wodehouse,
Treasurer of the Exchequer and Archdeacon of
Richmond, (fn. 71) who in 1338 owed suit of court as
tenant of the archbishop of Canterbury. (fn. 72) In 1344
Wodehouse (d. 1346), (fn. 73) granted a messuage, three
carucates of land, 20 a. of meadow, 5 a. of wood, and
24s. rent in Harrow to the archbishop in mortmain. (fn. 74)
By 1348 this was described as the manor of HEADSTONE, 'de novo perquisitum'. (fn. 75) Headstone
manor, a grange and 235 a., descended with Harrow
manor until 1630 (fn. 76) when its manorial rights were
detached and sold with Harrow and Sudbury
manors. Headstone Farm was bought by Simon
Rewse, the lessee. In 1647 it was sequestered by the
Middlesex Committee for Compounding but in 1649
the order was discharged and the estate was sold to
William Williams. He sold it in 1671 to Sir William
Bucknall, in whose family it remained at least until
1823. (fn. 77) At inclosure the estate comprised a block of
388 a. between the Weald and Pinner. (fn. 78) By 1854 it
was divided equally between Frederick Harrison and
William Bush Cooper. Portions were alienated during
the 19th century and in 1874 the rest of Harrison's
portion, then consisting of the manor-house and
189 a., was conveyed to Edward Christopher York
(d. 1885). York's executors sold some land in 1899
but the house and 148 a. were conveyed to his son,
Edward, in 1922. Edward York sold the house and
63 a. in 1925 to Hendon R.D.C. for recreational
uses. (fn. 79) The house, known until after the Second
World War as Moat Farm, was occupied by the head
groundsman in 1968. (fn. 80)
Headstone manor-house, a 'well-built site' in
1397, (fn. 81) replaced Sudbury as the archbishop's main
Middlesex residence. By 1367 there was a chapel, (fn. 82)
which was removed during rebuilding in 1488–9. (fn. 83)
The house, which still stood within its moat in 1968,
is largely timber-framed. At the centre a two-storied
medieval wing survives, its steeply pitched gableend facing north-east. It contains an original roof of
three bays with collar purlin, crown-posts, and
heavy arch-braced tie-beams. The date 1501 is
marked out in bricks at the rear of the house but
most of the structure was rebuilt late in the 16th
century. The single-storied south-east block, the socalled chapel, is of this date, but it may occupy the
site of one bay of the original open hall. Much of the
house was faced with red brick in the 18th century
and it is possible that the south-east block was
truncated at this period. The north wing and the tall
clustered shafts of the chimney date from the 17th
century. South-west of the house is a timberframed and weather-boarded barn of ten bays,
dating from c. 1600. (fn. 84)
The last of the demesne estates, (fn. 85)
PINNER
PARK, was never a manor in the same sense as
Sudbury, Woodhall, and Headstone. (fn. 86) First mentioned in 1273–4, it was a wooded area of approximately 250 a., enclosed by a bank and double ditch. (fn. 87)
A house was built there by 1560 and the park
transformed into a farm soon afterwards. (fn. 88) It descended with Harrow manor until 1630 when it was
sold to Thomas Hutchinson (d. 1656) of London and
his son, John. (fn. 89) John Hutchinson was in possession
in 1674, (fn. 90) but Pinner Park had left the family before
its purchase in 1731 by St. Thomas's Hospital. (fn. 91)
The hospital leased out the estate as a farm until
1931, when 250 a. were sold to the local authority. (fn. 92)
A small portion was conveyed to the R.S.P.C.A. in
1936 but the rest was from 1937 leased to the Hall
family, (fn. 93) formerly tenant-farmers of Headstone. (fn. 94)
The brick farm-house and extensive out-buildings
of brick and timber date mainly from the 18th and
19th centuries.
