Harrow On The Hill

The slopes to the rear of West Street are still green, and the view at the end of the 20th century is a little less smoke-hazed. The Fives Courts in the left foreground of the photograph are a bit dilapidated, but they are now roofed; the adjacent Gymnasium Building is little altered. The big change is the addition, in the lee of the hill, of a well-designed theatre block by Kenneth W Reed and Associates of Harrow, along with a number of equally well-designed houses.
An extract from from"North London Photographic Memories".

This photograph was taken from almost exactly the same viewpoint as one to be seen later taken in 1960; it is very much apparent that at this time the village was a thriving, almost self-sufficient commercial centre. Virtually every building has a shop front, but today the number is considerably reduced, and their uses are less practical - for instance, Hartley Chemist is now a restaurant. Many other shops have disappeared from the hill as dormitory residents opt for the under-one-roof convenience of the local supermarkets. The withdrawal of shopping from the village is not a recent phenomenon; in fact, it began prior to the First World War, when the shops on the western slope became houses, leaving only their large windows as evidence of an earlier use.
An extract from from"North London Photographic Memories".

It all looks neater now, and the trees have been thinned. Nothing new architecturally has been added. Clearly visible in the photograph is the Old Music School, now replaced lower on the slope by a grander building by E S Prior. Behind the trees, with only the chimney pots visible, are the purpose-built school houses, Garlands, The Knoll and Hillside. Football Lane runs sharply downhill to the right. Behind the camera, built into the boundary wall, is a small stone plaque commemorating, what may well have been Britain’s first fatal motor accident.
An extract from from"North London Photographic Memories".

The camera looks north, with Old Schools on the left; this is effectively the original Harrow School building of 1608, with the wing seen here added by C R Cockerell in 1819. Much of the original interior remains, including timber panelling heavily inscribed by former pupils, including Byron, Sheridan and Winston Churchilll. To the right is the Gothic school chapel of 1854 designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, while further to the right, but out of shot, is the library of 1861, also by Scott, and recently sensitively re-ordered by local architect Andrew Reed. All-in-all, it is a picturesque group. Further down the hill can be seen the speech rooms by William Burges.
An extract from from"North London Photographic Memories".

Harrow Park winds away to the east of the High Street, past one or two rather grand houses, to arrive at Deynecourt at the foot of the hill. Carefully positioned, with views to the north over School Lake, this is an imposing Italianate house with fine red brick and terra cotta facing, accessed by an imposing triple-arch porte-cochere. Search the high bank on the opposite side of the road and find remnants of a Gothic folly which once ornamented the grounds of The Park.
An extract from from"North London Photographic Memories".