Pinner

infobox UK place
country=England
map_type=Greater London
region=London
population=19,156 [Combined total for the Pinner and Pinner South wards at the 2001 census.]
official_name=Pinner
london_borough=Harrow
constituency_westminster=Harrow West
post_town=PINNER
postcode_district=HA5
postcode_area=HA
dial_code=020
os_grid_reference=TQ115895
latitude=51.5932
longitude=-0.3894
london_distance=convert|12.5|mi|km|1 SE
static_

static_image_caption=Pinner High Street

Pinner is a suburb in the London Borough of Harrow in Greater London, England, convert|12.5|mi|km|1 north-west of Charing Cross. The area was in the county of Middlesex until 1965, when it was absorbed by the London Government Act 1963 into Greater London.

History

Pinner was originally a hamlet, first recorded in 1231 as "Pinnora", [Clarke, "A History of Pinner", p.11] although the already archaic "-ora" (meaning 'hill') suggests its origins lie no later than "c."900. [Clarke, "A History of Pinner", p.1] The oldest part of the village lies around the fourteenth-century parish church of St John the Baptist, [Clarke, "A History of Pinner", p.34. The church was originally a chapel of ease to St Mary's Church in Harrow, 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.] at the junction of the present-day Paines Lane, High Street and Church Lane. The earliest surviving private dwelling, East End Farm Cottage, dates from the late fifteenth-century. [Clarke, "A History of Pinner", p.18]

Pinner has had an annual street fair since 1336, when it was granted by Royal Charter by Edward III; [Clarke, "A History of Pinner", p.25] it remains popular today, being the last of its kind in Middlesex, and featured in Sir John Betjeman's BBC TV documentary "Metro-land" (1973). The village expanded rapidly between 1923 and 1939, when a series of garden estates – encouraged by the Metropolitan Railway – grew around its historic core, [Clarke, "A History of Pinner", pp.176-184] and at this time assumed much of its present-day suburban character.

Governance

Pinner has three tiers of government: Harrow Council and the London Assembly ("local"), the United Kingdom parliament ("national"), and the European Parliament ("Europe").

Harrow Council has been governed since 2006 by the Conservatives, led by David Ashton. The mayor – a ceremonial post which rotates annually – is John Nickolay (Conservative). Pinner is represented by two wards, Pinner and Pinner South, each of which currently returns three Conservative councillors.

Pinner forms the north-west corner of the Brent and Harrow constituency in the London Assembly, which has been represented since 2008 by Navin Shah (Labour), and the Harrow West constituency in the United Kingdom parliament, represented since 1995 by Gareth Thomas (Labour). Following a Boundary Commission review, it will form part of a new parliamentary constituency, Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner, at the next general election. [ [http://www.statistics.gov.uk%2Fpbc%2Freview_areas%2FNorth_London_Boroughs%2Fdownloads%2FNorth_London_NR_FR.doc www.statistics.gov.uk] . Accessed 14 August 2008.]

Pinner lies within the London European Parliament constituency, which elects nine MEPs by proportional representation – currently three Conservative, three Labour, one Liberal Democrat, one Green and one UKIP member. [ [http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/public/geoSearch/search.do?country=GB&zone=London&language=EN European Parliament official site] . Accessed 14 August 2008.]

Transport

Pinner is served by London Underground's Metropolitan Line, and by four London Buses bus routes: 183 (towards Golders Green), H11 (towards Harrow and Mount Vernon Hospital), H12 (towards South Harrow and Stanmore), and H13 (towards Ruislip Lido and St Vincent's Hospital).

