A History of NORTHOLT (1963).

1. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY

Until the 19th century Northolt was almost exclusively an agricultural community. There seems to have been no other industry in the parish until after the opening of the Paddington Canal in 1801, and there was no corn-mill.

The manorial demesne in 1086 was assessed at 8 hides on which there were two ploughs. The villeins shared a further six ploughs, with room for two more. There was pasture for the cattle of the vill, and the woodland was sufficient to support 200 pigs. (fn. 46) After the Domesday Survey there is no information about the inhabitants or their land until the early 14th century. In 1336 the manorial demesne of Down consisted of 300 a. of arable, 5 a. of meadow, and 20 a. of woodland worth 10s. a year. (fn. 47) In 1388 the demesnes of Northolt and Down together comprised 595 a., including 320 a. of arable, of which 160 a. were sown with corn, and 240 a. of pasture. At this time the agrarian practice on the two manors was almost identical. The chief crops were wheat, oats, and beans, with the addition of peas at Northolt. Both manors supported substantial numbers of sheep-362 at Northolt, 393 at Down-as well as domestic and draught animals. The inventory of each manor included two ploughs. Northolt was valued at £57 and Down at £62. (fn. 48)

After the manors passed to Westminster Abbey in 1399, nothing is known of their economy until 1492 when the demesnes of Northolt and Down were leased separately at an annual farm of £15 8s. and £13 6s. 8d. respectively. (fn. 49) Oats from Northolt were delivered to Westminster in the early 16th century, (fn. 50) and in 1534 the abbey paid for the erection of new farm buildings on the manor. (fn. 51) A year later the two manors were together valued at £34. (fn. 52)

Regulations governing the use of the open fields and the conditions of copyhold tenure were repeated in the manor courts of Northolt and Down at intervals during the 16th and 17th centuries. Copyholders were entitled to fell timber on their land, and to lease their land for three years without leave. They were liable for the maintenance of gates, and to observe the regulations governing the pasturing of cattle, geese, and sheep on the common fields, the ringing of hogs, and the gathering of acorns. (fn. 53)

The pattern of arable farming probably remained substantially unchanged throughout the 17th century, although small areas of the waste and village greens were inclosed from the early 16th century onwards. (fn. 54) By 1700 there is evidence that the demands of the London market were resulting in changes in the agrarian economy. Inclosure for intensive hay farming seems to have replaced the old pattern of openfield cultivation in some areas during the early 18th century. (fn. 55) In 1801, however, there were still 257 a. of wheat, 206 a. of beans, and 128 a. of peas in the parish. (fn. 56) Changes in the pattern of land utilization continued slowly after the inclosure under the 1835 award of about 700 a. of the parish, including almost 600 a. in the open fields. (fn. 57) Much of the inclosed land was turned over to hay for the London market, and by 1876 most of the

parish was said to be in grass. (fn. 58) In 1834 (fn. 59) the average wage of an agricultural labourer in the parish was 10s.-12s. a week. Women and children were employed in summer in bird-scaring and haymaking. Labourers from Ireland and Oxford also helped with the haymaking. (fn. 60) This annual influx continued after 1900, and William Crees, who farmed Court Farm from 1900 to 1919, commented on the absence of mechanization and the general backwardness of farming methods in Northolt at this time. By introducing new methods, including manuring with London refuse brought by barge up the Paddington Canal, Crees built up a neglected stock farm into a prominent milk-producing establishment. (fn. 61)

After 1920, however, building developments began to encroach on the agricultural land, and several 18th-century farm-houses were demolished to make way for speculative building. (fn. 62) Development was halted temporarily by the Second World War, but after 1945 a number of council estates further diminished the area available for agriculture. In 1963 farming on a limited scale was practised only in the west of the parish between Western Avenue and the Yeading Brook.

Exploitation of brickearth deposits in the south of the parish followed the opening of the Paddington Canal, and the first licence to dig brickearth was granted in 1834. (fn. 63) By 1851 there were 55 brickworkers living in the parish, (fn. 64) and four years later the Northolt field was described as 'extensive.' (fn. 65) During the 1860s, however, some of the brickearth deposits were becoming worked out, and the industry suffered a temporary decline. Two of the three brick-fields near the canal were described as 'old' in 1865, (fn. 66) and more than 150 labourers engaged in brick-making left the parish between 1861 and 1871. (fn. 67) By 1876 quantities of superior quality Northolt bricks were being despatched by barge from a specially constructed wharf for use in the construction of London sewers. (fn. 68) Improved brick-making methods were introduced in the late 19th century by the New Patent Brick Co., which until 1901 worked a field between Ruislip and the canal. The premises, sold in 1901, covered approximately 35 a., and included machine and engine rooms, a German kiln, and wharf on the canal. The field was then said to be capable of producing ten million bricks yearly; but this estimate was probably exaggerated. (fn. 69) By the beginning of the 20th century the local brickearth was becoming worked out, although smaller concerns-the West End and Middlesex Brick companies, the Southern Brick and Tile Works, and the Northolt Brick Works-continued to operate until the final closure in 1939. (fn. 70)

