Preston Road, HA3

Road in/near Preston Road, existing until now

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(51.57416 -0.29435, 51.574 -0.294) 
MAP YEAR:18001810182018301860190019502024 
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Road · * · HA3 ·
JANUARY
2
2023
Preston Road is a main shopping road leading past the station of the same name.

Preston emerged in 1220 as a small settlement centred around Preston Green, just southwest of the Lidding or Wealdstone Brook. The settlement’s name may originate from an estate granted to Abbot Stidberht by King Offa (it means ’the farm belonging to the priest’), though any connection to the rural Preston Road was lost by 1086. Preston was established as a township by 1231.

By the mid-1400s, Preston consisted of two farms and some cottages. The northern Lyon family farm, dating to the late 1300s, was described as beautiful in 1547 and was likely the birthplace of John Lyon. He founded Harrow School in 1572, after which the farm supported the school, being rebuilt around 1700. The southern farm was first called Preston Dicket before becoming Preston Farm.

Around 1850, the short-lived “Rose & Crown” beerhouse opened at Preston Hill, likely part of Hillside Farm.

The popular Preston Tea Gardens under George Timms was opened around 1880. The Tea Gardens flourished well into the following century.

Despite the 1894 Wembley Park station opening, the Metropolitan Railway did not spur development, even rejecting a Preston stop in 1896 given the tiny population. Into the early 1900s, the area remained rural with the unspoiled Wealdstone Brook meandering through the district, described as “one of the most perfect little streams anywhere, abounding in dace and roach.”

The 1900s brought slow transformation. Uxendon Farm became a shooting ground (the Lancaster Shooting Club), hosting 1908 Olympic clay pigeon events. Pressure from the shooting club, being two miles from any station led to Preston Road Halt opening in 1908.

Preston Road Halt triggered the first wave of commuter development in the area. After 1910, some large Edwardian houses arose along Preston Road itself. In 1912, Harrow Golf Club opened near the station, joining the earlier Wembley Golf Club from 1895 on Barn Hill’s southern slopes. Both golf courses would vanish under new housing constructed between the wars, as suburban expansion gradually transformed the rural landscape.

Enhanced transportation finally enabled suburban expansion. Christ Church College, Oxford and Harrow School sold their Preston estates between 1921-1933. Construction commenced at Forty Green as early as 1923-1924, with housing quickly spreading along Preston Road and Preston Hill over the next three years. As communications advanced, open land swiftly transitioned to suburban development.

Many country lanes in the area remained unimproved until 1931-1932 under Wembley’s Town Planning Scheme. Preston Road itself continued as a rural country lane into the late 1930s, which may explain its enduring charm.



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NEARBY LOCATIONS OF NOTE
Preston Road Preston Road - originally just ’Preston’ - is situated west along the Metropolitan Line from Wembley Park.
Uxendon Farm Uxendon was once more important than Wembley.

NEARBY STREETS
Arnold Close, HA9 Arnold Close is a road in the HA3 postcode area (Preston Road)
Blackberry Court, HA3 Blackberry Court can be found on Preston Road (Preston Road)
Calverley Gardens, HA3 Calverley Gardens is a road in the HA3 postcode area (Kenton)
College Road, HA9 College Road is one of the streets in the Harrow postal district of Middlesex (Preston Road)
Glendale Gardens, HA9 Glendale Gardens is one of the streets in the Harrow postal district of Middlesex (Preston Road)
Grasmere Avenue, HA9 Grasmere Avenue is one of the streets in the Harrow postal district of Middlesex (South Kenton)
Grenfell Gardens, HA3 Grenfell Gardens is one of the streets in the Harrow postal district of Middlesex (Kenton)
Hillside Gardens, HA3 Hillside Gardens is a road in the HA3 postcode area (Preston Road)
John Perrin Place, HA3 John Perrin Place is a road in the HA3 postcode area (Preston Road)
Ledway Drive, HA9 Ledway Drive is one of the streets in the Harrow postal district of Middlesex (Preston Road)
Ledway Drive, HA9 Ledway Drive is a road in the HA3 postcode area (Preston Road)
Longfield Avenue, HA9 Longfield Avenue is a road in the HA9 postcode area (Preston Road)
Manning Gardens, HA3 Manning Gardens is a road in the HA3 postcode area (Kenton)
Mount Stewart Avenue, HA3 Mount Stewart Avenue is one of the streets in the Harrow postal district of Middlesex (Kenton)
Oxenpark Avenue, HA9 Oxenpark Avenue is one of the streets in the Harrow postal district of Middlesex (Preston Road)
Park Court, HA3 A street within the HA3 postcode (Preston Road)
Preston Road, HA3 Preston Road is a main shopping road leading past the station of the same name (Preston Road)
Preston Waye, HA9 Preston Waye is a road in the HA3 postcode area (Preston Road)
Ravenscroft Avenue, HA9 Ravenscroft Avenue is one of the streets in the Harrow postal district of Middlesex (Preston Road)
Shaftesbury Avenueon, HA3 A street within the HA3 postcode (Preston Road)
Silverholme Close, HA3 Silverholme Close is a road in the HA3 postcode area (Kenton)
Viewfield Close, HA3 Viewfield Close is one of the streets in the Harrow postal district of Middlesex (Preston Road)
Wentworth Hill, HA9 Wentworth Hill is one of the streets in the Harrow postal district of Middlesex (Wembley Park)
West Close, HA9 West Close is one of the streets in the Harrow postal district of Middlesex (Wembley Park)
Wilson Close, HA9 Wilson Close is a road in the HA9 postcode area (Preston Road)
Wilson Drive, HA9 Wilson Drive is a road in the HA9 postcode area (Preston Road)
Woodcock Court, HA3 Woodcock Court is a block just off Woodcock Hill (Preston Road)
Woodford Place, HA9 Woodford Place is one of the streets in the Harrow postal district of Middlesex (Preston Road)
Wykeham Hill, HA9 Wykeham Hill is one of the streets in the Harrow postal district of Middlesex (Wembley Park)


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