Notable people

A number of notable literary figures have an association with Pinner. The poet laureate Henry James Pye retired to East End House at the end of his career in 1811, [Clarke, "A History of Pinner", p.11] the novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton wrote "Eugene Aram" at Pinner Wood House in 1832, [ [http://www.pinnerlhs.org.uk/map-site/people.html Pinner Local History Society] . Accessed 13 August 2008.] and Samuel and Isabella Beeton lived on the Woodridings estate between 1856 and 1862, during which Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management was published. [Clarke, "A History of Pinner", p.155] The novelist Ivy Compton-Burnett was born in the village in 1884, [ [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/130377/Dame-Ivy-Compton-Burnett Britannica Online Encyclopedia] . Accessed 12 August 2008.] and the playwright W. S. Gilbert, although he did not live in Pinner, was a magistrate there from 1893 onwards. [ [http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/mdpemberton-wsg.htm Views of W. S. Gilbert] . Accessed 12 August 2008.] Twentieth-century figures include the cartoonist William Heath Robinson, who lived in Moss Lane between 1913 and 1918, [Clarke, "A History of Pinner", p.192] and now has a museum dedicated to him at West House in Pinner Memorial Park, and the current children's laureate Michael Rosen, who was born in Pinner in 1946, and lived there until 1962. [ [http://www.michaelrosen.co.uk/about.html Michael Rosen: The Website] . Accessed 7 August 2008.]

Figures in the world of entertainment associated with Pinner include the musicians Sir Elton John and Simon LeBon, who both grew up there and attended the local County Grammar School before moving away, [ [http://www.eltonjohn.com/about/bio.jsp Elton John official website] . Accessed 12 August 2008.] [ [http://www.yuddy.com/celebrity/simon-le-bon/bio www.yuddy.com] . Accessed 12 August 2008.] actor David Suchet and comedian Ronnie Barker, both one-time owners of 17th-century Elmdene in Church Lane, [ [http://www.pjbartlett.co.uk/Pinner%20History.htm Pinner Local History] . Accessed 12 August 2008] actress Jane March, who grew up there before moving to the United States, [ [http://www.tv.com/jane-march/person/37085/biography.html www.tv.com] . Accessed 13 August 2008.] actress Molly Weir, who lived there until her death in 2004, [ [http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/people/famousfirst825.html The Gazetteer for Scotland] . Accessed 7 August 2008.] and broadcaster Bob Holness, who still lives there. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/content/articles/2007/02/26/bob_holness_feature.shtml BBC Kent: Profile of Bob Holness] . Accessed 13 August 2008.] The Monster Raving Loony Party leader Screaming Lord Sutch, who lived in nearby South Harrow, is buried in Pinner New Cemetery. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/380082.stm www.bbc.co.uk] . Accessed 13 August 2008.]

Other notable figures include Horatia Nelson, the illegitimate daughter of Lord Nelson and Lady Emma Hamilton, who lived there from 1860 until her death in 1881, [Clarke, "A History of Pinner", p.155] the astronomer Sir Patrick Moore, born there in 1923, [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A13785816 www.bbc.co.uk] . Accessed 13 August 2008.] the documentary film-maker Jo Durden-Smith, born there in 1941, [ [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jo-durdensmith-451751.html Obituary of Jo Durden-Smith] , "The Independent", 5 June 2007. Accessed 14 August 2008.] and the Iraq hostage Norman Kember, a long-time resident of the town. [ [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/no-word-on-fate-of-iraq-peace-hostages-519089.html 'No word on fate of Iraq peace hostages'] , "The Independent", 12 December 2005. Accessed 14 August 2005.]

Filmography

The BBC sitcom One Foot In The Grave, although filmed elsewhere, was set in Pinner, [ [http://www.harrow.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=1018 Harrow Council] . Accessed 12 August 2008.] as was the sitcom May to December, which filmed its exterior shots in the High Street.

Notes

References

*Patricia A. Clarke, "A History of Pinner", Phillimore, 2004 ISBN 1-86077-287-0

External links

* [http://www.pinnerlhs.org.uk/ Pinner Local History Society]
* [http://www.pinnerassociation.co.uk/ The Pinner Association ]
* [http://flickr.com/groups/pinner/ Pinner on Flickr]