Edgware () is a suburban town in northwest

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It was an

ancient parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the county of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

east of the ancient

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England, running from Dover and London in the southeast, via St Albans to Wroxeter. The road crosses the River Thames at London and was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the M ...

in what is now the

London Borough of Barnet The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban London boroughs, London borough in north London, England. Forming part of Outer London, the borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It is the ...

but it is now informally considered to cover a wider area, including parts of the boroughs of

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...

and Brent. The district is located north-northwest of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...

and has a generally suburban character. The urban-rural fringe includes some elevated woodland on a high gravel and sand ridge along the

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

border with Greater London. Edgware is principally a shopping and residential area, identified in the

London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Greater London area in the United Kingdom that is written by the Mayor of London and published by the Greater London Authority. It is updated from time to time. The regio ...

as one of the capital's 35 major centres, and one of the northern termini of the

Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs between North London and South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground linearound 340million in 2019making it the bu ...

. It has a

bus garage A bus garage, also known as a bus depot, bus base or bus barn, is a facility where buses are stored and maintained. In many conurbations, bus garages are on the site of former car barns or tram sheds, where trams (streetcars) were stored, a ...

, a shopping centre called the

Broadwalk Centre The Broadwalk Centre is a shopping centre located in the town of Edgware, Greater London, and is owned by Ballymore Group having been purchased from Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP), having been purchased from The Carlyle Group and ...

, a library, a

community hospital A community hospital can be purely a nominal designation or have a more specific meaning. When specific, it refers to a hospital that is accessible to the general public and provides a general or specific medical care which is usually short-term, i ...

, Edgware Community Hospital, and two streams, Edgware Brook and

Deans Brook Deans Brook is a two-kilometre-long stream which runs between Mill Hill and Edgware in the London Borough of Barnet. It is a tributary of the Silk Stream, which is a tributary of the River Brent, which is a tributary of the River Thames. The b ...

which merge and become known as the

Silk Stream The Silk Stream is a brook just over long in the London Borough of Barnet. It is one of the major components of the Blue Ribbon Network. The Silk Stream is a tributary of the River Brent, which it joins at Brent Reservoir. It has several trib ...

, itself a tributary of the

River Brent The River Brent is a river in west and northwest London, England, and a tributary of the River Thames. in length, it rises in the London Borough of Barnet, Borough of Barnet and flows in a generally south-west direction before joining the Tid ...

. As of 2011, the town had a population of 58,619.

Toponymy

Edgware is an

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

place-name first recorded in the 970s as Aegces wer, meaning Ecgi's weir. Ecgi is a

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

name and the weir relates to a pond where his people would catch fish. The name was subsequently applied to the ancient parish of Edgware. A legal record of 1422 mentions "Eggeswer", in Middlesex, which, being in Latin, may have been written deliberately using an older form of the spelling. By 1489, and the beginning of the

Tudor period In England and Wales, the Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603, including the Elizabethan era during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603). The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England, which began with ...

those writing the name added the "d" and it was Edggeware.

Administration and boundaries

Administration

Edgware was an

of in the county of

. Edgware parish was part of a grouping of parishes called

Hendon Rural District Hendon was a rural district in Middlesex, England from 1894 to 1934. The rural district was established in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894, consisting of the following parishes: The parish of Hendon became an urban district in the ...

(which didn't include Hendon) from 1894. In 1931 Edgware moved from Hendon Rural District to the separate Hendon Urban District which did include Hendon. The following year Hendon Urban District became the

Municipal Borough of Hendon Hendon was an ancient parish of around in Middlesex, on the border with Hertfordshire. As well as Hendon itself, the parish included Childs Hill, Golders Green and Mill Hill. In 1879 the parish was made a Local board of health#Local Government A ...

. In 1965 the Borough of Hendon merged with the

Municipal Borough of Finchley Finchley, which is now in north London, was a local government district in Middlesex, England, from 1878 to 1965. Finchley Local Board first met in 1878. It became Finchley Urban District Council in 1895 and the Municipal Borough of Finchley in 1 ...