Outside the brick-fields only a few firms in the parish appear to have employed a labour force of more than one hundred. The Greenford Dye Works at West End and a factory manufacturing patent leather are mentioned in 1918, (fn. 71) but both seem to have closed after a short time and no further trace of the premises can be found. In 1936 Gaumont British Pictures opened a temporary film studio off Eastcote Lane. No substantial industry was established in Northolt until 1937 when the Walter Kidde Co. and Tampax Ltd. occupied the first of a group of new premises in Belvue Road on the west side of the canal. The Walter Kidde Co., engaged in the manufacture of fire protection equipment, then employed a labour force of about fifty. The firm's premises were considerably extended during the 1950s, and the number of employees had

increased to about 500 by 1963. (fn. 72) At this date the premises formerly occupied by Tampax Ltd. were being used as a Metropolitan Police store. Although other small industries, chiefly light mechanical and electrical engineering concerns, have been established since 1937, forming a small complex near the canal in Belvue Road and the adjoining Rowdell Road, they are not on a sufficient scale to affect the predominantly residential character of the parish.

Part of the former brick-field area on the border with Southall parish was purchased in 1940 by Taylor Woodrow Ltd., a large civil and mechanical engineering concern who had erected offices on the Southall bank of the Paddington Canal in 1934. Offices in Northolt were built in 1954 at the junction of Ruislip Road and Adrienne Avenue. A further office block was built on the west side of the canal in 1958, and the two blocks were connected over the canal by a two-story building erected in 1960. (fn. 73) Population growth has been accompanied by very little growth of industry, and only a limited provision of social amenities. In 1922 there was only one shop in the parish. (fn. 74) No theatre or cinema had been established by 1963, and for entertainment and shops, as well as for employment, Northolt remains partially dependent on neighbouring areas.Details of social life before the 20th century are almost entirely lacking. Until communications with London were established by the cutting of the Paddington Canal in 1801 Northolt was remote and largely unaffected by outside influences. A bowlingalley near the churchyard is mentioned in 1661, (fn. 75) but during the 17th and 18th centuries information on recreational activities is limited to those enjoyed by lords of the manor. In 1722 Northolt was advertised as an outstanding manor for game, and as including several large fish ponds stocked with perch, carp, and tench. (fn. 76)

The opening of the canal in 1801 and the coming of the brick-making industry introduced new elements into the social life of the parish. During the 19th century workers bathed in the canal, and a scheme to hold a fair on the village green was rejected in 1899 on the ground that it would attract undesirable people. (fn. 77) After 1900 the parish was developed increasingly as a recreation area for the metropolis. Between 1900 and 1920 the West London Shooting Grounds were established on land to the south-west of Down manor site, point-topoint races were held at Court Farm, and the Middlesex draghounds also met there. (fn. 78) In 1929 pony racing was started over a 1½-mile course opened at Northolt Park, between the L.N.E.R. and G.W.R. lines. The venture was financed by the Northolt Racecourse Co., which had been formed in 1928 for the purpose of concentrating pony racing at one track. Extensive cantilever stands were built, and other facilities added during the 1930s included an electric totalizator, a totalizator stand, and an artificial watering system for softening the course. For a time the track was extremely popular; (fn. 79) the course was extended in 1935 by the addition of a bridge over Dabbs Hill Lane; and a meeting was televised in 1938. Racing ceased shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War, and the course was taken over as an ordnance depot. Plans to reopen the course after the war did not materialize, and in 1946 the 124-acre estate was purchased by Ealing Borough Council. The stands were demolished in 1950, and the area has since become a housing estate. (fn. 80)

2. LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

At the end of the 13th century Peter Botiler claimed various liberties in his manor of Northolt, including view of frankpledge and the assize of bread and ale. Similar liberties were claimed by William de Scaccario in the manor of Down. (fn. 81) No Northolt court rolls appear to have survived from before 1461, (fn. 82) but after this date the series is substantially unbroken until manorial courts were discontinued in 1919. (fn. 83)

From 1461 until the 1520s it was customary for the lord of Northolt to hold courts leet and baron annually in October. During the 16th and 17th centuries this annual meeting normally took place in April or May. The activities of the leet declined during the 18th century, and the court met with increasing irregularity until the last leet was held in 1828. Courts baron and special courts baron continued to meet, with varying regularity, until 1919. (fn. 84)

In 1461 the lord of Northolt and Down was exercising a leet jurisdiction over what were called the manors of Greenford, Perivale, and Ickenham. (fn. 85) The basis and precise nature of this jurisdiction are uncertain, but the available evidence suggests that it may have originated in an administrative grouping of Mandeville holdings in this area during the 11th and 12th centuries. (fn. 86) Claims to jurisdiction over the estate consistently described as the manor of Greenford probably refer not to the capital manor of that name but to a smaller estate in the south of Greenford parish known variously as the manor of Stickleton or Greenford. Land which seems later to have formed the basis of Stickleton manor was held of the honor of Mandeville from at least as early as 1212. (fn. 87) During the 1530s Stickleton manor was farmed by one James Cole, (fn. 88) and he appears to be identifiable with a James Cole who made returns at the Northolt court from 1534 to 1543 as constable for the so-called manor of Greenford. (fn. 89)

