Headstone Manor and Museum facts for kids
The Headstone Museum, also known as the Harrow Museum, is a cool place in the London Borough of Harrow, England. It's a local history museum that tells the story of Harrow and its people through amazing old buildings and collections.
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Discover Headstone Museum
This museum opened in 1986. It's located on the grounds of Headstone Manor, a place with records going all the way back to 825 AD! That's super old. All the buildings at the museum are special and protected. The whole area is even a Scheduled Ancient Monument, which means it's a really important historical site. The museum shares the history of Harrow using its collections, special displays, and four historic buildings. It shows how important this place and its people are.
Explore Historic Buildings
The Headstone Museum is home to several very old and interesting buildings. Each one has its own unique story to tell about the past.
Headstone Manor House
The main house, Headstone Manor, was built around 1310. It's the oldest surviving timber-framed building in Middlesex. Experts have called it "one of the most interesting domestic complexes in the whole country." The house shows different building styles from the 14th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Headstone Manor is a Grade I listed building, meaning it's a building of exceptional historical interest.
The manor house is surrounded by a moat that is still filled with water. This moat was built around the same time as the oldest part of the house. It was a way to show off how rich and important the owner was.
The land where Headstone Manor stands belonged to Wulfred, who was the Archbishop of Canterbury, way back in 825 AD. Building of Headstone Manor started around 1310. We know this because scientists studied the age of the old wooden beams. John de Stratford, another Archbishop of Canterbury, bought more land here in 1344. He used Headstone Manor as his main home in Middlesex. The Archbishops of Canterbury owned the manor until 1546. Then, Henry VIII took it over. Soon after, King Henry VIII sold it to one of his friends, Edward North. It stayed in private hands for nearly 400 years.
Over the years, many owners added new parts and changed the look of the house. For example, the great hall was decorated with wood panels in 1631. In the 1770s, a stylish brick front was added, which is what you see today.
Eventually, Headstone Manor started to fall apart, and much of its land was sold. In 1925, the local council bought the site. Later, the London Borough of Harrow took control. After many years of decay, it was decided to turn the site into the Harrow Museum. The museum officially opened in 1986. The first big repair work on Headstone Manor began in 2004, focusing on the oldest parts of the building.
The Great Barn
Headstone Manor used to be a working farm. It had many old farm buildings around it. By the early 1900s, most of these buildings were in bad shape and were destroyed. Only two remain, and the most impressive is the Great Barn. It was sometimes called the Tithe Barn, but it was never actually used for tithes (a type of tax).
The Great Barn was built in 1506 by order of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It's a Grade II* listed building, meaning it's very important. Its frame is made entirely from English Oak. It's huge, measuring 43 meters long and nine meters high! The barn was mainly used by the farmer to store grains and keep horses. A few sections were kept for the Archbishop's own use.
By the 1920s, the barn was in very poor condition. But in the 1970s, the London Borough of Harrow did a major restoration project. This brought the Great Barn back to its original glory. The barn was changed to have the facilities needed for a busy museum. When the Harrow Museum opened in 1986, this beautiful brown wooden building with its old tiled roof was the first usable part of the museum. In 2014, more restoration work began, turning the Great Barn into a space for events.
The Small Barn
When people dug at the Small Barn site, they found pieces of pottery from prehistoric and Roman times. This shows that the area where Harrow Museum is now has been lived in for thousands of years! Digging also showed that the foundations of the Small Barn are from the 14th century. This means it's as old as the first parts of Headstone Manor house and its moat.
The Small Barn stands across from the huge Great Barn. It was originally two buildings standing end to end. Later, they were re-roofed as one building with a drain in the middle. It was probably used to keep farm animals. It's thought that several buildings have stood on this spot over time. Most of the wood you see today seems to be from the same period as the early 16th-century Great Barn.
In the mid-1970s, the Small Barn was almost destroyed by a fire. For 20 years, its burnt frame was covered by a protective plastic cover. Finally, it was restored. The Small Barn is a Grade II listed building. It re-opened in autumn 2017 with displays about archaeology and a film.
The Granary
The Grade II listed Granary is the only building at the museum that wasn't originally part of Headstone Manor farm. It was first built about a mile away at Pinner Park Farm. When it was no longer needed and started to fall apart, it was carefully repaired. Then, it was moved to the Harrow Museum site in 1991.
The Granary dates from the late 1700s. It was actually used to store food for cattle. Even though it only has a ground floor and a first floor, the building has a surprising number of windows on the upper level, which makes it a bit of a mystery! Originally, the building would have been longer. But one end stood in wet ground and rotted away, making the Granary its current size.
The Granary building fits in well with the other buildings at the Harrow Museum. It opened to the public in 1992. After more restoration work, it re-opened in autumn 2017 as a learning space.
Additional Facilities
The museum has some helpful facilities for visitors.
The Moat Café and Visitor Centre
Near The Small Barn, you'll find The Moat Café and Visitor Centre. Here, you can get fresh coffee, cakes, paninis, and other hot snacks. The Visitor Centre also has a gift shop where you can buy handmade items like jewelry, books, and gifts for kids. It also has a disabled toilet and baby changing facilities. The Moat café and visitor centre is open every day except Mondays.
Car Park
There is a free car park on Pinner View. It's about 100 meters from the entrance gate of Headstone Manor Museum.
Cycling
If you come by bike, there are several bike racks. You can find them by the car park and the Headstone Recreation entrances to the museum.
Museum Collections
As a local history museum, the Harrow Museum Collection has over 15,000 objects and artifacts. All of these items are connected to the Harrow area. The collection focuses on the social and industrial past of Harrow and the people who lived there. It includes a large collection from the Eastman Kodak factory, the Whitefriars Glass factory, and the Hamilton paint factory. The Harrow Museum also has many archaeological objects, from very old prehistoric times to the recent past.
See also
- Grade I and II* listed buildings in Harrow