, the urban districts of Barnet, East Barnet and Friern Barnet to become the new

Boundaries and scope

The Ancient parish formally defined the extent of Edgware for over 800 years, but the district is now sometimes perceived as covering a wider area.

Ancient Parish

Ancient parishes Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient hi ...

served one or more manors (occasionally very large manors would be divided into more than one parish). The boundaries of these underlying manors occasionally changed through subinfeudation (sub-division), and parish boundaries might sometimes change with that, but in 1180 the parish boundaries were frozen, so that sub-division of parishes was unusual after that time, usually only occurring in rapidly developing urban areas.History of the Countryside by Oliver Rackham, 1986 p19 The ancient parish served by St Margaret's church was bounded to the west by Roman

with the parish of Little Stanmore beyond it. South of

and Edgware Brook to the south and east was

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

. ''Ecgi's Weir'', which gave the district its name is likely to have been built on one of these boundary brooks. The parish appears to have inherited a much older boundary along these brooks, as these are described as part of the boundary of an estate in neighbouring Hendon. The parish's northern boundary with the parish of Elstree, was also that of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. Middlesex's northern boundary was, in this area, marked by a 20 kilometre

hedge A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced (3 feet or closer) shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate ...

of great antiquity. When still unfragmented, the hedge extended from the River Colne (Middlesex's western boundary) to

Barnet Gate Wood Barnet Gate Wood is a public open space in Barnet Gate, Barnet, London. It is owned and managed by the London Borough of Barnet, and is part of the Watling Chase, Watling Chase Community Forest.Barnet Gate Wood Nature Trail, leaflet published by ...

. This boundary of Middlesex with Hertfordshire was inherited, in part, by the new

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

in 1965. The area of Edgware was consistent and in the 1930s measured as .

Electoral wards

Both Barnet and Harrow have electoral wards named Edgware. The ward in Harrow was called ''South Stanmore'' until 2002. Electoral wards are regularly altered to ensure a consistent number of electors per ward across a local authority area.

Postal area

Edgware is part of the

HA postcode area The HA postcode area, also known as the Harrow postcode area, is a group of ten postcode districts in England, within seven post towns. These cover part of northwest London, plus a very small part of south Hertfordshire. The main sorting offic ...

, named after nearby

, of the London

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in t ...

. More specifically Edgware is part of the HA8 postcode locality, associated with Edgware, but which covers a much wider area including

Burnt Oak Burnt Oak is a suburb of London, England, located northwest of Charing Cross. It lies to the west of the M1 motorway between Edgware and Colindale, located predominantly in the London Borough of Barnet, with parts in the London Boroughs of Br ...

The Hale The Hale is an area and ward within the London Borough of Barnet. It is situated where the eastern part of Edgware meets the western part of Mill Hill and centres on the small retail centre at the junction of Deans Lane, Hale Lane and Selvage La ...

Canons Park Canons Park is a public park and the name of its surrounding residential area, in the Edgware district of the London Borough of Harrow, north-west London. Canons Park was a country estate which partially survives today as a public park. St. Law ...

, and parts of Queensbury. In this way HA8 take in part of the boroughs of Barnet, Harrow and Brent. Postcode areas are an operational convenience for the Royal Mail, and not intended to define districts. Some eastern streets are in the

NW postcode area The NW (North Western) postcode area, also known as the London NW postcode area, is a group of 13 postcode districts covering around 13,895 live postcodes within part of northwest London, England. It is the successor of the NW sector, originall ...

History

Origins and pre-industrial history

The

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

made pottery at

Brockley Hill Brockley Hill, Stanmore, is an area of high ground on the outskirts of North London, England. The hill, which rises to above sea level, is traversed by the A5 road. It follows the course of the Roman road known as Watling Street. The hill is a ...

