River Pinn
The River Pinn flows south westwards
Post to the east EastcotePost to the west Park WoodAzalea Walk
This was previously called Eastcote Place and was built on the grounds of Eastcote Cottage in the 1960s.
Eastcote Place. Built in 1897 by William Howard Seth-Smith as a private house in red brick for Miss M. A. Bevan. It was also the home of Sir John Anderson. The grounds were used for government offices in the Second World War. The house was used as an operations room and an Allied carrier command post was set up here in 1944, mainly used as telephone co-ordination centre. It has since been extended and converted into flats.
Bridle Road
Its name arose from the Ruislip Enclosure Act. It was then a 20ft bridle way.
Campbell Close
Prize winning estate of local authority homes designed by Edward Cullinan. 1972. This is a social housing scheme and a radical break with the traditional local authority house having wide-fronted houses in groups of four, each house opening onto a large garden. The bright blue roofs have now been replaced.
Swimming pool. Maps up to the 1980s show a swimming pool at the northern end of the road. This area is now woodland.
Celandine Route
A linear walk along the length of the River Pinn
Coniston Gardens
Estate built by W.Spencer post Second World War.
Long Meadow – stretch of riverside meadow north east of Eastcote House. In the 1930s the river was diverted for development which did not take place. The land was bought by Middlesex County Council, and passed to London Borough of Hillingdon. The meadow is being improved as part upgrading plans for the Colne Valley.
Coteford Close
Local authority housing built after the Second World War
Keepers Cottage from the Haydon Hall Estate is behind a fence. Built in the mid 19th with pheasant rearing pens attached.
Deerings Drive
Built on the site of St. Michael's School. This was built as a private school in 1934. In 1945 it was sold to Middlesex County Council for a school for handicapped children. It was demolished in 1985
Eastcote Road
New Cottages designed by George and Peto and built on land from Eastcote Lodge in 1879. Lots of decoration and the initials LJB for L.J.Baker and the date on the rain water head.
US Marine Base entrance. This was also the site of a school for the children of American forces based here.
Highgrove House. The house is on land originally owned by the Hale family in the 13th and was built in 1750 by Rev. John Lidgould, and rebuilt in 1881 by Edward Schroeder Prior for Hugh Hume-Campbell following a fire. In 1935, Eleanor Warrender sold land to the local council to establish what became Warrender Park, and other land to Ideal Homes for a residential development. During the Second World War, she made Highgrove available to the military, and British and American personnel stayed there. It eventually became a residential hostel for homeless families, run by the local authority from 1960s - 2007. The house was sold to Westcombe Estates and planning permission granted to for its conversion of the building into flats.
Government Buildings. The government built a military hospital here during the Second World War. It was needed and was converted into barracks for Navy Wrens. Bletchley Park established an outpost here known to staff as HMS Pembroke V. Here 100 Bombe and Colossus machines were used to decode German Enigma messages. The station closed in 1945 but operations from Bletchley Park were re-established here in 1946, under the name of Government Communications Headquarters and continued until 1954. The site was sold for development to Taylor Wimpey in 2007 and the estate renamed Pembroke Park, in reference to the former name of the code breaking.
Evelyn Avenue
Pumping Station for Rusilip-Northwood Urban District Council there in the 1890s in this area
Farthings Close
Field End House Farm. Now the site of the Catholic Church. A new farmhouse had been built in 1851 and later used as a church and eventually became the presbytery. Demolished in 1967
The Barns. This is the remains of Field End House Farm.
Field End Road
Eastcote grew from farms and cottages at the northern end of the road at the junction with Bridle Road. Was called Chapel Hill because of a Methodist chapel here
Signpost. This is an early 20th finger post sign, in Black painted cast iron, with wooden painted boards in three directions.
Raised footpath from the roundabout. The strip of waste land is required to be planted with trees in perpetuity.