During the 15th and early 16th centuries officers for five manors were appointed at Northolt court. In 1461 Greenford and Perivale each had a single headborough; two each were appointed for Northolt and Ickenham; and three for Down. By 1505 the court was also appointing constables for Northolt and Greenford, and a constable and ale-taster for Ickenham. Apart from the election of manorial officers and occasional presentments, the Northolt court seems to have had little administrative connection with Perivale and Greenford. For several years there are no returns, and the constables, headboroughs, and tenants of both manors were frequently in default for non-appearance. After 1547 returns for Greenford and Perivale cease to appear in the Northolt rolls. The court continued to appoint officers for Ickenham and Down until 1616, when Down seems to have been granted separate courts leet and baron. The earliest surviving Down court roll dates from 1659, and courts leet were held there until the end of the 17th century. (fn. 90) After the separation of Down the Northolt court continued to appoint a constable and headboroughs for Ickenham until 1708. The lord of Ickenham manor was said in 1660 to owe fealty, suit of court, and a rent of £1 6s. 8d. to the lord of Northolt. (fn. 91) This rent was still being paid in 1878. (fn. 92) Although Northolt was described in 1722 as 'a manor paramount' to the manors of Ickenham, Greenford, and Perivale, the connection was by this time of little practical importance. (fn. 93)

Business in the Northolt and Down manor courts after 1700 was concerned almost entirely with admission to copyhold and the regulation of commonfield usage. A manorial constable and headboroughs for Northolt were appointed as late as 1804, but by this date, and probably earlier, their functions appear to have overlapped those of the overseers of the poor and churchwardens. In 1642 there were two parish constables, a churchwarden, and two overseers of the poor. (fn. 94) A 'church-house' on the Green, said to have been built in 1572, (fn. 95) and presumably administered by the overseers, accommodated five widows in 1664, (fn. 96) and three widows and a poor man in 1715. (fn. 97) The church-house remained in use as a parish poor-house until 1806. General poor relief was financed by a rate on the parish. The poor-rates rose from £169 in 1775-6 to £423 in 1803-4, when 28 persons were on permanent relief and 20 received occasional payments. (fn. 98) Poor-relief expenditure rose to a maximum of £503 in 1806. (fn. 99) In that year, however, the vestry resolved to build a workhouse to replace the now inadequate church-house, and the cost of poor relief for the period 1809-22 fell to about £170 a year (fn. 1) The workhouse, built on a site taken from the waste in the modern Mandeville Road, was a substantial building of nine rooms, including a shop and brewhouse. The number of inmates fluctuated between 12 and 22. (fn. 2) Administration was entrusted to a governor to whom the parish farmed out the workhouse at an annual rent of between £200 and £290. The appointment of successive governors and the fixing of the annual farm provided the staple business of the vestry in the early 19th century. In 1834 regular out-relief was given each week during winter to an average of 17 agricultural workers. Ablebodied out-poor were employed on the roads. (fn. 3) After the 1834 Act the parish was included in the Uxbridge Union, and in 1838 the inmates of the Northolt workhouse were removed to the union workhouse at Hillingdon. (fn. 4) The building was then sold, and after conversion licensed as the 'Load of Hay'. The present public house replaced the earlier building in 1930. (fn. 5)

The surviving minutes suggest that the vestry was never more than a routine administrative body. Business in the early 19th century was limited to regulation of the workhouse farm, the appointment of officers, and the provision of poor relief. During this period there were seldom more than five meetings a year, attended by the vicar and parish officers. By 1850 there were only two meetings, held in the schoolroom, for the appointment of officers and the sale of the road-repair contract. With the occasional addition of repairs to the church and village pump, the nature of vestry business remained substantially unchanged until the end of the 19th century. (fn. 6)

In 1894 Northolt became part of Uxbridge R.D. and had a parish council, composed of a chairman and six councillors, and meeting in the schoolroom. Throughout its existence the council was concerned primarily with the organization of petitions against the inclusion of the Mount Park estate in the then Harrow-on-the-Hill U.D., and the provision of amenities for Northolt village. Continued attempts to bring water to the village resulted in the first houses being connected to the main supply in 1898. The council also entered into an agreement in 1914 with the Harrow Gas Co. to provide gas street-lighting in the village, and made frequent representations to the rural district authorities about the condition of roads in the parish. (fn. 7)

London Borough of EalingArgent, an oaktree proper fructed or growing out of a grassy mount; on a chief gules three Saxon crowns or [Granted 1965]

Uxbridge R.D. was dissolved in 1928. The Mount Park estate was then incorporated in the urban district and civil parish of Harrow, and the remainder of Northolt civil parish transferred to the municipal borough and civil parish of Ealing. (fn. 8) The more recent history of local administration in Northolt therefore belongs to the boroughs of Harrow and Ealing, (fn. 9) which since 1965 have been part of the London Boroughs of Harrow and Ealing. (fn. 10)