ROXETH manor originated in freehold land held
by the Roxeth family. (fn. 95) Hamo and Hugh Roxeth
(de Rokeseie) were mentioned in 1233–40 (fn. 96) but the
estate was united in the hands of John Roxeth by
1319. (fn. 97) After William Roxeth was outlawed, the
estate (166 a. and 45s. rent), escheated to the archbishop, who in 1371 granted it in tail to Sir Nicholas
Brembre, Mayor of London and lord of Northolt
manor. (fn. 98) After Brembre's attainder in 1388 an apparently unsuccessful action for novel disseisin was
brought against his widow, Idony, by John Dereham and his wife Joan, who was William Roxeth's
sister. (fn. 99) The property had reverted to the archbishop before 1430 when he leased it out on the same
terms as his demesne estates. (fn. 1) Roxeth, by 1514
called a manor, (fn. 2) probably passed in 1546, when it
consisted of 67 a. of inclosed and 130 selions of openfield land, (fn. 3) to Sir Edward North, who still leased it
out in 1553. (fn. 4) In 1630 it was sold with Pinner Park
to the Hutchinsons (fn. 5) and in 1678 John Hutchinson
sold the manor of Roxeth Place (151 a.) to Thomas
Smith and Robert Nichols. (fn. 6) After Chancery litigation it was conveyed in 1727 by devisees under the
will of Thomas Nichols (d. 1705) to Thomas Brian,
headmaster of Harrow School. The descent thereafter is obscure. In 1764 Brian Taylor alienated the
estate to Percival Hart (d. 1773), distiller of Brentford, (fn. 7) whose widow held one-third in dower in 1795,
when the remainder was held jointly by Emma, wife
of David Garrick, (fn. 8) and Mary, relict of Charles
Vaughan Blunt, presumably Hart's daughters. (fn. 9) In
1817 Mary Blunt had 150 a. in Roxeth, mostly in
the open fields, together with a large building at the
southern end of Northolt Road. (fn. 10) It was marked more
prominently than were the buildings and rickyard
held by her trustees in 1852. (fn. 11) The manor-house
itself, with most of the estate, apparently lay elsewhere. In 1805 George Watlington claimed for the
manor of Roxeth, including 110 a. of inclosed and
136 a. of open-field freehold. (fn. 12) The greater part was
probably 113 a. of inclosed and 53 a. of open-field
land in Roxeth, owned in 1817 by Henry Greenhill
and in 1852 by Richard Chapman. The property
included a square-moated site, well back from the
road, west of the junction of Northolt Road and
Roxeth Hill. Described in 1852 as 'homestall and
ponds', it was almost certainly the site of the
medieval Roxeth Place, (fn. 13) which had disappeared by
1547. (fn. 14) In 1873, when Chapman still owned 159 a.,
the site was in the grounds of his house, the Grange. (fn. 15)
Harrow was in many ways a classic manor, with a
central demesne surrounded by customary land and
fringed, at least on the east, by freehold estates. In
the north-east, on the boundary with Stanmore, was
BENTLEY PRIORY, an Augustinian house
dependent upon the priory of St. Gregory, Canterbury, a foundation of Lanfranc. Bentley was probably founded in the early 13th century, (fn. 16) almost
certainly by an archbishop of Canterbury. (fn. 17) The
estate, described as one plough-land (fn. 18) and leased
out by 1502, (fn. 19) was in 1535 valued at £4 10s. a year. (fn. 20)
From c. 1510 there was apparently no prior or chaplain (fn. 21) and Bentley was probably little more than
a source of income for St. Gregory's. (fn. 22) When St.
Gregory's was dissolved in 1536, its property was
granted to Archbishop Cranmer in exchange for
land at Wimbledon and elsewhere, (fn. 23) but in 1542
he was forced to give these lands back to the king. (fn. 24)
In 1546 the buildings and lands of the former
Bentley priory were granted to Henry Needham and
William Sacheverell, (fn. 25) who in the same year conveyed them to Elizabeth Colte. (fn. 26) The estate remained
with the Colte family until between 1629 and c. 1642,
when it passed to Henry Coghill. (fn. 27) It was left in
1734 by Thomas Coghill to his nephew Thomas
Whittewrong, from whom it passed in 1761 to John
Bennet. (fn. 28) In the following year Bennet sold an interest in Bentley to William Waller and in 1764 a subsidiary interest in land in Harrow, Little Stanmore,
Pinner, and Edgware to John and Samuel Rudge. (fn. 29)
Waller bought further interests in that part lying in
Great Stanmore and Harrow in 1775, (fn. 30) and soon
alienated his whole estate to James Duberly, who
in turn sold it to John James Hamilton, Marquess of
Abercorn (d. 1818), in 1788. (fn. 31) The estate, heavily
mortgaged, was sold in 1857 to John Kelk (later Sir
John Kelk, Bt.), a builder and railway engineer. (fn. 32)
In 1882 Bentley Priory was acquired by Frederick
Gordon, who unprofitably turned it into a residential hotel. After Gordon's death it became a private
boarding school for girls, which was closed in 1924.