War memorial. Erected in 1929 pm the site of the cattle pond for Field End Farm. It was moved here from the middle of the road after being hit by a bus. Part of the inscription says “This monument is erected as a memorial to the men of Eastcote who gave their lives for their country and as a record of the Loyalty & devotion of the men of Eastcote who served in H.M. Forces. To the wounded who passed through Eastcote Hospital & to the voluntary helpers in the hospital work 1914-1918. Presented by Benjamin James and Annie Hall to the Village of Eastcote in loving and honoured memory of lives nobly sacrificed sufferings patiently endured labour freely given and Victory won. During the Great War 1914-1918 134 men of Eastcote served in H.M. Forces. Of these the following gave their lives for their country
2 Eastcote Cottage. This 16th timber framed house was also called Plocketts or Plucketts. It was part of the Hawtrey Estate from 1609
Georgian Lodge. Built on the site of the stables of Eastcote Cottage
6a-6b A Wesleyan Methodist Society was founded in Eastcote in 1824. The 1832 a Mrs. White made available the land on which a chapel was built and opened in 1848 but this small, village chapel eventually became outdated. A new church was opened in 1960, the old chapel was demolished in 1962 and the land was used to build 2 flats for retired Methodist Ministers.
22 Studio at the back of the building. Designed by architect Alexander Kurz in 1938 it is a purpose built studio for stained glass design. In red brick, flat roof, with large “Crittal” windows. Built for Ervin Bossanyi stained glass artist and painter resident at 22 1937-1975.
28 Retreat Cottage converted from one of the barns and the only surviving relic of the farm. Late 16th 5-bay timber-framed barn with part changed into housing.
23 Park Farm. This seems to have been a brick works in the 16th. It was the home farm for Eastcote House and a diary farm until the 1940s.
32 St.Thomas More church. This was built on the site of Field End House Farm in 1937 as a church hall the parish having been founded in 1935. The presbytery was designed in 1963 by H.C. Harding. The current church dates from 1977 and the architects were Burles, Newton & Partners and it was designed to be added on to the previous building. It is built of beige brick and is an angular, functional building.
45 The Forresters. This development replaces flats which themselves replaced a house called Griffinhurst.
50 Field End Lodge was converted to Tudor Lodge Hotel. Some of the building is 16th. In the Great War it was a VAD hospital and The Army Council certificate of appreciation is displayed in the Reception area.
50 Eastcote V.A.D. Hospital. In 1914 Benjamin James Hall and his wife Annie (she was Secretary of the Women's Total Abstinence Union) offered their home, Field end Lodge, as an auxiliary military hospital. The hospital had its own electricity supply and an operating theatre. The three wards were named General French, General Joffre and King Albert. Patients could enjoy games of croquet and two motor cars were available for drives into the countryside. On discharge each man was asked to sign the pledge. At the end of the war in 1918 the Hospital requested closure. A shrine was placed in the road to be replaced by a war memorial
Sigers Farm. 17th century Sold in 1930
80 Orchard Farm. Probably part of Field End Farm and modernised in 1931 by E.S.Hartley.
88 Field End Farm. In the 16th this belonged to John Ferne. The house is 16th and 17th. In the 20th it was a dairy and sheep farm.
Flag Walk,
On site of Eastcote Lodge. The flag mentioned is that which also named Flag Cottage
Eastcote Lodge. This house was part if the Haydon Hall estate and rebuilt by George and Peto in the 1880s as a home for Baker’s son. It was used to house German POWs in the Second World War. The stables had a picturesque archway. Demolished in the 1960s.
Fore Street
Once known as Frog Lane
Pretty corner garden laid out in 1930s on the site of Gut’s Pond.
Coteford Infant School. This started in the Village Institute hall in 1926. Built in 1952 but the numbers of children meant expansion into huts for the Juniors who eventually were moved to another school. Nursery opened in 1983.
19 Four Elms Farmhouse. Dates from 1560. It belonged to the Kings College Estate and farmed by the Lavender family. Sold in 1922
The Shuttle Barn. The farm was sold in 1922 to Miss Collins who set up here a Home Textiles Centre using local wool.
Houses either side of Coteford Close are the only survivors of a scheme to provide housing for rent to working people by the Ruislip Manor Cottage Society. The scheme was halted by the Great War.
29 Cowman’s Cottage. This house was built for workers on the Haydon Hall Estate for Lawrence James Baker. It was built in 1870 and originally called Homeside.