3. CHURCHES.

There was a priest at Northolt in 1086. (fn. 11) A church is mentioned c. 1140, although the oldest parts of the present building have been assigned to the 13th century. (fn. 12) The church served the whole of the parish until 1954 when the new parish of St. Barnabas was formed from the north-east area of St. Mary's parish and part of the Greenford parish of Holy Cross. (fn. 13) Northolt church formed part of the endowment of the priory of Walden in Essex, founded by Geoffrey de Mandeville about 1140. (fn. 14) Walden continued to exercise its rights to Northolt until some time between 1241 and 1251 (fn. 15) when the prior's claims were disputed by the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's. The matter was referred to Peter de Newport, Archdeacon of London, and it was agreed that a vicarage should be instituted and the patronage vested in the Bishop of London and his successors. Vicars of Northolt were to pay 12 marks annually towards the maintenance of St. Paul's Cathedral, and the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's were to present to the living during vacancies of the London see. (fn. 16) About 1247 there was said to be no vicarage, (fn. 17) and the exact date of its ordination is unknown. According to an early-15th-century source the vicarage was ordained in 1388, (fn. 18) but since the first recorded vicars date from the late 13th century, (fn. 19) the document referred to is almost certainly the confirmation of an earlier ordinance. The Bishop of London continued to exercise the patronage of Northolt until 1864, in which year it was transferred to Brasenose College, Oxford. (fn. 20) The college still held the advowson in 1963.The benefice of Northolt was valued at 12 marks in the mid 13th century. The Abbot of Walden received two marks from the profits of the benefice, and the Prior of Hurley in Berkshire half a mark. (fn. 21) In 1291 the church was valued at £5; the Prior of Hurley

still received his annual pension, and no payment to the Abbot of Walden is recorded. (fn. 22) Presumably the vicar then enjoyed the rectorial estate. An agreement made in 1518 between the Bishop of London and the Vicar of Northolt confirmed the vicar's right to great and small tithes in consideration of £4 paid annually to this bishop. (fn. 23) In 1535 the living was valued at £15. (fn. 24) Twelve years later the 'parsonage' was worth £26 and the vicar held 31 a. in the common fields. There were then no charities, obits, or lights, and the vicar furnished the cure himself. (fn. 25) By 1610 the vicarage estate comprised a vicarage-house, with two barns, stable, orchard, and garden, three closes of meadow containing 20 a., lands in the Northolt common fields, and houses and land in Greenford parish. (fn. 26) The living, which then included 48 a. of glebe, was worth £205 in 1650 when the great and small tithes were valued together at £170. (fn. 27) During the early 18th century the amount of glebe seems to have remained fairly constant at about 50 a., and the income from tithes and glebe at approximately £250. (fn. 28) Under the 1835 inclosure award two closes called Hedges Meadow and Catherine Mead to the south and east of the vicarage-house were allotted to the vicar in lieu of common-field land, and the glebe then comprised 44 a. (fn. 29) After the Greenford inclosure award of 1816 the Vicar of Northolt's right to tithes payable on old common-field land in Greenford parish was disputed by the Rector of Greenford. In 1841 the Greenford tithes were redeemed, the whole of the rentcharge apportioned to the Rector of Greenford, and the tithes payable to Northolt extinguished. (fn. 30) The Northolt tithes were redeemed for £682 in 1842. (fn. 31) The net value of the living in 1835 was £539. (fn. 32) Most of the glebe was sold for building after 1920. (fn. 33) A vicarage-house at Northolt is first mentioned in 1610. (fn. 34) Its location is uncertain. In 1692 the old house was demolished by Charles Alston, the incoming vicar, and a new vicarage built on a site off the modern Ealing Road. (fn. 35) This was described in 1715 as a brick-built house with seven principal rooms, kitchen, dairy, cellars, outbuildings, and walled garden. (fn. 36) Minor additions to the house were made during the 19th century, but after 1900 it was allowed to fall into disrepair. The house was demolished in 1928. (fn. 37) In 1963 the vicar was living in a semi-detached house in Church Road.Little is known of the religious life of the parish before the 17th century. Some of the medieval and later incumbents seem to have been pluralists. (fn. 38) In 1302 the Vicar of Northolt was included in a list of Middlesex incumbents excommunicated for nonpayment of the papal tenth. (fn. 39) Changes during the Interregnum occasioned some dissatisfaction in the parish. George Palmer (vicar 1638-43) was sequestered in 1643 on the grounds that he spoke against Parliament, enjoyed incestuous relations with his sister-in-law, and had deserted his cure to join the Royalist Army. (fn. 40) Palmer seems to have enjoyed considerable popularity among the parishioners, who described his successor, Robert Malthus (vicar 1643-61), as 'a factious preacher'. Although the parishioners petitioned Cromwell for his removal, alleging that he was an unsatisfactory speaker, preached against the army in Scotland, and failed to observe national thanksgiving, Malthus retained the living until the Restoration. (fn. 41) The years after 1661 are marked by laxity in the administration of the cure and in the maintenance of the church fabric. William Brabourne (vicar 1661-84) was frequently absent from the parish. During his absence the cure was served by a curate whose office is first mentioned in 1617. (fn. 42) By 1664 parts of the church were falling into disrepair. There was no chalice, and the plate consisted of one silver cup and a pewter plate. The churchyard was