, thought by some to be the site of Sulloniacis. Edgware does not appear in the

Domesday Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

survey of 1086. A manorial centre has, since at least 1216, been . Edgware Road follows the same line as the ancient

, an important Roman Road, and used in the medieval period by pilgrims. The Road was improved by the Edgware-Kilburn

turnpike trust Turnpike trusts were bodies set up by individual Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom, Acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road toll road, tolls for maintaining the principal roads in Kingdom of Great Britain, Britain from the 17th ...

in 1711, and a number of the local inns functioned as a stop for coaches. By 1867 a railway line had been built between Edgware and

Finsbury Park Finsbury Park is a public park in Harringay, north London, England. The park lies on the southern-most edge of the London Borough of Haringey. It is in the area formerly covered by the historic parish of Hornsey, succeeded by the Municipal ...

and a station was built.

James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, (6 January 16739 August 1744) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the English House of Commons, English and House of Commons of Great Britain, British House of Commons from 1698 until 1714, wh ...

built a stately home called

Cannons A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during t ...

in nearby Little Stanmore, around 1713 for £250,000 () and was by far the wealthiest resident in the vicinity at that time. By the 17th century Edgware had a small market selling cattle driven from other parts of England and fattened and sold locally. Local trades included butchers, tailors, colliers (charcoal sellers) and brewers. The market was held every week but petered out in 1790s.Edgware & Burnt Oak
London Borough of Barnet Edgware was associated with the highwayman

Dick Turpin Richard Turpin (bapt. 21 September 1705 – 7 April 1739) was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's trade as a butcher ear ...

. The infamous scene of his worst incident, which happened on 4 February 1735, was when five gang members, including Turpin, broke into a farmhouse owned by Joseph Lawrence, called Earlsbury Farm. Lawrence was at least 70 (so considered fairly old) and yet Turpin et al. beat him with their pistols and tortured him by setting him on a fire whilst naked, before announcing that they would amputate his legs. While this was going on, the leader of the gang took a servant girl upstairs and raped her.

Early economic history

Industry played a minor role in the economy of Edgware. There was a cattle and pleasure fair from 1760s to 1860s with horse racing between 1834 and 1855. Ribbon development along this part of the A5 road included development in the parish of Edgware to the east of the road, and Little Stanmore to the west of it. Gravel pits were probably being worked by 1802 and certainly by 1834, partly at least by the labour of the able-bodied poor as a parish employment, and in 1963 gravel was still being extracted on the eastern side of the parish. In 1831 there were no persons engaged in manufacturing in the parish, and in fact there were no industries until in 1900 the firm of Chas. Wright Ltd., manufacturing engineers, moved from

Clerkenwell Clerkenwell ( ) is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an Civil Parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish from the medieval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The St James's C ...

: employed for the UK government in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and after this it struck 2,000,000 Mons or 1914 Stars and Victory Medals. Its largest production in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

was for the metal parts of respirator filters: making 94½ million between 1937 and 1943. In 1963 the company was chiefly engaged in the manufacture of car registration plates. There were 70 workmen employed, together with an office staff of 30. The firm of A.E.W. Ltd., founded in 1923 and established in Edgware in 1927, at the start of the 1970s employed 50 people and manufactured laboratory and industrial electric ovens and furnaces. Edgware had few residents for its size but saw some prosperous commerce: in 1870, for instance, there were six

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

agents in the village. The opening of the Great Northern Railway branch in 1867, however, seems to have had little effect on the expansion of the village, and plans to extend the railway met with strong local opposition. A Bill to establish a line from Watford to Edgware, brought before Parliament in 1896 and 1897, was opposed by residents, and it was said that the real harm of the railways was the opening up of building sites 'which are quickly covered with architectural atrocities'. In this time the parish had begun to display a tendency to split into an opulent north and a workaday south, separated by an agricultural

buffer zone A buffer zone, also historically known as a march, is a neutral area that lies between two or more bodies of land; usually, between countries. Depending on the type of buffer zone, it may serve to separate regions or conjoin them. Common types o ...

. By 1896 several large houses had been built in the Elstree area or along the Elstree–

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...

road, while the old village gained the post office, the infants' school, the station, and the Railway Hotel. The southern part of the parish was unable to repel the tide of suburban development, but the threatened distinction was to a large extent averted by the quality of buildings between the two world wars.