In 1926 a syndicate bought about 240 a., part of
which was used for building. The county council
bought about 90 a., including the park, for inclusion
in the green belt. A leasehold interest in this part was
acquired by Harrow U.D.C. in 1936. The house
with 40 a., was sold to the Air Ministry, which used
it from 1936 as the administrative headquarters for
Fighter Command, later Strike Command. (fn. 33) In 1943
Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding (Air Officer
Commanding-in-Chief, Fighter Command, 1936–
40) was created Baron Dowding of Bentley Priory. (fn. 34)
The medieval priory probably stood near the site
of Priory House, a 16th-century timbered farmhouse near Clamp Hill. (fn. 35) Further north, on higher
ground, James Duberly built a house, which was
altered and enlarged c. 1788–99 by Sir John Soane. (fn. 36)
Lysons in 1795 thought it 'a noble mansion, in which
convenience is united with magnificence' but in 1816
Brewer considered it 'an irregular range of brick
building, destitute of architectural beauty, and of
rather a gloomy character'. Its present appearance
owes more to the 19th century, when a high clocktower was added and the exterior was remodelled in
the 'Italian' style; internally, however, a staircase
and several rooms by Soane have survived. (fn. 37)
The manor of UXENDON, first so named in
1373, (fn. 38) consisted of a collection of interests and
property on the eastern borders of Harrow parish.
In 1357 Simon Francis, mercer of London, died
seised of considerable property in Middlesex, including tenements in Harrow held of the Archbishop of Canterbury. (fn. 39) The estate passed to his son,
Thomas (d. 1368) and to Alice, Thomas's widow, for
life, with reversion to his sister, another Alice, wife
of Sir Thomas Travers. In 1376 Sir Thomas's
brother, Richard Travers, clerk, quitclaimed the
reversionary interest to Sir Nicholas Brembre, (fn. 40) but
the property was held in dower by Maud, Simon
Francis's widow, from 1357 until her death in 1384.
In 1385 Brembre acquired 2 hides in Preston from
John Legge, a head tenant who had granted them
to the Francis family, possibly on lease. (fn. 41) Another
Preston family, the Dickets, granted their land in
1352 to Thomas Barnebieu, chaplain, who enfeoffed
John Maselyn with it. The title passed to Maselyn's
cousin, a clerk of the same name, who quitclaimed
his interest to Brembre in 1384. (fn. 42) In that year
Brembre settled much Middlesex property, including Uxendon manor, upon himself for life,
with reversion to the grantors and to the heirs of
Thomas Bere, parson of St. Michael Paternoster.
After Brembre's attainder the manor, then worth
£6 13s. 4d., was occupied by Thomas Goodlake in
Bere's name, (fn. 43) but it escheated to the Crown and in
1394 was sold to Goodlake, (fn. 44) a London citizen who
had other property in the district. (fn. 45) Although John
Hadley died seised of an interest in 1410, (fn. 46) the
capital interest descended to Goodlake's daughter,
Thomasine (d. 1429), who married Sir John Boys
(Boyce or Bosco) (d. 1447). (fn. 47) John Legge surrendered
a hide in 1416 and John Weald surrendered ½ hide
in Preston (called Bugbeards) in 1422 to the use of
Sir John and Thomasine, (fn. 48) and the Boyses' copyhold
land was described as 1½ hide in Preston and 1 hide
in Uxendon until 1459. (fn. 49) John Boys's estate in
Harrow and Kingsbury was worth £5 in 1412, (fn. 50) but
although the family held the freehold of Uxendon
manor, (fn. 51) there is no description of it before 1516.
The freehold then comprised a carucate formerly
belonging to Richard Uxendon, three hides and three
virgates formerly belonging to Richard atte Oke, (fn. 52)
and a virgate formerly belonging to Adam Aylward.
The copyhold was ½ hide formerly Michael Uxendon's, ½ hide formerly Alice Uxendon's, a hide 'late
John Lyon', (fn. 53) and two hides formerly John Preston's.
The total property was estimated at about 1,000 a. (fn. 54)
All these people, save Lyon, had held land in Preston
and Uxendon in the 13th and 14th centuries. (fn. 55)
On Thomas Boys's death in 1516, all the property
passed to his daughter, Mabel, the wife of Richard
Bellamy. (fn. 56) The estate, although heavily mortgaged,
remained with the Bellamys, until another Richard
Bellamy conveyed his remaining interests to Joan
Mudge and William Mascall in 1603. (fn. 57) Mascall quitclaimed to Joan Mudge in the same year and by