unfenced, so that pigs entered. Little was done to remedy these defects until 1685, when it was ordered that adequate plate be provided and the churchyard new-railed. (fn. 43) The churchyard was still open to incursions by pigs and sheep in 1715, but the church was said to be in reasonable repair. Pews had recently been installed and a new gallery erected at the west end for the use of singers and servants. (fn. 44) Several 18th-century vicars were absentees and the cure was served by the curate. Goronwy Owen, the Welsh poet, served as curate from 1755 to 1758. (fn. 45) During this period services were held twice on Sundays, and there were between 5 and 7 Communions a year. By 1790 the annual number of Communions had fallen to 4, and there were only 10 communicants. (fn. 46) In 1965 evensong and Communion were celebrated daily, and there were four Sunday services, the chief of which was Parish Communion at 9 o'clock. (fn. 47) The church of ST. MARY, standing on high ground east of the village green, dates in part from the early 14th century with early-16th-century additions. (fn. 48) The chancel is built of brick and the nave of flint and ironstone rubble with stone dressings, all now roughcast externally. The building consists of chancel, nave, bell turret, a south porch partly rebuilt in 1909, and a south vestry added in 1945. The nave dates substantially from the 14th century, but incorporates late-13th-century fragments. The chancel and nave roof were rebuilt in the early 16th century, and the square bell turret, which is weather-boarded and finished with a broach spire, dates from the same period. Buttresses, including the massive ones of brick at the west end, were added in the 18th century, and the church was restored in the 19th century. (fn. 49) The octagonal stone font dates from the 14th century. (fn. 50) The bowl is decorated with simple relief carving, and the wooden cover is dated 1624. There are four early17th-century bells, including a sanctus cast in 1626. A wooden gallery of three bays, supported on Doric columns and said to have been constructed in 1703, is built across the west end of the nave. Other fittings include an 18th-century painting of the Adoration of the Magi on the north wall of the chancel, and a 17th-century carving of the Stuart arms, executed in painted wood, on the east wall of the nave. There are brasses with figures to Henry Rowdell (d. 1452) and Isaiah Bures (vicar 1596- 1610). A 16th-century palimpsest brass commemorates the Gifford family. Wall tablets in the chancel and nave commemorate a number of 18th- and 19thcentury incumbents and successive members of the Shadwell family.The plate consists of a silver paten and cup dated 1702, and an electroplate dish of 1839. (fn. 51) Permission to sell the plate was refused in 1919, and the plate was subsequently deposited in a Harrow bank. (fn. 52) The registers, which are complete, record baptisms from 1560, marriages from 1575, and burials from 1583.Rapid increases in population during the 1930s and extensive council development after 1945 led to the formation of three daughter churches between 1940 and 1960. The church of ST. JOSEPH, serving the West End area, first met in 1942 in temporary premises off Watery Road. These were demolished in 1944 to make way for houses, and the congregation continued to meet in a variety of buildings. In 1957 services were being held in Arundell School and in the church-house in Hawtrey Avenue. The first permanent church, a brick-built dual-purpose hall behind the 'White Hart' in Ruislip Road, was dedicated in 1959. In 1963 land in Yeading Lane had been purchased for the erection of a new church.From about 1948 occasional services were held in a builder's hut in south-east Northolt. A semipermanent hut at the junction of Kensington Road and Ruislip Road was dedicated

in 1954 as the church of ST. HUGH. In 1963, although the future of the church was said to be uncertain, plans were published for a new church on the site.In 1958 services were being held in a youth club hut on the Northolt Park housing estate. The hut was burnt down in 1959, and the congregation then met in Vincent School. A dual-purpose hall-church in Haydock Avenue was consecrated in 1960 as the church of ST. RICHARD. (fn. 53) Work began on the church of ST. BARNABAS, the Fairway, in 1940. Building was suspended during the Second World War, and the church was not completed until 1954. During this period services were held in temporary premises. (fn. 54) The church, built of yellow stock-brick, is of simple design and consists of a nave, transept, and south porch. An open tower at the west end contains a single bell. The interior of the church is simply furnished and the texture of much of the structural material has been retained. The patron of the living is the Bishop of London. (fn. 55)

