Pinner

For other uses, seePinner (disambiguation).

Pinneris a suburb in theLondon Borough of Harrow,northwest London, England, 12 miles (19 km) northwest ofCharing Cross,close to the border withHillingdon,historically in the county ofMiddlesex.The population was 38,698 in 2021.

Pinner
High Street
Pinner Location withinGreater London
Population	38,6982021 Census
OS grid reference	TQ115895
•Charing Cross	12.2 miles (19.6 km)SE
London borough	Harrow
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	PINNER
Postcode district	HA5
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner
London Assembly	Brent and Harrow

Originally a mediaevalhamlet,theSt John Baptist churchdates from the 14th century and other parts of the historic village includeTudorbuildings. The newer High Street is mainly 18th-century buildings, while Bridge Street has a more urban character and manychain stores.

History

Street sign

Pinner was originally ahamlet,first recorded in 1231 asPinnora,although the already archaic-ora(meaning 'hill') suggests its origins lie no later than circa 900.The namePinnis shared with theRiver Pinn,which runs through the middle of Pinner. Another suggestion of the name is that it means 'hill-slope shaped like a pin'.

The oldest part of the town lies around the fourteenth-century parish church of St. John the Baptist, at the junction of the present day Grange Gardens, High Street and Church Lane. The church was originally a chapel of ease toSt Mary's Church, Harrow on the Hill,and was first mentioned in 1234. It was rebuilt in the early fourteenth-century, and rededicated in 1321. The parish became independent of St Mary's in 1766, when the first perpetual curate was appointed; not until the Wilberforce Act of 1868 did it appoint its first vicar, one William Hind.The earliest surviving private dwelling, East End Farm Cottage, dates from the late fifteenth century.

The village expanded rapidly between 1923 and 1939 when a series of garden estates, including the architecturally significant Pinnerwood estate conservation area – encouraged by theMetropolitan Railway– grew around its historic core.It was largely from this time onwards that the area (includingHatch End,which forms the northeastern part of Pinner) assumed much of its present-day suburban character. The area is now contiguous with neighbouring suburban districts includingRayners LaneandEastcote.

Pinner contains a large number of homes built in the 1930s Art Deco style, the most grand of which is the Grade II listed Elm Park Court at the junction of West End Lane and Elm Park Road.Pinner is also the site of one of the UK's oldestchartered fairs,called Pinner Fair, which has been held annually since 1336.

Pinner lay within the historic county ofMiddlesex;it was located at the western end of thehundredofGore,before it was in theHendon Rural District.In 1965 it became a part of the London Borough of Harrow in the newly formed ceremonial county of Greater London.

Parish church

Pinner'sSt John the Baptist parish churchwas consecrated in 1321, but built on the site of an earlier Christian place of worship. The west tower and south porch date from the 15th century.

Governance

Harrow Council has been governed by theConservative Partysince 2022. Pinner has twowards,Pinner and Pinner South, each represented by three Conservative councillors. Pinner is in theBrent and Harrowconstituency for theLondon Assemblywhich has been represented since 2024 byKrupesh Hirani(Labour). Since the2010 general election,Pinner has been part of theRuislip, Northwood and Pinnerparliamentary constituency, currently served byDavid Simmonds.

Geography

Farmland near Pinner

Pinner includes Pinner Village at its centre, along with the localities ofPinner Greenand Pinnerwood Park Conservation Areato the north. To the north east is the larger area ofHatch End,served byHatch End railway station(originally opened asPinner).

TheRiver Pinnflows through Pinner, flowing in a diagonal direction. Large parks and open spaces are Pinner Memorial Park, Pinner Village Gardens, Roxbourne Gardens, Pinner Wood (woodlands) and Pinner Park (farmland).

Pinner Memorial Park has a large house in it which includes a museum to Illustrator Heath Robinson as well as a cafe which hosts regular music events throughout the summer; while Roxbourne Gardens also hosts a pop-up cafe and music venue on Sundays year-round.

Much of Pinner has an elevation of about 148 feet (45 m) to 200 feet (60 m). Nower Hill rises to a peak of about 260 feet (80 m) above sea level while Pinner Park peaks at 203 feet (62 m). The semi-rural Pinnerwood area is steep, and rises to a peak of over 390 feet (120 m) around Pinner Hill Golf Course.