Suburban transformation

The first (non-tube connected) railway accompanied a brief decline in population. By the mid 19th century the area was almost entirely for the purpose of hay production. In 1939 the overground railway passenger service ceased to run, and goods traffic ceased by 1964. A tram service began in 1904. In 1921 the population was 1,516. Although much suburban development was encouraged by the opening of the

tube station The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

in 1924, the area was already attracting developers like George Cross to the area by 1919. The conurbation increased as far north as the Edgware Way. In 1932 the parish became a part of Hendon Urban District. The shopping district around Station Road developed to include the Ritz Cinema, which opened in May 1932. Following several name changes the cinema was eventually demolished in 2001 and replaced by a large gym, apartments and a

Caffè Nero Caffè Nero is a coffeehouse company headquartered in London, England, established in 1997 by Gerry Ford. Caffè Nero runs over 1,000 coffee houses in eleven countries: the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Cyprus, Croatia, Turkey, the UAE, Oman and ...

. The Edgware Town F.C. was founded in 1939 after a predecessor team in 1915. A

general hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...

on Burnt Oak Broadway dates back to an

infirmary Infirmary may refer to: *Historically, a hospital, especially a small hospital *A first aid room in a school, prison, or other institution *A dispensary (an office that dispenses medications) *A clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambul ...

that was added at a

workhouse In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as Scottish poorhouse, poorh ...

from the Hendon Board of Guardians in 1865, with an all new site adjacent to it built and opened with 175 beds in December 1927 as Redhill Hospital. It was extended greatly by

Middlesex County Council Middlesex County Council was the principal local government body in the administrative county of Middlesex from 1889 to 1965. The county council was created by the Local Government Act 1888, which also removed the most populous part of the cou ...

in the late 1930s. It became part of the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

in 1948 and was renamed Edgware General Hospital. Post-war development has been restricted by the

Metropolitan Green Belt The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It comprises parts of Greater London, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey, parts of two of the three districts of Bedfordshire and a s ...

, sparing

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted ...

into the Scratch Wood and Deacons Hill areas apart from the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) motorway, A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the count ...

. By this time the population was more than 17,000. In 1990, the Mall Shopping Centre, originally called the Broadwalk Shopping Centre, replaced the former Edgware Town station pulled down in 1961. Following a review in 1994, Edgware General Hospital was controversially closed by the Conservative government of

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...

in April 1997 despite public opposition. After the Labour Party election victory the closure was upheld, leading to further outcry from the public. Eventually a review and lengthy consultations took place with local campaigners and authorities, which resulted in the building of a

. Some of the General Hospital site was demolished and Edgware Community Hospital, which cost £38 million, opened in its place in February 2005. Edgware was identified in 2008 as a major centre for preferred development in the London Plan. In the mid-2010s, many new apartments have been built on Green Lane.

Geography

Edgware town centre lies about above sea level. Much of Edgware is steep, particularly around Edgwarebury Park (a

Site of Nature Conservation Interest Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI), Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC) and regionally important geological site (RIGS) are designations used by local authorities in the United Kingdom for sites of substantive local nature ...

) and the Broadfields Estate. The Edgwarebury Brook (not to be confused with the ''Edgware Brook''), is a tributary of Deans Brook. The

and ''Edgware Brook'', which form the historic southern boundary of the area, merge and take the name

in the vicinity of Edgware Hospital (known as Redhill Hospital till 1948). The Silk Stream is a tributary of the

, which it meets at

Brent Reservoir The Brent Reservoir (popularly called the Welsh Harp) is a reservoir in North West London. It straddles the boundary between the boroughs of Brent and Barnet and is owned by the Canal & River Trust. The reservoir takes its informal name from a ...

. Open spaces in the area include Edgwarebury Park and Stoneyfields Park. Major roads in the vicinity include the A5, the

A41 road The A41 is a trunk road between London and Birkenhead, England. Now in parts replaced by motorways, it passes through or near Watford, Kings Langley, Hemel Hempstead, Aylesbury, Bicester, Solihull, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, New ...