1608 Uxendon manor was in the hands of her sonin-law, Richard Page. (fn. 58) The Preston property, 80 a.
around Preston or Preston Dicket manor-house, (fn. 59)
was in 1603 delivered to Stanwardine Passey, one of
Bellamy's creditors, but in 1609 it was acquired by
Richard Page. (fn. 60) Part was held by Edward Halsey in
1770 (fn. 61) and the rest was sold to the Bocket family
before 1799. (fn. 62) At inclosure Martha Bocket and Mary
Halsey had a farm-house and 72 a. of freehold at
Preston. (fn. 63) By 1629 the Kenton portion of Uxendon
manor had been alienated to Robert and Thomas
Walter and merged in their other Kenton estate. (fn. 64)
This passed to the Grahams at the beginning of
the 18th century (fn. 65) but in 1797, (fn. 66) 1802, and 1803
their estate, 70 a. of inclosed meadow and 90 a. of
common-field land, was broken up and sold. (fn. 67)
The Uxendon part of the estate, however, remained intact in the hands of the Page family and in
1817 consisted of 413 a. of inclosed land and 202 a.
allotted in lieu of open-field land, north of Forty
Lane and west of Blind Lane and Preston Road. (fn. 68)
On the death of Richard Page in 1803 Uxendon
manor passed to his brother Francis, who died unmarried in 1810, leaving his brothers William and
Henry as his heirs. Henry Page married in 1813,
when he and William entered into a conveyance for
uses with Francis Fladgate, a solicitor. Fladgate died
in 1821, followed three years later by William Page,
who had never married, leaving Henry Page in
possession. There is no evidence that Henry Page
left any heir, but Henry Young of Essex Street, a
junior partner of Fladgate, apparently obtained a
deed of bargain and sale by fraud from Henry Page,
who was of weak intellect and frequently drunk, in
1825. Page confirmed the deed in his will and when
he died in 1829 Young entered into Uxendon, which
he enjoyed until his death in 1869. He left instructions that the estates were to be sold for the benefit of
his wife and children. (fn. 69) By 1914 the house was being
used by the Lancaster Shooting Club. (fn. 70) It fell into
decay and in 1933 the railway line from Wembley
Park to Stanmore was built across the site. (fn. 71)
WEMBLEY manor originated in the estate in
Wembley, Tokyngton, and Alperton which was
acquired by the priory of Kilburn from the Huscarl
and Tokyngton families. (fn. 72) William Huscarl, who
paid £2 15s. annual rent for his lands to the archbishop in 1236, (fn. 73) granted 94 a. to the priory of
St. Helen, Bishopsgate, in 1236 (fn. 74) and 133 a. and
£2 0s. 10d. rents to Kilburn in 1243. (fn. 75) A dispute
between Kilburn and St. Helen's in 1249 suggests that
the latter's Harrow property passed to Kilburn. (fn. 76) The
most important grant to Kilburn, however, was
probably that made by Ralph Tokyngton in 1246–7. (fn. 77)
A Ralph Tokyngton (de Tockint'), who held 11/6
knight's fee in Hayes, Southall, and Tokyngton c.
1171, (fn. 78) may have descended from one of the three
knights who held 6 hides in Harrow in 1086. (fn. 79)
Godfrey Tokyngton in 1210–12 held ¼ knight's fee, (fn. 80)
which appears to have passed to Ralph by 1230. (fn. 81)
In 1334 the Prioress of Kilburn did homage for 1
hide and 1 carucate of arable and 4 a. of meadow (fn. 82)
which were held by fealty, suit of court, service,
and £3 8s. rent. (fn. 83) After the Dissolution, however,
Wembley was said to have been held by the priory
in chief by service of 1/20 knight's fee and rent. (fn. 84) The
total value of Kilburn's property in Wembley and
Tokyngton in 1535 was £8 10s. 6d., made up of the
farm of the manor, rents, profits from woods, and
perquisites of court. (fn. 85) In 1542 the annual value of the
manor of Wembley was given as £7 7s. (fn. 86)
Kilburn Priory was dissolved in 1536 (fn. 87) and in
1542 all its former lands in Wembley and Tokyngton were granted to Richard Andrews of Hailes
(Glos.) and Leonard Chamberlain of Woodstock
(Oxon.). They regranted the property in the same
year to Richard Page, whose family had leased it
from before the Dissolution. (fn. 88) Richard Page, the
lessee of Sudbury Court, was licensed in 1547 to
lease Wembley manor to Thomas Page, his son. (fn. 89)
The manor was usually held in the Page family by