4. NONCONFORMITY.

In 1599 Andrra or Andrea Gifford, wife of William Gifford, was indicted at Quarter Sessions for not attending the parish church. (fn. 56) Apart from this isolated case there is little evidence of opposition to the Established Church in Northolt until the 19th century. There were said to be no papists or reputed papists in 1706, one dissenter in 1766, and no papists or dissenters in 1770. (fn. 57) Plans for a Roman Catholic church to be built in Mandeville Road were approved by the local authority in 1963, (fn. 58) and the building, dedicated to St. Bernard, was consecrated in 1965. (fn. 59) A house in Northolt was registered as a Baptist meeting-place in 1817, and one at West End for the use of Wesleyans in 1834. (fn. 60) The exact locations and subsequent history of both these meeting-houses are unknown.In and shortly after 1869 Charles H. Harcourt, a member of the West Ealing Baptist Church, established a chain of six undenominational village missions in the remoter parts of Northolt and Greenford. These were served and supported by Baptists and Methodists in Ealing. (fn. 61) In 1869 Harcourt founded two missions: in Oldfield Lane, Greenford, and in Ealing Road (now Kensington Road), Northolt. (fn. 62) The Northolt mission continued to meet in these premises until 1944 when the building was burnt down. Since that date the congregation has met in a private house in Eastmead Avenue, Greenford. (fn. 63) Shortly after 1869 three further missions were established in Ruislip Road, West End, Yeading Lane, and Hayes Road. After Harcourt's death (c. 1901), a new hall, known as the Harcourt Memorial, was built on the Ruislip Road site, but after 1929 nothing further is known of these three missions. (fn. 64) There is no further evidence of nonconformist activity in Northolt until 1933 when a Methodist chapel was erected on a site in Church Road. (fn. 65) A Congregational fellowship, under a student pastor, met in the Downe Manor school from 1955 to 1958, when a permanent church was built in Tithe Barn Way. (fn. 66) A Baptist chapel in Eastcote Lane was registered for worship in 1958. (fn. 67)

5. Education

In 1715 Dr. John Cockburn, Vicar of Northolt, commented on the absence of educational facilities in the parish, and instituted a scheme for the education of poor children. Three collections were made, and the money raised used to provide schooling for 6 children in part of the parish poorhouse. Cockburn continued to finance the venture, increasing the number of children to 16, until his death in 1729. (fn. 68) Several other 18th-century incumbents seem to have attempted to revive Cockburn's scheme. Gilbert Bouchery (curate 1738-49) observed that the parish children were 'surprisingly perverse and inattentive to all manner of instruction, exhortation and example'. (fn. 69) After 1780 some Northolt children undoubtedly attended the school founded by Edward Betham in Greenford. (fn. 70) In 1818 the Vicar of Northolt was financing a day school at which 37 poor children were taught by a single mistress. (fn. 71) The mixed school opened in 1835 was that generally known in the early 19th century as Northolt National School. (fn. 72) The school was housed in the converted poor-house, which stood immediately west of the churchyard (fn. 73) and was described later as 'three wooden cottages, gutted, and made into one'. Under the auspices of the National Society tuition was given to 18 boys and 27 girls. Efforts to educate Northolt children were said, however, to be largely frustrated by the parents' practice of putting children out to work before they had learned to read. (fn. 74) The poor-house was used as a school until 1868 when the premises were declared inadequate. A new building to accommodate 88 mixed pupils was erected in the same year on a site adjoining the playground of the old school. (fn. 75) Subsequently the school was known as Northolt Church School. It was receiving a government grant by 1870, when the average attendance was 39 children. (fn. 76) A new classroom was added in 1881, (fn. 77) and the average attendance increased to 72 in 1899, and to 105 by 1906. (fn. 78) In the following year the Church School was closed and the pupils transferred to the new Northolt County Primary School, erected in 1907 at what is now the junction of Church Road and Western Avenue. (fn. 79) The former school, now called the Memorial Hall, is used as an old people's work centre and hired out for meetings. (fn. 80) Northolt Primary School, built to accommodate 296 pupils, was, until 1931, the only school in the parish. The school's capacity was increased by the addition of prefabricated huts in the late 1930s, and by 1945 it accommodated 656 children. Since that date a number of new schools have been built in the parish, and in 1963 the Primary School, which was then scheduled for closure, accommodated only 341 pupils. (fn. 81) The school now known as Wood End Secondary Girls' School was built in 1931 as an all-age department. In 1935 the infants were transferred to new premises erected on an adjoining site in Wood End Way. The infants' department was in turn reorganized in 1939, when it was taken over as a junior girls' school and the infants were transferred to the new Wood End Infants' School. (fn. 82) Eliots Green Grammar School was erected in 1956 on a site in Eastcote Lane. In 1963 the school accommodated 590 pupils, of which approximately one-half were girls, and a full-time staff of 33. Pupils were prepared for the General Certificate and London University entrance examinations. (fn. 83) In February 1963 there were fourteen maintained schools, excluding grammar schools, in the old parish of Northolt. They are set out below. The date at which the school was

opened is given in brackets after the name of the school, followed by the date of any extension; the next figure is the number of children on the roll at February 1963, and the final figure denotes the age-group of the pupils:Northolt Primary (1907, 1939). 341. 5-11; Wood End Secondary Girls (1931). 328. 11-16; Wood End Junior Boys (1935, 1939). 269. 8-11; Wood End Junior Girls (1935). 216. 8-11; Wood End Infants (1939). 378. 5-8; Downe Manor Junior and Infants (1948). 317. 5-11; Islip Manor Infants (1948). 240. 5-8; Islip Manor Junior (1951). 368. 8-11; Gifford Junior and Infants (1951). 607. 5-11; Arundell Primary (1952). 288. 5-11; Barantyne Junior (1952). 368. 8-11; Vincent Secondary (1953). 773. 11-16; Walford Secondary (1955). 771. 11-16; Northolt Park Infants (1960). 210. 5-8. (fn. 84)