(Watford Bypass) and the

. The A5 Road (originally the Roman Watling Street) runs from central London by way of Edgware and onto

Wroxeter Wroxeter ( ) is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Wroxeter and Uppington, in the Shropshire district, in the ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It is beside the River Severn, south-east of Shrewsbury. In 1961 the ...

in Shropshire. The Road is known as the ''High Street'', ''Stone Grove'' and ''Brockley Hill'' as it runs along the Edgware/Little Stanmore parish boundary; immediately south of that boundary it is known as ''Burnt Oak Broadway''. Further south it is known as

Edgware Road Edgware Road is a major road in London, England. The route originated as part of Roman Watling Street and, unusually in London, it runs for in an almost perfectly straight line. Forming part of the modern A5 road, Edgware Road undergoes sever ...

, meaning ''the road to Edgware''.

Demography and religion

Until the 20th century there were no major rises in the population of Edgware. In the manor of Edgware in 1277 there were eight free tenants (excluding the Grand Priory of Clerkenwell) and 52 customary tenants (assumed to all be men); the survey from which these figures are taken, however, includes lands appurtenant to the manor lying in Kingsbury. In 1425–26 the manor of Edgware had three free and 29 customary tenants in the parish, and in 1525–26 the numbers were two or three free and 26 customary tenants. In 1547 there were 120 (adult or teenage)

communicants The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by J ...

in the parish. In 1597 there were between 60 and 70 houses in the parish, and 44 more in the village of Edgware but on the west side of Watling Street and therefore in the parish of

Little Stanmore Little Stanmore was an ancient parish of Middlesex which is today the residential area of Canons Park in the London Borough of Harrow, England. The parish included the western part of the town of Edgware. Toponymy The name 'Stanmore' means "po ...

. In 1599 there were six free and 25 customary tenants of the manor within Edgware. In 1642 in the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

the protestation oath of 1641 was taken by 103 adult males. In 1664 there were 73 houses in the parish, but the

hearth tax A hearth tax was a property tax in certain countries during the medieval and early modern period, levied on each hearth, thus by proxy on wealth. It was calculated based on the number of hearths, or fireplaces, within a municipal area and is con ...

of 1672 gives only 66. During the 18th century the average numbers both of baptisms and burials declined gently but steadily; in the period 1717–26 the average number of baptisms was between 15 and 16 a year and the average number of burials 20, but by 1801–10 the figures were 11 and 9, respectively. There were said to be 69 houses in the village in 1766 and 76 houses in 1792. At the first census in 1801 the population was 412. Throughout the 19th century numbers rose slowly, except for the years between 1851 and 1871; the censuses of 1861 and 1871 show successive declines of 7 percent, attributed in 1871 to migration and to the absence of direct trains to London. Ten years later the losses had been more than made good, and in 1901 the figure of 868 had been reached. By 1921 the population had grown to 1,516, but the great infilling of the southern part of Edgware after 1924 caused the most spectacular increase. In 1931 the population was 5,352; this had increased to 17,513 by 1951 and to 20,127 by 1961. As well as Christian and subsequent settling of other religious groups, Edgware's development coincided with that of its Jewish community, currently forming the largest single religious group. In the 2001 Census, 36% of Edgware residents give their religion as Jewish, 28% Christian, 9% Hindu and 5% Muslim. The Jewish community in Edgware has constructed its own

Eruv An ''eruv'' (; , , also transliterated as ''eiruv'' or ''erub'', plural: ''eruvin'' or ''eruvim'') is a ritual ''halakhic'' enclosure made for the purpose of allowing activities which are normally Activities prohibited on Shabbat, prohibited ...

. Edgware has a strong Jewish character, and also has significant Hindu and Muslim minorities, mostly of Indian origin. According to the 2011 census: *Edgware ward of Barnet was 60% white (47% British, 12% Other White, 1% Irish). 13% was Indian and 7% Black African. 33% of the population was Jewish, 28% Christian and 11% Muslim. The most spoken foreign language is Gujarati. *Hale ward of Barnet (east from the centre) was 59% white (45% British, 12% Other, 2% Irish) and 10% Indian. 39% was Christian and 19% Jewish. The most spoken foreign language is Gujarati followed by Persian and Romanian.

