Great Stanmore
| Stanmore | |
|---|---|
 Stanmore
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| Stanmore shown within Greater London | |
| OS grid reference | TQ1691 |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | STANMORE |
| Postcode district | HA7 |
| Dialling code | 020 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| EU Parliament | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
Stanmore is a suburban residential district of northwest London in the London Borough of Harrow. It is centred 11 miles (18 km) northwest of Charing Cross. The area, based on the ancient parish of Great Stanmore includes southern slopes of the unnamed ridge of hills rising to Stanmore Hill, one of the highest points of London, 152 metres (499 ft) high. The population of the appropriate London Borough of Harrow Ward (Stanmore Park) was 11,229 at the 2011 Census.
The area was recorded in the Domesday Book as Stanmere, the name deriving from the Old English stan, 'stony' and mere, 'a pool'. There are outcrops of gravel on the clay soil here and the mere may have been one of the ponds which still exist. By 1574 the area had become known as Great Stanmore to distinguish it from Little Stanmore.
Stanmore Village railway station was open for train services between 1890 and 1952. Stanmore tube station opened in 1932.
Stanmore had an outstation from the Bletchley Park codebreaking establishment, where some of the Bombes used to decode German Enigma messages in World War Two were housed.
Andrew Drummond, the founder of the Drummond bank in Charing Cross purchased the Stanmore estate in 1729 .
Stanmore was also home to RAF Bentley Priory from where the Battle of Britain was controlled, also formerly to RAF Stanmore Park, HQ of Balloon Command. RAF Stanmore Park closed in 1997 and is now a housing estate and RAF Bentley Priory closed in 2009.
The first Parish Church was the 14th century St Mary's, built on the site of a wooden Saxon church which itself may have been built on the site of a Roman compitum shrine. It has now completely disappeared; one tomb survives in a back garden.
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Wikipedia