Demography

The lake at Pinner Memorial Park

Pinner is both a religiously and culturally mixed area, with the ethnic minority population having grown significantly since the 1970s.Pinner ward nonetheless had the highest concentration of people describing themselves as white in the London Borough of Harrow, at 72 per cent of the population in 2011. In 2013 the Pinner South ward had the next highest proportion of white people in the borough at 69.4 per cent.Various churches, a synagogue and others serve the religious needs of the community.

Pinner also has the lowest crime rate in the whole of London, with several independent schools and single-sex schools with a prestigious reputation, making it a popular area for affluent families.In the 2014/15 period, the Pinner South ward had a crime rate of 24.5, which was the lowest out of all 628 wards of Greater London.The ward also has (data from 2009 to 2013) the second highest female life expectancy in the capital: 91.7 years, only bettered by Holland ward inKensington and Chelsea.

Fairs and Fetes

Crowds at Pinner Fair, 1988

Pinner holds a number of Fairs and Fetes that are renowned in North West London for bringing its diverse and cosmopolitan community together.

• Pinner Fair has been held annually since 1336, when it was granted byRoyal Charterby KingEdward III.The fair still draws thousand of people and families from Pinner and the surrounding areas in North West London.The Pinner Fair was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic,but the fair's charter was preserved.To keep the annual tradition going, a small selection of non-operational rides were put up in 2020, and the Vicar came out to bless the showmen.
• Pinner Donkey Derby and Fete, held between 1925 and 1939 was a Charity event organised by Rev. John Caulfield, parish priest of St. Luke's, Pinner andSteve Donoghue,a leading flat-race jockey. Huge crowds would turn up to see the Derby, as it was also a chance to see celebrities and sporting personalities of the era.
• St. George's Day annual celebrations are organised by the Rotary Club of Pinner and features the "Ye Olde Wheelbarrow Race".

Sport and leisure

Pinner has a rugby union team, Pinner and Grammarians RFC, a member club of theRugby Football Union.It is the most junior team to have supplied a President to the RFU.Pinner also has a cricket team, Pinner Cricket Club,and a youth football club, Pinner United FC.The area also has a golf course, Pinner Golf course.

In addition to numerous restaurants and a number of public houses, Pinner has an amateur theatre group, Pinner Players, who have been performing in the area since 1936 and currently stage productions at Pinner Village Halloff Chapel Lane.

TheHeath Robinson Museumin Pinner Memorial Park was opened in 2016 and is dedicated to the work of the cartoonistWilliam Heath Robinson.

In popular culture

Literature

Edward Learmakes reference to PinnerinMore Nonsense Pictures, Rhymes, Botany, etc:

There was an old person of Pinner,
As thin as a lath, if not thinner;
They dressed him in white,
And roll'd him up tight,
That elastic old person of Pinner.

H. G. Wellsmentions Pinner inThe War of the Worlds:

He learned they were the wife and the younger sister of a surgeon living at Stanmore, who had come in the small hours from a dangerous case at Pinner, and heard at some railway station on his way of the Martian advance.

Broadcast media

• The Pinner Fair held in Pinner High Street features in SirJohn Betjeman's 1973BBCfilmMetro-Land.
• The BBC sitcomMay to December(1989–1994) was set in Pinner.
• During the 1990s the children's TV seriesAquilawas filmed in and around Pinner, particularly at the local Cannon Lane School.
• Chucklevision,the children's TV series based on theChuckle Brotherswas also filmed in Pinner.
• Between 2000 and 2006 Pinner was used for location footage for BBC sitcomMy Hero,starringArdal O'HanlonasThermoman.
• Channel 4's coming-of-age television teen sitcomThe Inbetweeners,Season 1 (2008), Episode 2 "Bunk Off" was filmed on the High Street in Pinner.
• The 2009 filmNowhere Boyhad a number of scenes filmed in Pinner, including outside the Queens Head Pub, Pinner High Street,
• The 2012 filmMay I Kill U?,written and directed byStuart Urbanand starringKevin Bishop,was also filmed in Pinner.
• The documentary series,Great British Railway Journeys,Series 6 (2015), Episode 6, "Amersham to Regent's Park" featuresMichael Portilloin Pinner, where he finds out about a Victorian domestic goddess (Isabella Beeton) and whips up a pint of her fanciest ice cream.
• BBC Radio 1's24 Years at the Tap End(2011–) isChris Stark's memoir of growing up in and around Pinner during the turn of the millennium.
• BBC Radio 5 Live's hit podcastThat Peter Crouch Podcast(2018–) has many references to Pinner,Hatch Endand the surrounding areas.
• Rocketman(2019), the biographical musical film based on the life and music of British musician Elton John, had a number of scenes filmed in and around Pinner. Oakmeade substituted for Pinner Hill Road as Elton John's childhood homeand Albury Drive as his father's home.
• The British dark comedy-drama spy thriller television seriesKilling Eve's Season 3 (2020), Episode 5, is titled "Are You from Pinner?". This is in reference to the character Bor'ka's fondness ofElton John.