38-60 Eventide Old People’s Home. This is in yellow brick with Dutch gables around a green. Built by Ruislip and Northwood Urban District Council to commemorate the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937.
Grangewood School. Opened by Shirley Williams in 1977 on a site previously called Grub Ground for handicapped children. It later took the junior children from Coteford School. It is now a co-educational day school for primary age children with severe learning difficulties.
Fore Street farm. This was at the Wentworth Drive junction. It was a dairy farm on the Eastcote House Estate sold for development in 1933
Park Wood entrance. Leads to massive earth banks around the boundary of the wood.
Grooms Drive
Built on the site of Eastcote Village Institute Hall demolished in 1986. The site was built as sheltered housing for the John Grooms organisation.
Hale End Close
Hale End is a long standing name for the area.
Prize winning estate of local authority homes by Edward Cullinan, 1972.
High Road
The Case is Altered. Pub, originally a 16th building it was rebuilt after a fire in 1890. The pub sign relates to the Spanish Civil War from which it is thought the name originates. In the 19th it was a Clutterbuck’s house.
Haydon Lodge. This was built at the entrance to Haydon Hall and was designed in the 1880s by George and Peto when the hall was owned by L.J.Baker. It is built on brick arches to prevent it being flooded by the Pinn and has carved figures in the porch of people in various national dresses.
Ground on the other side of the river from Haydn Lodge is the uneven site of an ornamental lake, now used by young cyclists.
Eastcote House. This is first noted in 1484 and called Hopkytttes but by the 16th it was the home of the Hawtry family and remained so until the 1930s. Cromwell said to have stayed here during the Civil War when troops were billeted here although has never been confirmed. The family lived in the house until 1878 and it was then occupied by tenants, including the engineer, Sir Samuel Morton Peto. In 1930, the housing developers Comben and Wakeling bought the Hawtrey family's land, including Eastcote House with the intention of demolishing it for a new Eastcote Park Estate. During the Second World War, it was used by the local branch of the Food Control Office, in charge of issuing ration books. It had been bought by the local authority as a community centre in 1937 but demolished in 1958. The foundations are still visible in the grass in front of the Old Coach house.
Old Coach House. This is all that remains of Eastcote House. 17th. it was rebuilt as a billiard room in the 1930s. Home of Eastcote Billiards Club since 1929. A paved area in front remains,
Dovecote. This belonged to Eastcote House. It was originally 16th but it is thought that the only remains from that period are the bottom courses of bricks, the rest is 18th. It has a replacement revolving ladder inside for taking doves from their nesting holes.
Gardens. The planting includes Scots pine, oak, and Wellingtonia on the rising lawn near the western end. Near the Old Coach house is the Old Orchard with yew, laurel and holly shrubbery. The 17th walled garden was re-planted in 1981 for the Silver Jubilee, with information plaques about the planted herbs. The gate to the garden has on it EHWG for Eastcote House Walled Garden and JM for local activist Jean Mitchell. A small topiary garden of box and yews was created in 1983 and a wisteria pergola in 1986. Trees added include a dove tree, walnut, black mulberry and quince, and an azalea bed in the orchard. The Elizabeth Copse was planted for the Queen Mother's 80th birthday and the Wild Orchard in 1984. There are also the remains of a flint and red-brick Ha-Ha, 35 m long and 2m deep.
Entrance to Eastcote House at the junction with Field End Road. This leads to a drive built in the mid 19th to access the house when the main entrance was resited. Note wooden gates with acorn decoration.
Sarsen Stone alongside pathway into the grounds of Eastcote House from the High Road
Forge Green. A local conservation area sign stands here opposite the end of Field End Road.
Shops and Garage on the corner of Azalea Walk. These were built on the site of tea gardens belonging to the Old Barn House. The garage workshops were once called Ideal Motors.
Old Barn House. Timber framed building from the 16th despite a sign outside saying ‘1430 AD’. It is an old barn variously used as a house, a post office and a dance hall. Also once known as Ashtree Cottage and part of the Hawtrey Estate.
13th mile post for the 1908 Olympic Marathon was outside the Old Barn.
Black Horse Parade. This was built in the 1960s on the site of sports grounds.