the eldest son of the lessee of Sudbury Court. (fn. 90) Dairy
Farm and 134 a. stretching southwards to the Brent,
bounded on the east by the Harrow road and on the
west by Alperton common fields, were sold by
Richard Page in 1803 to Samuel Hoare. (fn. 91) In 1852
they were owned by Henry Hoare. (fn. 92) In 1910, when
it was offered for sale as building land, Dairy Farm
was called the Curtis estate. (fn. 93) The rest of Wembley
manor was sold to John Gray. (fn. 94) The estate, which at
inclosure consisted of 327 a. between Wembley and
Forty greens, (fn. 95) passed to his son, the Revd. Edward
Gray, who sold part of it to the Metropolitan Railway
Co. in 1881. The remaining 280 a. were sold by his
executors to Sir Edward Watkin in 1889. (fn. 96) In 1905
James Page, who stated that he was the heir of Henry
Page, claimed the Wembley Park estate from the
Metropolitan Railway and the Tower Co. Ltd., but
the companies based their title on the sale to John
Gray and the case was dismissed. (fn. 97)
The head of the Page family of Wembley seems
to have lived in Wembley House, south of Wembley
Green, first mentioned in 1510 (fn. 98) and occupied in
1781 by Richard Page and later by John Gray. (fn. 99) The
farm-house or Dairy in 1547 stood north of Wembley
Green and south of the brook, (fn. 1) but it was later built
to the east of Wembley House. (fn. 2) In 1810 John Gray
built the White House, a mansion with two wings, a
stucco front and Doric portico, (fn. 3) at Wembley Park.
The house was used as a nunnery from 1905 until its
demolition in 1908. (fn. 4)
TOKYNGTON or OAKINGTON manor (fn. 5)
originated in a freehold estate built up by the Barnville family from the end of the 13th century. (fn. 6) In 1317
John Barnville received rents, nearly 100 a. and the
advowson of Tokyngton chapel from Richard the
Fair (le Blound). (fn. 7) Most of the estate was in Tokyngton, where it seems to have been interspersed with
the Kilburn lands and Freren. (fn. 8) Part of it may originally have lain in Kingsbury and it was the only estate
within Harrow parish of which the Archbishop of
Canterbury was not overlord. In 1272 the overlordship of Edgware and Kingsbury manor was said to
extend to Tokyngton (fn. 9) and from 1426 the estate appears in Kingsbury rentals as 100 a. of free land held
from Edgware manor for 1d. rent a year. (fn. 10) When the
Barnvilles leased Kilburn's Tokyngton property in
the late 14th century, they apparently tried to create
a single estate and it was only after prolonged litigation that Kilburn retained its lands in 1401. (fn. 11) In
1456 the Barnvilles tried to extend their estate by
leasing the demesne of Kingsbury manor. (fn. 12) John
Barnville was dead by 1482, when the Tokyngton
estate was held by his daughter, Elizabeth, and her
first husband Sir Thomas Frowyk, Chief Justice of
the Common Pleas. (fn. 13)
Frowyk died in 1506 (fn. 14) and Elizabeth had remarried by 1508 (fn. 15) when she and her second husband,
Thomas Jakes, conveyed an interest, possibly a
reversion or mortgage, in over 2,300 a. in Middlesex,
including Tokyngton manor and the advowson of
Tokyngton chapel, to Richard Bellamy and others.
After Elizabeth's death in 1515 (fn. 16) the property was
held by Frideswide (d. 1528), her daughter by her
first husband, and by her husband, Sir Thomas
Cheyney. (fn. 17) Cheyney was still holding one freehold (fn. 18)
and one copyhold virgate in Wembley in 1553 (fn. 19) but
the bulk of the Tokyngton estate, consisting of a
messuage, 210 a. and £3 rent, was the subject of
a fine between the Cheyneys and Richard Stanerton
and William Hale in 1522. (fn. 20) By 1528, however,
Richard Bellamy was in possession. (fn. 21) Tokyngton was
among the Bellamy property searched in the 1580s (fn. 22)
and in 1588 it was mortgaged to William Gerard. (fn. 23)
Philip Gerard, to whom it was again mortgaged in
1592, (fn. 24) effected a recovery in 1602 (fn. 25) but by 1609 the
manor was in the hands of the Pages. (fn. 26) In 1800 it was
conveyed by Richard Page to Robert Tubbs, (fn. 27) who
at inclosure in 1817 owned a compact 300 a. in the
south-east corner of the parish. (fn. 28) By 1835 it had
passed to Joseph Neeld, (fn. 29) who devised it by will
proved 1856 to his brother John (later Sir John).