6. CHARITIES FOR THE POOR. (fn. 85) Thomas Arundell (d. 1697) left 7 a. to the use of the poor. This gift yielded £5 yearly in 1697 and £9 10s. in 1810. The land forming Arundell's charity was sold to the lord of the manor in 1887, and in 1890 the gift was represented by £535 stock. (fn. 86) An unknown donor, by an instrument probably made before 1770, (fn. 87) conveyed a further 2 a. to the use of the poor. The land was sold to the Great Western Railway Co. in 1900, and in 1948 the gift was represented by £319 stock. Martha Jackson, by will proved 1836, left £44 stock to provide bread which was to be distributed among the poor every New Year's Day. Suggestions during the 1920s that the Northolt charities should be consolidated were not carried out, and the charities continued to be administered severally by the parish authorities. In 1958 the three charities together yielded £131. (fn. 88)

Footnotes 46V.C.H. Mdx. i. 126.47C 135/48/2.48C 145/243/5; Cal. Pat. 1385-9, 481.49W.A.M., 394, 396, 400, 401.50Ibid. 32205.51Ibid. 32017.52Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com), i. 417.53M.R.O., Acc. 180/562,/565; W.A.M., N. 5, 12, 14, 15.54W.A.M., N. 3, 5, 8, 9.55Ibid. 131; Par. Recs., Matthew Hart Survey, 1700, 1760.56H.O. 67/16.57W.A.M., N. 141, 143.58Thorne, Environs of Lond. 452.59Rep. Poor Law Com. App. B(2), H.C. 44, p. 165h (1834), xxxvi.60Census, 1841.61MS. Diary of F. W. Crees penes his daughters.62See p. 112.63W.A.M., Northolt Ct. Min Bk.64H.O. 107/656.65Kelly's Dir. Mdx. (1845).66O.S. Map 1/2,500, Mdx. xv. 6 (1865 edn.).

67Census, 1861, 1871.68Thorne, Environs of Lond. 452.69Plan and advertisements of sale penes Ealing libr.; The Times, 17 Nov. 1901.70Ex inf. Ealing Bor. Council.71Ibid.72Ex inf. Ealing Bor. Council and Walter Kidde Co.73Ex inf. Taylor Woodrow Ltd.74Ex inf. Ealing Bor. Council.75Par. Recs.76W.A.M., N. 62.77Northolt Par. Council Mins. penes Ealing Bor. Council.78MS. Diary of F. W. Crees penes his daughters.79Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic News, 15 May 1936.

80L. Jayne, Pony Racing (1949); C. H. Keene, 'Northolt Park Estate', Northolt Vanguard, Jan. 1959; Plan of the Northolt Park Race Course penes Ealing libr.

81 J.I. 1/544, m. 51d.82 Two copies of extracts from rolls date from 1451 and 1460: B.M. Add. Ch. 1606,

1607.83 W.A.M., N. 1-22.84 Ibid. 38: Index of courts, 1461-1919.85 This section should be read in conjunction with the accounts given in V.C.H. Mdx.

iii. 200-2; iv. 105-6, 125.86 V.C.H. Mdx. i. 126; Red Bk. Exch. (Rolls Ser.), ii. 543; Bk. of Fees, i. 474; Feudal

Aids, iii. 375; B.M. Harl. MS. 2195, f. 34.87 Red Bk. Exch. (Rolls Ser.), ii. 543; Cal. Inq. p.m. xiii, p. 142; Feudal Aids, vi. 584.88 For details of the 16th-cent. ownership see V.C.H. Mdx. iii. 211.89 W.A.M., N. 3.90 M.R.O., Acc. 180/561-70.91 W.A.M., N. 22.92 Ibid. 54.93 Ibid. 62.94 Hse. of Lords, Mdx. Protestation Rets.95 W. H. L. Shadwell, Northolt (1905), copy penes Ealing libr.96 M.R.O., H.T.6.97 Par. Recs., Dr. Cockburn's 'Register of the Par.'.98 Rep. Cttee. on Rets. by Overseers, 1776, Ser. 1, ix. 396; Rets. on Expense and

Maintenance of Poor, H.C. 175 (1803- 4), xiii (demi-folio).99 Poor Rate Bk. 1796-1807 penes Ealing Bor. Council.