Economy

Argonaut Games Argonaut Games is a British video game developer founded in 1982. It was known for the Super NES video game '' Star Fox'' and its supporting Super FX chip, and for '' Croc: Legend of the Gobbos'' and the '' Starglider'' series. The company wa ...

once had its head office in Edgware. They were in Argonaut House, now known as Cavendish House. The computer game ''Worms'' was designed there and contracts came from Nintendo.

Green Shield Stamps Green Shield Stamps was a British sales promotion scheme that rewarded shoppers with stamps that could be used to buy gifts from a catalogue or from any affiliated retailer. The scheme was introduced in 1958 by Richard Tompkins, who had no ...

was also headquartered in Edgware until its closure in 1991. It occupied Premier House who commenced its development in 2014 into 121 residential flats, now subject to dispute by current residents over the Grenfell type of cladding used in the development. Premier House residential is known as Premier Place.

Media

Local news in Edgware is provided by the weekly printed or online boroughwide ''

Times Time is the continued sequence of existence and events, and a fundamental quantity of measuring systems. Time or times may also refer to: Temporal measurement * Time in physics, defined by its measurement * Time standard, civil time specificat ...

'' series.

Education

London Academy London Academy (formerly Edgware School) is a mixed all-through school and sixth form for pupils ages 4 to 18. It is located in Edgware in the London Borough of Barnet, England. History Formerly "Edgware School", it opened as the London Academ ...

*Beit Shvidler Primary School * Holland House School *Broadfields Primary School *Deansbrook Primary School *

Krishna Avanti Primary School, Harrow The Krishna Avanti Primary School, Harrow, is Britain's first state-funded Hindu school. Krishna Avanti Primary School is also the name of a second primary school in Leicester, which opened in September 2011. History Krishna Avanti Primary Sch ...

North London Collegiate School North London Collegiate School (NLCS) is a private day school for girls in England. Founded in Camden Town, it is now located in Edgware, in the London Borough of Harrow. Associate schools are located in South Korea, Jeju Island, Dubai, Vietnam ...

*Rosh Pinah Primary School *Edgware Junior School *

Canons High School Canons High School (C.H.S) is an academy school situated in Edgware, Middlesex in the eastern part of the London Borough of Harrow. It also has an attached sixth form centre which forms part of the Harrow Sixth Form Collegiate. The school was f ...

Transport

Tube

Like most parts of northwest London, Edgware is served very well by the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

and there are four stations serving the area: * (

) * (

Jubilee line The Jubilee line is a London Underground line that runs between in suburban north-west London and in east London, via the West End of London, West End, South Bank and London Docklands, Docklands. Opened in 1979, it is the newest line on the ...

) * (

)

Buses

Fifteen day

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...

serve Edgware, along with three night services, three school services, and two non-TfL routes operated by Uno.

Sport

Edgware Cricket Club, based at Canons Park, play Saturday and Sunday League cricket during the summer months. Edgware Town F.C. is a football club that represents Edgware, but they are currently based in

Kingsbury Kingsbury may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Kingsbury, London, a district of northwest London in the borough of Brent ** Kingsbury tube station, London Underground station * Kingsbury, Warwickshire, a village and civil parish in Warwickshi ...

Notable people

Nicolas Anelka Nicolas Sébastien Anelka (born 14 March 1979) is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a Forward (association football), forward. As a player, he regularly featur ...

— footballer, when playing for

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Anita Asante Anita Amma Ankyewah Asante (born 27 April 1985) is an English association football, football Coach (sports), coach and former player who is the first-team coach at Bristol City W.F.C., Bristol City. A defender (association football), defender o ...

— footballer *

John Bercow John Simon Bercow (; born 19 January 1963) is a British former politician who served as Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons from 2009 to 2019, and Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Pa ...

— former

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

and MP for Buckingham *

Boz Boorer Martin James "Boz" Boorer (born 19 May 1962 in Edgware, Middlesex, England) is an English guitarist and producer. He founded the new wave rockabilly group the Polecats, and starting in 1991 had a 30-year collaboration with singer Morrissey as c ...

— guitarist, producer, co-writer and musical director for

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey ( ; born 22 May 1959), known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 198 ...