The Neeld family retained Tokyngton manor, under
the name of Oakington Park or Sherren's Farm,
until the break-up of the estate in the 20th century.
The Great Central Railway line was built through
it in 1906 and in 1913 Sir Audley D. Neeld agreed
with Wembley U.D.C. to develop the estate on
garden city lines. In 1938 he conveyed 21 a., including the manor-house, to Wembley Borough Council
for use as open space. (fn. 30)
The house of William Barnville was mentioned in
1400, (fn. 31) but the later manor-house dated from c.
1500, when it was leased to the wealthy John Lamb, (fn. 32)
and was extended c. 1600. From the 16th century it
was usually leased as a farm (fn. 33) and although a single
building is marked in 1759, (fn. 34) farm buildings had been
added by 1817. (fn. 35) The farm later became a park,
when Col. Sir Patrick Wellesley Talbot was tenant, (fn. 36)
and lodges were built near Wembley Hill Road and
Harrow Road. (fn. 37) The estate reverted to farm-land at
the end of the 19th century (fn. 38) and the buildings grew
very dilapidated. (fn. 39) A proposal that the manor-house
should become a public library was rejected, and in
1939 it was demolished. (fn. 40)
There was one sub-manor held from Rectory
manor. This was FLAMBARDS or FLAMBERTS
manor, so-called in 1486, (fn. 41) which originated in an
estate of about 320 a. in Harrow, Northolt, and
Greenford in the hands of the Flambard family by
1353. (fn. 42) After the death of Elizabeth Flambard in
1394, it passed to her daughter, Eleanor, the wife of
Walter Tyrell. (fn. 43) The estate, which as 'the manor of
Harrow' was disputed among the Tyrell family c.
1429, (fn. 44) was conveyed by Sir Thomas Tyrell and his
wife, Anne, to Henry Frowyk, Thomas Charlton,
and John Sturgeon in 1447–8. (fn. 45) Charlton and Sturgeon were both related by marriage to the Frowyks, to
whom they seem to have quitclaimed their interest. (fn. 46)
From the early 14th century various branches
of the Frowyks had held property in Harrow, (fn. 47)
where the family may have had more than one estate.
Part descended from Sir Thomas Frowyk (d. 1506)
to his daughter, Frideswide (d. 1519) and her husband, Sir Thomas Cheyney, (fn. 48) but most was inherited by the elder brother of Sir Thomas Frowyk,
Henry Frowyk of Gunnersbury, (fn. 49) who died, seised
of Flambards, in 1505. (fn. 50) Henry's son Thomas was
dead by 1522 and the property descended to his
sisters, Margaret, wife of Michael Fisher, and
Elizabeth, wife of Sir John Spilman of Narborough
(Norf.), Justice of the King's Bench. (fn. 51) John Spilman,
grandson of the judge, conveyed Flambards in fee
farm in 1573 (fn. 52) to William Gerard, who seems to have
been living there, probably as a lessee, by 1566. (fn. 53)
Gerard paid an annual rent of £30 to John Spilman
and his descendants. In 1656 John Spilman (d.
1663) sold the fee-farm rent to John Bernard and
Daniel Waldo. (fn. 54) Elizabeth (d. 1766), only child of
Charles Gerard (d. 1701), married Warwick Lake in
1709 and Miles Stapledon seven years later. In 1767
representatives of the Lake and Stapledon families
sold Flambards to Francis Herne, whose heirs were
his sisters, Mary, who seems to have lived at Flambards, (fn. 55) and Ann, the first wife of Richard Page. The
property passed to Page's son, another Richard, by the
will of Mary Herne c. 1787. (fn. 56) Richard Page sold some
of his land in Roxeth and Northolt in 1803 (fn. 57) to
Samuel Hoare, who at inclosure in 1817 (fn. 58) held 204 a.
in Roxeth, including two farms. In 1852 the property
was divided between Samuel and Hannah Hoare
and the farms took the names of the lessees, Joseph
Baker (fn. 59) and George Atkins. (fn. 60) The devisees of Richard
Page (d. 1803), in accordance with his will, sold the
house and 90 a. around it in 1804 to George Heming.
