Pinner is a suburb in the London Borough of Harrow, northwest London, England, 12 mi northwest of Charing Cross, close to the border with Hillingdon, historically in the county of Middlesex. The population was 38,698 in 2021. Originally a mediaeval hamlet, the St John Baptist church dates from the 14th century and other parts of the historic village include Tudor buildings. The newer High Street is mainly 18th-century buildings, while Bridge Street has a more urban character and many chain stores.

History

Pinner was originally a hamlet, first recorded in 1231 as Pinnora, although the already archaic -ora (meaning 'hill') suggests its origins lie no later than circa 900. The name Pinn is shared with the River Pinn, which runs through the middle of Pinner. Another suggestion of the name is that it means 'hill-slope shaped like a pin'. The oldest part of the town lies around the fourteenth-century parish church of St. John the Baptist, at the junction of the present day Grange Gardens, High Street and Church Lane. The church was originally a chapel of ease to St Mary's Church, Harrow on the Hill, 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. The earliest surviving private dwelling, East End Farm Cottage, dates from the late fifteenth century. The village expanded rapidly between 1923 and 1939 when a series of garden estates, including the architecturally significant Pinnerwood estate conservation area – encouraged by the Metropolitan Railway – grew around its historic core. It was largely from this time onwards that the area (including Hatch End, which forms the northeastern part of Pinner) assumed much of its present-day suburban character. The area is now contiguous with neighbouring suburban districts including Rayners Lane and Eastcote. Pinner contains a large number of homes built in the 1930s Art Deco style, the most grand of which is the Grade II listed Elm Park Court at the junction of West End Lane and Elm Park Road. Pinner is also the site of one of the UK's oldest chartered fairs, called Pinner Fair, which has been held annually since 1336. Pinner lay within the historic county of Middlesex; it was located at the western end of the hundred of Gore, before it was in the Hendon Rural District. In 1965 it became a part of the London Borough of Harrow in the newly formed ceremonial county of Greater London.

Parish church

Pinner's St John the Baptist parish church was consecrated in 1321, but built on the site of an earlier Christian place of worship. The west tower and south porch date from the 15th century.

Governance

Harrow Council has been governed by the Conservative Party since 2022. Pinner has two wards, Pinner and Pinner South, each represented by three Conservative councillors. Pinner is in the Brent and Harrow constituency for the London Assembly which has been represented since 2024 by Krupesh Hirani (Labour). Since the 2010 general election, Pinner has been part of the Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner parliamentary constituency, currently served by David Simmonds.

Geography

Pinner includes Pinner Village at its centre, along with the localities of Pinner Green and Pinnerwood Park Conservation Area to the north. To the north east is the larger area of Hatch End, served by Hatch End railway station (originally opened as Pinner). The River Pinn flows through Pinner, flowing in a diagonal direction. Large parks and open spaces are Pinner Memorial Park, Pinner Village Gardens, Roxbourne Gardens, Pinner Wood (woodlands) and Pinner Park (farmland). Pinner Memorial Park has a large house in it which includes a museum to Illustrator Heath Robinson as well as a cafe which hosts regular music events throughout the summer; while Roxbourne Gardens also hosts a pop-up cafe and music venue on Sundays year-round. Much of Pinner has an elevation of about 45 m to 60 m. Nower Hill rises to a peak of about 80 m above sea level while Pinner Park peaks at 62 m. The semi-rural Pinnerwood area is steep, and rises to a peak of over 120 m around Pinner Hill Golf Course.

Demography

Pinner is both a religiously and culturally mixed area, with the ethnic minority population having grown significantly since the 1970s. Pinner ward nonetheless had the highest concentration of people describing themselves as white in the London Borough of Harrow, at 72 per cent of the population in 2011. In 2013 the Pinner South ward had the next highest proportion of white people in the borough at 69.4 per cent. Various churches, a synagogue and others serve the religious needs of the community. Pinner also has the lowest crime rate in the whole of London, with several independent schools and single-sex schools with a prestigious reputation, making it a popular area for affluent families. In the 2014/15 period, the Pinner South ward had a crime rate of 24.5, which was the lowest out of all 628 wards of Greater London. The ward also has (data from 2009 to 2013) the second highest female life expectancy in the capital: 91.7 years, only bettered by Holland ward in Kensington and Chelsea.

Fairs and Fetes

Pinner holds a number of Fairs and Fetes that are renowned in North West London for bringing its diverse and cosmopolitan community together.

Sport and leisure

Pinner has a rugby union team, Pinner and Grammarians RFC, a member club of the Rugby Football Union. It is the most junior team to have supplied a President to the RFU. Pinner also has a cricket team, Pinner Cricket Club, and a youth football club, Pinner United FC. The area also has a golf course, Pinner Golf course. In addition to numerous restaurants and a number of public houses, Pinner has an amateur theatre group, Pinner Players, who have been performing in the area since 1936 and currently stage productions at Pinner Village Hall off Chapel Lane. The Heath Robinson Museum in Pinner Memorial Park was opened in 2016 and is dedicated to the work of the cartoonist William Heath Robinson.

In popular culture

Literature

Edward Lear makes reference to Pinner in More Nonsense Pictures, Rhymes, Botany, etc:

<blockQuote> There was an old person of Pinner, As thin as a lath, if not thinner; They dressed him in white, And roll'd him up tight, That elastic old person of Pinner. </blockQuote> [H. G. Wells](https://bliptext.com/articles/h-g-wells) mentions Pinner in [The War of the Worlds](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-war-of-the-worlds): He learned they were the wife and the younger sister of a surgeon living at Stanmore, who had come in the small hours from a dangerous case at Pinner, and heard at some railway station on his way of the Martian advance.

Broadcast media

Notable people

Transport

Rail

Pinner Underground station was opened in 1885 and is on the Metropolitan line in London fare zone 5. In normal off-peak conditions the train takes approximately half an hour to Baker Street Underground station and approximately three-quarters of an hour to Aldgate Underground station. Hatch End railway station was opened in 1842 and is on the London Overground Watford DC line in London fare zone 6. In normal off-peak conditions it roughly takes three-quarters of an hour to Euston railway station.

Buses

Public Transport in Pinner is governed by Transport for London.

Cycling

The Metropolitan Quietway Cycle Route runs through Pinner, as well as street-running cycle lanes on Pinner Road and Eastcote Road.

Walking Trails

The Celandine Route from West Drayton terminates at Pinner Memorial Park.

Heritage

Harrow Heritage Plaques

The brown plaques are awarded by the Harrow Heritage Trust, who secure the protection, preservation, restoration and improvement of the character and amenities of the London Borough of Harrow.

English Heritage Plaques

London's blue plaques scheme, run by English Heritage, celebrates the links between notable figures of the past and the buildings in which they lived and worked.

Architecture

The architecture in Pinner has evolved greatly over the centuries. The majority of the architecture is conserved by private residents or by Harrow council's Conservation Team. Norman, Gothic and Tudor architecture (1066–1603) Georgian architecture (1714–1811) Victorian architecture (1837–1901) Metro-land architecture (1903–1939) Art Deco architecture (1919–1939) Modern architecture (1945–1980) Postmodern architecture (1980–present)