1 Overseers' Account Bks. 1809-24 penes Ealing Bor. Council.2 Par. Recs., Inventory of the Poor House, 1820; List of inmates of the workhouse;

Vestry Mins. 1814.3 Rep. Poor Law Com. App B(2), H.C. 44, p. 165h(1834), xxxvi.4 Par. Recs., Contractors' Agreements, 1806-28; Vestry Mins.5 C. H. Keene, 'The Old Northolt Workhouse' Northolt Vanguard, May 1958.6 Par. Recs., Vestry Mins. 1814-96.7 Northolt Par. Council Mins. 1894-1928 penes Ealing Bor. Council.8 Ex inf. Mdx. Cnty. Council.9 For Harrow see p. 245. The history of Ealing is reserved for treatment as part of

Ossulstone hundred.10 London Govt. Act, 1963, c. 33.11V.C.H. Mdx. i. 126.12B.M. Harl. MS. 3697, f. 1; cf. Hist. Mon. Com. Mdx. 97.13Ex inf. the vicar.14B.M. Harl. MS. 3697, f. 1. The date of the foundation charter is discussed in V.C.H. Essex, ii. 111.15Roger II, a party to the agreement, was Abbot of Walden 1241-51: Dugdale, Mon. iv. 134.16Newcourt, Repertorium, i. 701; St. Paul's MSS. box 34/851; box 38/1297; Guildhall MS. 9531/11, f. 121.17St. Paul's MS. W.D. 9, f. 83v.18W.A.M., 425.19Cal. Inq. Misc. 1219-1307, p. 246; Newcourt, Repertorium, i. 701.20Lond. Gaz. 12 July 1864.21St. Paul's MS. W.D. 9, f. 83v.22Tax. Eccl. (Rec. Com.), 17. Two marks, however, were paid to Ralph de Bohun.23Guildhall MS. 9531/9, f. 138v.24Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), i. 433.25E 301/34/186.26Guildhall MS. 9628.27Home Cnties. Mag. iii. 32.28Par. Recs., Accounts of the Tithe and Glebe; Guildhall MS. 9556.29Par. Recs.; M.R.O., Northolt Incl. Award.30Par. Recs.; M.R.O., Greenford Tithe Award; W.A.M., N. 125.31M.R.O., Northolt Tithe Award.32Rep. Com. Eccl. Rev. [67], H.C. (1835), xxii.33Par. Recs.; ex inf. the vicar.34Guildhall MS. 9628.35Par. Recs., Register 1560-1700.36Ibid. Dr. Cockburn's 'Register of the Par.'37Ex inf. Mr. C. H. Keene.38Newcourt, Repertorium, i. 701; Rep. Com. Eccl. Rev. 67], p. 664, H.C. (1835), xxii.39W.A.M., 5810.40Walker Revised, ed. Matthews, 261.

41Par. Recs., Register 1560-1700; Calamy Revised, ed. Matthews, 335; Lysons, Environs of Lond. iii. 313.42Par. Recs.43Guildhall MSS. 9628, 9537/20.44Par. Recs., Dr. Cockburn's 'Register of the Par.'.45See p. 113.46Guildhall MSS. 9550, 9557, 9558.47Lond. Dioc. Bk. (1965).48It is fully described in Hist. Mon. Com. Mdx. 96-97 and illustrated in ibid. pl. 1.49See plate facing p. 105.50Hist. Mon. Com. Mdx. pl. 12.51E. Freshfield, Communion Plate of Mdx. 41.52Par Mag. Sept. 1919.53Section based on inf. supplied by the Vicar of St. Mary's, Northolt, and Northolt Vanguard (par. mag.), passim.54Ex inf. the vicar.55Crockford (1961-2).56Mdx. Cnty. Recs. i. 254.57Guildhall MSS. 9800, 9558, 9557.58Ex inf. Ealing Bor. Council.59Souvenir booklet penes the parish priest.60Gen. Reg. Off., Dissenters' Places of Wship. 1689- 1852: Dioc. of Lond. certs. of 1 July 1817, 22 May 1834.61Section based on inf. supplied by Messrs. C. H. Keene and A. Platt. It should be read in conjunction with V.C.H. Mdx. iii. 218-19.62For the later history of the Greenford Mission see V.C.H. Mdx. iii. 218, sub. nom. 'Gospel Assembly'.63Northolt Village Mission Min. Bk. 1929-63, penes Mrs. Robinson.64Ibid.65Ex inf. the minister.66Ex inf. the church secretary.67Gen. Reg. Off., Wship. Reg. 66918.68Par. Recs., Dr. Cockburn's 'Register of the Par.'.69Par. Recs.70V.C.H. Mdx. iii. 219.71Digest of Rets. to Cttee. on Educ. of Poor, H.C. 224 (1819), ix(1).72Ed. 7/87.73O.S. Map 6", Mdx. xv. NW. (1868 edn.).74Nat. Soc. files.75M.R.O., Acc. 289/5; Nat. Soc. files.76Rep. Educ. Cttee. of Co. 1870 [C. 406], H.C. (1871), xxii.77Nat. Soc. files; date on building.78Schs. in receipt of Parl. Grants, 1899 [Cd. 332], p. 169, H.C. (1900), lxiv; Public Elem. Schs. 1906 [Cd. 3510], H.C. (1907), lxiii.79Ed. 7/86.80Ex inf. the vicar.

81Educ. in Ealing, 1877-1945, copy penes Ealing libr.; ex inf. Borough Educ. Officer.82Ex inf. Borough Educ. Officer.83Ex inf. the headmaster.84Ex inf. Borough Educ. Officer.85Except where otherwise stated this section is based on Char. Com. files.86Par. Recs., Register 1560-1700; Guildhall MS. 9558.87Guildhall MS. 9557.88Northolt Par. Council Mins. 1894-1928 penes Ealing Bor. Council.