Notable people

SirElton Johnwas born and grew up in Pinner

• Ronnie BarkerandDavid Suchetwere both one-time owners of 17th-century Elmdene in Church Lane.
• Samuel and Isabella Beetonlived on the Woodridings estate between 1856 and 1862, during which timeMrs Beeton's Book of Household Managementwas published.
• Derek Bell,motor racing driver, was born in Pinner.
• Rhodes Boyson,politician, lived in Pinner.
• Leslie Bricusse,best known for his partnership withAnthony Newley,was born in Pinner.
• Edward Bulwer-LyttonwroteEugene Aramat Pinner Wood House in 1832.
• Ivy Compton-Burnettwas born in the village in 1884.
• Daniel Dancer,the famed miser, was born in here in 1716.
• Charlie Dore,singer, was born here.
• Jo Durden-Smithwas born here in 1941.
• Daniel Finkelsteinis a Pinner resident and was created Baron Finkelstein of Pinner, in 2013.
• W. S. Gilbert,was a magistrate in Pinner from 1893 onwards.
• Martin Gould,professionalsnookerplayer.
• Mehdi Hasan,journalist currently affiliated with NBC, was born and grew up in Pinner.
• Tony Hatch,composer of thePetula Clarkhit "Downtown"and many other television themes, including theNeighbourstheme, was born here.
• Bob Holness,the former host of quiz showBlockbusters,lived here.
• Peter Jacobs,Olympic fencer, was born here in 1938.
• Elton John,singer and songwriter grew up inPinner Greenand was educated at Pinner Wood Junior School, Reddiford School and Pinner County Grammar School.
• Norman Kemberis a longtime resident of the town.
• Brian Lane,pilot, (1917–1942) grew up in the village.
• Lee Latchford-Evans,singer, dancer, stage actor, and one of the five singers of the British pop group Steps, lives and works in Pinner.
• Simon Le Bon,vocalist of post-punk rock bandDuran Duran,grew up locally and attended the Pinner County Grammar School.
• Liza Lehmann,composer, lived at 'Nascot', Waxwell Lane, Pinner for several years after her marriage toHerbert Bedfordin 1894.
• Caroline Alice Lejeune,film critic, lived here with her husbandEdward Roffe Thompson,a journalist.
• Jane Marchgrew up here before moving to the United States. Earlier in her career, March was referred to in the press as "The Sinner From Pinner".
• Agnes Marshall,whom most credit withthe invention of edible ice cream cones, had a country home there and died there in 1905.
• Patrick Moore,the television presenter and astronomer, was born in Pinner in 1923.
• Horatia Nelson,daughter ofLord Nelsonand LadyEmma Hamilton,lived in Pinner from 1860 until her death in 1881.
• Lucy Porter,comedian, actress and writer lives in Pinner.
• Henry James Pye(poet laureate) retired to East End House in 1811.
• Joseph Raphson,mathematician, probablybaptised at Pinner church.
• Heath Robinson,cartoonist, illustrator and artist, lived in Moss Lane, Pinner between 1913 and 1918.TheHeath Robinson Museumis in Pinner Memorial Park.
• Michael Rosen,poet and children's author, lived in Pinner from the time he was born, in 1946, until 1962.
• Chris Roycroft-Davisis a resident.
• Chris Stark,internationally renowned BBC Radio presenter grew up in and around Pinner.
• David "Screaming Lord" Sutch,who lived in nearbySouth Harrow,is buried in Pinner New Cemetery.
• Matt Wallace,PGA TourandDP World Tourprofessional golfer.
• Gordon WallerofPeter and Gordonlived with his family in the house called Elton, Elm Park Road, and went to St John's prep school before boarding atWestminster School.
• Molly Weir,best known for her role as the long-running character Hazel the McWitch in the BBC TV seriesRentaghost,lived in Pinner until her death in 2004.
• Bruce Welch,guitarist inThe Shadows,lived in Pinner.
• Maude Valerie White,composer, lived in Love Lane, Pinner during the 1890s.