In 1807 Heming conveyed his Flambards estate, as
part of an exchange involving Greenhill Farm, to
Lord Northwick, who merged it with his neighbouring lands. (fn. 61) Northwick sold the house and 50 a.
in 1825 to Gen. Alexander Murray Macgregor, (fn. 62)
who mortgaged the property which in 1831 was
bought by the Revd. W. W. Phelps, then a master at
Harrow School. The property remained with the
Phelps family until 1885 when it was purchased by
Harrow Park Trust. (fn. 63)
The core of the Flambards estate consisted of
free and copyhold land held from both Harrow
and Rectory manor, on either side of the border
between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Sudbury. (fn. 64) The
estate reached its greatest extent under the Frowyks.
When Henry Frowyk died in 1505 seised of the
manor of Flambards, it consisted of a messuage,
a windmill, 1,240 a. and £5 rent in Harrow, Sudbury, Pinner, Roxeth, Wembley, Greenhill, Great
Greenford, and Northolt. (fn. 65) Except for the Wembley
lands, which were held of Tokyngton manor, (fn. 66)
the property, worth £10, was held of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Frowyk was also seised of a
messuage, 113 a., and 10s. rent in Kenton, worth
£3 and held of the archbishop, which may have
been the other family estate. All his property seems
to have passed to the Spilmans, (fn. 67) but the Gerards
reorganized it (fn. 68) and in 1609, after the death of
William Gerard, Flambards manor was described
as three messuages, 610 a. and £3 rent in Harrow,
Northolt, and Greenford, worth £4 a year. (fn. 69) Other
property, Frere Place and Freemantels, comprised
233 a. in the three parishes, and Woodridings consisted of 158 a. in Pinner. From the 17th century
Flambards manor was usually described as 16 messuages, a windmill, 800 a., and £2 rent in Harrow,
Pinner, Greenford, and Northolt. (fn. 70) By 1807 it had
shrunk to 90 a. on the borders of Sudbury and
Harrow-on-the-Hill. (fn. 71)
Fourteenth-century brasses in St. Mary's church (fn. 72)
suggest that the Flambards lived in Harrow. The
Tyrells, an Essex family, (fn. 73) and the Frowyks, of
London and South Mimms, seem to have leased out
the property, (fn. 74) but at least one member of the
Spilman family wanted to be buried in St. Mary's
church (fn. 75) and Sir Gilbert Gerard stated in 1639 that
the ancient manor-house of Flambards had been
'formerly the seat of persons of great worth and
quality'. (fn. 76) The house, which was in Harrow-on-theHill, east of London Road, (fn. 77) was supplied with piped
water in 1580. (fn. 78) Sir Gilbert spent £3,000 in 1619–39
in 're-edifying and beautifying' it and planting elms
as shelter. (fn. 79) In 1664 Flambards, with 25 hearths, was
the largest house in Harrow parish. (fn. 80) A new mansion,
further north, was begun by Richard Page and
finished on a larger scale by Lord Northwick. This
was named Harrow Park (fn. 81) from its setting in landscaped grounds, (fn. 82) and became the Northwicks'
principal Harrow residence. (fn. 83) In 1826 its purchaser,
Gen. Macgregor, was said to be the greatest personage in Harrow and to have the finest house. (fn. 84)
Although documents as early as 1736 record the
original Flambards as occupying the site of 'the late
manor-house', (fn. 85) it is clearly marked in 1806 as 'the
Mansion House', with the new house to the north
marked as 'The Park'. (fn. 86) Gerard's mansion, which
may well have degenerated into farm buildings, (fn. 87)
seems to have been pulled down and replaced by
other houses between 1867 and 1896. (fn. 88)
The manor of PINNER, mentioned in 1486 and
1500, was probably FEMALES or FEARNALS
manor, mentioned in 1573, an estate which the
rentals describe as a freehold hide in Pinner. In 1486
it was held by Richard Barnet, (fn. 89) who was holding
land in Pinner in 1477–8. (fn. 90) Barnet was the greatgrandson of Richard Frowyk (fn. 91) and the estate may
have originated in Frowyk lands, as did Brackenbury
manor in Harefield. (fn. 92) In 1486 Thomas Rigby was
among those seised of the property to the use of
Richard Barnet. In 1500 Rigby's son, George, quitclaimed his interest to John Morton and others. (fn. 93)
In the same year John Morton entered into a fine
with William Draycote, clerk, and William Hyde
whereby Pinner and Brackenbury manors and considerable property elsewhere in Middlesex were
conveyed to Morton and his wife for life with remainder to Hyde's heirs. (fn. 94) The death of a Morton, (fn. 95)