. *

Eleanor Bron Eleanor Bron (born 14 March 1938) is an English stage, film and television actress, and an author. Her film roles include Ahme in the Beatles musical ''Help!'' (1965), the Doctor in '' Alfie'' (1966), Margaret Spencer in '' Bedazzled'' (1967) an ...

— actress *

Max Bygraves Walter William "Max" Bygraves (16 October 1922 – 31 August 2012) was an English comedian, singer, actor and variety performer. He appeared on his own television shows, sometimes performing comedy sketches between songs. He made twenty ''Roya ...

— singer, comedian and actor *

Paul Chowdhry Tajpaul Singh Chowdhry (born 21 August 1974), better known as Paul Chowdhry, is a British comedian and actor. He is of Indian Punjabi Sikh descent. He began his stand up career in 1998 and hosted the Channel 4 comedy series '' Stand Up for the ...

— stand-up comedian *

Antony Costa Antony Daniel Costa (born 23 June 1981) is an English singer and songwriter. He is best known as a member of the boy band Blue. Early life Costa was born in Edgware, North London, Costa attended Hendon School in nearby Barnet. He is half-Greek ...

— singer from boy band

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

* Tony Currie — footballer *

Sope Dirisu Sope Dirisu (, ; born 1991) is an English actor. He made his film debut in 2016 with '' Sand Castle'', ''Criminal'', and '' The Huntsman: Winter's War''. Since 2020, he has starred as Elliot Carter / Finch in the Sky Atlantic series '' Gangs of ...

— actor *

Shirley Eaton Shirley Jean Eaton (born 12 January 1937) is an English former actress and singer. Eaton appeared regularly in British films throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and gained her highest profile for her appearance as Bond Girl Jill Masterson in the ...

— actress * Steve Ellis — a member of 60s pop group The Love Affair, born in Edgware 1950 *

Victor Feldman Victor Stanley Feldman (7 April 1934 – 12 May 1987) was an English jazz musician who played mainly piano, vibraphone, and percussion. He began performing professionally during childhood, eventually earning acclaim in the UK jazz scene as ...

(1934–1984) — jazz musician (1934–1984), was born in Edgware. *

Vanessa Feltz Vanessa Jane Feltz (born 21 February 1962) is an English television presenter, broadcaster, and journalist. She has hosted numerous versions of her own chat shows and appeared on various television shows, including ''Vanessa'' (1994–1998, 202 ...

— TV/radio presenter *

Fenella Fielding Fenella Fielding (born Fenella Marion Feldman; 17 November 1927 – 11 September 2018) was an English stage, film and television actress who rose to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s, and was often referred to as "England's first lady of t ...

(1927–2018) — actress, lived in Edgware in her early life. *Dayan Michoel Fisher (1910–2004) — former Chairman of the Federation of Synagogues Rabbinate * Dean Furman (born 1988) — professional footballer, grew up in Edgware. *

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

(1685–1759) — composer * Altaf Hussain Chief and founder of Pakistan's MQM Party. Resident since 1992. * Charlotte McDonagh — actress/television presenter/model and singer *

Patrick McGoohan Patrick Joseph McGoohan (; March 19, 1928 – January 13, 2009) was an Irish-American actor of film, television, and theatre. Born in New York City to Irish parents, he was raised in Ireland and England. He began his career in England during t ...

(1928–2009) — lead actor in the 1967 series ''

The Prisoner ''The Prisoner'' is a British television series created by Patrick McGoohan. McGoohan portrays Number Six (The Prisoner), Number Six, an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a The Village (The Prisoner), mysteri ...

'', lived in a large detached house on The Ridgeway, Mill Hill Village *

Jane March Jane March Horwood (born 1973) is an English film actress and former model. Early life and education March's father, Bernard Horwood, was a design and technology secondary school teacher of English and Spanish ancestry. Her mother, Jean, a news ...

— actress *

Dave Mattacks David James Mattacks (born 13 March 1948) is an English rock and folk drummer, best known for his work with British folk rock band Fairport Convention. Fairport Convention He replaced Martin Lamble, who had died on 12 May 1969 in a road ac ...