Black Horse Pub. The pub was used for inquests etc. in the 18th as well as having livery stables. It was originally a cottage and rebuilt in the 19th after a lightning strike. In the early 20th it catered for trippers.
Old Forge bungalow is on the site of a forge which was here into the 1950s. There is an anvil in the front garden.
Rosery. Cottage built for farm workers in the 19th
Deans Cottage. Cottage built for farm workers in the 19th
Flag Cottage. The name of the house relates to a First World War occupant who erected a flag pole outside. It is a on the site of a 16th building once called Spring Cottage because it had its own spring. It was used as a school in the 1890s. The front door and other fittings were salvaged from Eastcote Lodge and used here.
Joel Street
The Woodman. This is a 17th cottage turned into a pub in the 1860s. There is a Royal Insurance fire mark.
Haydon Hall. Named from Hoydon Hall marked on Greenwood's 1819 map. It was earlier called ‘Heydons‘ from the family of John Heydon mentioned in local records in 1382. It was built around 1630 by Alice Countess of Derby – as somewhere out of the reach of her dodgy son in law. Rebuilt in 1720 by Thomas Franklin. . It was the home of Dr. Adam Clarke during his closing years, 1824—32 and in the 20th by L.J. Baker as a sporting estate. It was purchased in the 1930s as a site for a Civic Centre by the local authority and county council but the Second World War halted that project. Demolished in 1967. The area is now that of the Recreational Hall and Clubhouse.
Haydon Hall Offices. On the site of a barn used as a coach house
Eastcote Cricket Club grounds on the edge of Haydon Hall. It was set up here during the time that the hall was in possession of the Bennett Edwards family. The first recorded match for an Eastcote village team is in 1865. They became the Institute team and played until the Great War. By 1938 the erection of a pavilion on the ground was planned and there was a full fixture list after the Second World War. The pavilion has been rebuilt several times, with THE present clubhouse being built, mainly by the club members, in the 1970’s.
Tennis courts once used by the Bourne and Hollingsworth shop staff club
Kaduna Close
Site of big houses from the 19th called Sunnyside and The Laurels. It had previously been a Tudor house called Petteridge then later Redbournes used as a Methodist Chapel. Sunnyside was converted to flats, but both houses were demolished in 1970
Lidgould Grove
Road on the Highgrove Estate land called for Reverend John Lidgould who built the house in the 18th
Meadow Way
38 Field End Farm. 16th barn which is now offices.
Pamela Gardens
Methodist Church. A Wesleyan Methodist Society was founded in Eastcote by the Rev. Dr Adam Clarke in 1824. The Society met in the stables at Haydon Hall where he lived in retirement. After his death a chapel was built in Field End Road. In 1935 the Church bought the plot of land in Pamela Gardens but the Second World War intervened and it was finally dedicated in 1960. Extra meeting rooms were added in 1980. There is a memorial tablet to Methodism's first outstanding scholar, Adam Clarke, orientalist and biblical commentator, also many relics and manuscripts
Southhill Lane
Originally known as Maggots Lane,
Southhill Farmhouse. This is red brick and built around 1714. The original farm and occupied the full length of the lane.
Southhill Cottages, now called Findon. Built as three cottages by George and Peto for works on the Haydon Hall Estate
Stables once part of Southill Farm
Pathway alongside the cottages and stables once known as Giddy Street.
St Lawrence Drive
Oak Tree Island. Mature oaks which were originally planted in the grounds of Eastcote House and this patch of green is used for community events..
Spring Drive
Built on the grounds of Flag Cottage in the 1960s.
Wentworth Drive
On the line of a footpath between Joel Street and Fore Street Farm.
Wood Rise
Built originally as cottages for the Hayden Hall Estate.
Sources
British Listed Buildings. Web site
Eastcote Methodist Church. Web site.
Edwards, Eastcote
English Heritage. Web site
Field. London Place Names
Highways and Byways Ruislip, Northwood and Eastcote
London Borough of Hillingdon. Web site
London Encyclopaedia
London Gardens Online. Web site
London’s Lost Hospitals
Middlesex County Council. History of Middlesex
Middlesex Churches,
Pevsner and Cherry. North West London
Stevenson. Middlesex
St. Thomas More. Web site
Walford. Village London