who held 'divers lands and tenements freely for
rent', is recorded in 1530–1. (fn. 96) His son William of
Morton (Ches.) disputed the title to a messuage, lands
and tenements called Females worth £5 a year, with
Robert Boreman of Chipping Wycombe (Bucks.),
who alleged that Morton had sold the property to
Thomas Boreman, his father. (fn. 97) Boreman presumably won, for in 1553 he held one freehold hide,
'formerly John Morton's', for £1 8s. 3½d. (fn. 98) In 1547
the property was described as a freehold house in
West End and 56 a. on the borders of Ruislip. (fn. 99) In
1569 Boreman conveyed the manor or farm called
Females in Pinner to John Page of Wembley. (fn. 1) It was
held by Richard Page c. 1600 (fn. 2) and in 1629 (fn. 3) but by
c. 1642 it had been broken up and sold to nine
people, including two members of the Street
family. (fn. 4) In 1707 John Street of West End held a
close of meadow called Females and 57 selions in
the open fields. (fn. 5)
A copyhold virgate called Aldridges, also in West
End, held by Robert Boreman in 1535–6 (fn. 6) and 1553, (fn. 7)
apparently followed the same descent, being held in
1573–4 by John Page (fn. 8) and in 1629 by a branch of the
Streets. (fn. 9) About 1642 they were called the Streets of
West End (fn. 10) and the estate formed out of part of
Females manor and Aldridges was probably the
mainly freehold estate held by them at inclosure. (fn. 11)
It then consisted of a farm-house and dwellinghouse in West End, 21 a. of old inclosures, and 2 a.
of open-field land. The messuage, 'new-built' in
1747 and 'the farm called Aldridges' in 1795, (fn. 12) was
enfranchised in 1872 as the 'tenement called
Alfridges. . . now called West End Cottage'. (fn. 13) The
map accompanying the enfranchisement marks
West End House and a smaller building nearby. It
had passed to William Dickson by 1872. As West
House it passed to Harrow U.D.C. in 1948 and the
estate became part of Pinner Memorial Park. (fn. 14) The
central part of the house was demolished in the early
1950s, when one wall was found to be timberframed. (fn. 15) Two mid-19th-century wings survived in
1969.
The most obscure of the so-called manors was
MARLPITS, named after a family which owned
land in Harrow in the 14th century. (fn. 16) The estate, in
Hatch End, the Weald, Pinner, and Uxendon, was
acquired by the Boyses of Uxendon and so descended to the Bellamys. (fn. 17) The Uxendon portion had
apparently become detached by 1547, when it was
held by John Page. (fn. 18) The Pinner part, a close called
Marlpits, was held in 1547 by Hugh Wright (fn. 19) and in
1553 by William Winter, (fn. 20) who sold it to John Edlin of
the Weald. (fn. 21) By c. 1600 it was in the hands of Richard
Edlin of the Marsh and thereafter it descended with
Pinner Place. (fn. 22) In 1805 'a meadow called Marlpit
Wood' was part of this estate. (fn. 23) The bulk of the
estate lay in the Weald, around Hatch End, and this
was conveyed by the Bellamys before c. 1600 to John
Edlin, (fn. 24) who had been William Bellamy's tenant in
1566. (fn. 25) When William Edlin, John's heir, died seised
of the manor of Marlpits in 1606, it comprised 56 a.,
32 selions and 5 furlongs in Broad Field and Hampet
Field, the Lea, Galportes garden, and several closes,
including Cannons and Marlpits. (fn. 26) Most of this
property, which was held from Harrow manor for
£1 9s. 6d. rent, remained with the Edlins of Northchurch (Herts.) at least until c. 1642. (fn. 27) This branch,
described as of Weald and later of Northchurch, had
also held a ½-hide head tenement called Blackwell's
at Headstone or Wolff's Green, and 19 a. of freehold
called East Field since 1553. (fn. 28) Most of their lands,
and probably some of those still held c. 1642 by the
Edlins of Parkgate, passed to the Waldo family. (fn. 29)
Marlpits manor was the object of a recovery involving Israel Wollaston and Samuel Waldo in 1752, (fn. 30)
and a Waldo paid £1 9s. 6d. quit-rent in 1770, (fn. 31) the
same amount as John Edlin paid c. 1600. (fn. 32) Although
Marlpits manor was freehold it was intermingled
with copyhold lands, all of which were remodelled
to form Waldo's Farm. When this was sold in 1817
it included fields called Marlpits, Lye Field, and
Broad Field. (fn. 33) As part of the farm, Marlpits was
sold by Charles Waldo in 1790 to Daniel Dancer. It
passed in 1794 to Henry and Mary Sayer and in 1817
to Daniel Wilshin. (fn. 34)