— rock and folk drummer, best known for his work with

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English British folk rock, folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson (musician), Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Marti ...

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...

— pop singer *

Barry Norman Barry Leslie Norman (21 August 1933 – 30 June 2017) was a British film critic, television presenter and journalist. He presented the BBC's cinema review programme, '' Film...'', from 1972 to 1998. Early life Born at St Thomas' Hospital, Lo ...

— television presenter and author *

Archie Panjabi Archana Panjabi (born 31 May 1972) is an English actress. She has had various roles in both British and American television including as Maya Roy in ''Life on Mars'' (2006–2007), Kalinda Sharma in ''The Good Wife'' (2009–2015), Nas Kamal ...

—

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

winning actress, known for ''

The Good Wife ''The Good Wife'' is an American legal political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in law ...

'' * David Piper — racing driver *

Angharad Rees Angharad Mary Rees, The Hon. Mrs David McAlpine, CBE (16 July 1944 – 21 July 2012) was a British actress, best known for her British television roles during the 1970s and in particular her leading role as Demelza in the 1970s BBC TV costume d ...

— actress * Richard Russell — owner of UK Record Label, XL Recordings *

Pat Sharp Patrick Sharpin known professionally as Pat Sharp, is an English radio presenter, television presenter and DJ. He worked on the children's ITV programme '' Fun House'', was one of the Sky Channel's VJs and presented the Coca-Cola Eurochart T ...

— disc jockey and television presenter *

Ben Strevens Benjamin John Strevens (born 24 May 1980) is an English former professional footballer and manager who played as a striker or an attacking midfielder. He was most recently the manager of National League club Dagenham & Redbridge. Playing caree ...

— footballer currently playing for

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

Mitchell Symons Mitchell Symons (born 11 February 1957) is a British journalist and writer. Born in London, he was educated at Mill Hill School and the LSE where he studied law. Since leaving the BBC, where he was a researcher and director, he has worked as a ...

— journalist and author * Ernest George Trobridge — architect;

Blue Plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

at 19 Heather Walk. *

Patrick Vieira Patrick Paul Vieira (; born 23 June 1976) is a French professional association football, football manager and former player who is the head coach of Serie A club Genoa CFC, Genoa. He was named in the FIFA 100 of the greatest living footballers i ...

— former Arsenal footballer *

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 1759 – 29 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the Atlantic slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780 ...

(1759–1833) — slave trade abolitionist, lived on the Highwood Hill estate, Mill Hill (1826–1831) * Frank Williams — actor. * Christopher Wreh — former Arsenal footballer * Ashley Blaker – comedian and television producer

Gallery

Edgware, Kings Parade, Edgwarebury Lane - geograph.org.uk - 1422782.jpg, Kings Parade, Edgwarebury Lane. Edgwarebury Lane shops.jpg, Edgwarebury Lane Edgware, A41 Edgware Way - geograph.org.uk - 92105.jpg, A41 Edgware Way, located north from Edgware town centre. View from Edgwarebury Lane footbridge. Edgware, The Basin, Canons Park Estate - geograph.org.uk - 1418731.jpg, Basin Lake, located in Canons Drive to the west of Edgware. It is located in the borough of Harrow Edgware Way Grassland.JPG, Grassland in Edgwarebury Park, taken from the A41 Edgware Way/Watford-by-Pass. This is the far north, rural area of Edgware. Edgware, Former Great Northern Railway branch line - geograph.org.uk - 1421315.jpg, Former track of the Great Northern Railway line, which closed in 1964. View from Dean's Lane in the east of Edgware Rose Garden Close, Edgware - geograph.org.uk - 255396.jpg, Rose Garden Close in western Edgware, near Canons Drive. This road consists of large suburban houses, near Lake Grove Premier Inn, Edgware - geograph.org.uk - 1712358.jpg, Premier Inn hotel, Edgware

References

External links

Ward informationBarnet Archives and Local StudiesVictoria County History
Edgware Chapter (1971)

photo collection {{Authority control Areas of London Districts of the London Borough of Barnet Places formerly in Middlesex Major centres of London