Transport

George V Avenue dual carriageway, which cuts through Pinner Park

Rail

Pinner Underground stationwas opened in 1885 and is on theMetropolitan lineinLondon fare zone5.In normal off-peak conditions the train takes approximately half an hour toBaker Street Underground stationand approximately three-quarters of an hour toAldgate Underground station.

Hatch End railway stationwas opened in 1842 and is on theLondon OvergroundWatford DC lineinLondon fare zone6.In normal off-peak conditions it roughly takes three-quarters of an hour toEuston railway station.

Buses

Route	Start	End	Operator
183	Pinner, Bridge Street	Golders GreenBus Station	London Sovereign
H11	HarrowBus Station	Northwood,Mount Vernon Hospital,	London Sovereign
H12	South HarrowBus Station	StanmoreStation	London Sovereign
H13	Ruislip Lido	Northwood Hills,St Vincent's Park	Metroline
398	RuislipStation	Greenford,Hemery Road	London United Busways

Public Transport in Pinner is governed byTransport for London.

Cycling

The Metropolitan Quietway Cycle Route runs through Pinner, as well as street-running cycle lanes on Pinner Road and Eastcote Road.

Walking Trails

TheCelandine RoutefromWest Draytonterminates at Pinner Memorial Park.

Heritage

Harrow Heritage Plaques

The brown plaques are awarded by the Harrow Heritage Trust,who secure the protection, preservation, restoration and improvement of the character and amenities of the London Borough of Harrow.

• Queen's Head Public House on the High Street.
• Wax Well on Waxwell Lane.
• Elthorne Gate on the High Street.
• Grim's Dyke on Montesole Playing Fields.
• Pinner House on Church Lane.
• Pinner Hill Farm on Pinner Hill Road.

English Heritage Plaques

London'sblue plaquesscheme, run byEnglish Heritage,celebrates the links between notable figures of the past and the buildings in which they lived and worked.

• Sir Ambrose Heal(1872–1959), "Furniture Designer and Retailer lived here 1901–1917", The Fives Court, Moss Lane
• W. Heath Robinson(1872–1944), "Illustrator and comic artist lived here 1913–1918", 75 Moss Lane

Architecture

The architecture in Pinner has evolved greatly over the centuries. The majority of the architecture is conserved by private residents or by Harrow council's Conservation Team.

Norman,GothicandTudor architecture(1066–1603)

• Church of St John the Baptiston Church Lane

High Street

• Shops and Restaurants on the High Street
• Cottages and Farmhouse on Waxwell Lane
• Dwellings on Moss Lane

Georgian architecture(1714–1811)

• Pinner Houseon Church Lane

Estate agent at the corner of High Street

Pinner Police Station, Waxwell Lane

• Shops, Restaurants and Public Houses on the High Street
• Pinner Park Farm House onGeorge VAvenue
• Former Granary atHarrow Museum,originally located at Pinner Park Farm

Victorian architecture(1837–1901)

• Pinner Stationon Station Approach
• Pinner Police Station on Elm Park Road

Tooke's Folly at Pinner Hill Farm, c. 1862

• Pinner Hill Farm on Pinner Hill Road
• Pinner Hill Golf Club House on South View Road

Metro-landarchitecture (1903–1939)

• Suburban prototypes on Cecil Park Estate
• Tudor revival dwellings on Grange Estate
• Arts and Crafts dwellings on Pinnerwood Park Estate
• Cottages on Elm Park Road

Art Decoarchitecture (1919–1939)

• Elm Park Court on Elm Park Road
• Pinner Court on Pinner Road
• Harrow Fire Station on Pinner Road
• Pinner Wood School on Latimer Gardens

Modern architecture(1945–1980)

• Roman Catholic Church of St Luke on Love Lane
• Shops on Bishops Walk
• Shops on Barters Walk
• Dwellings on Nursery Road

Postmodern architecture(1980–present)

• Heath Robinson Museumin Pinner Memorial Park
• Dwellings on Caulfield Gardens
• Nursery in Montesole Playing Fields
• Flats on Marsh Road

See also

• Church of St John the Baptist
• Pinner House
• Pinner Underground Station
• Metro-land
• Heath Robinson Museum

External links

• Pinner Local History Society