Discover Harrow: culture, history and parks

Historic buildings, collections and green spaces offer a range of themes for a stay in Harrow. At Headstone Manor & Museum, local history, exhibitions and activities take centre stage; elsewhere, art, archaeological remains, church architecture and parks shape the programme. This lets you choose different ways to spend your time—from museum visits to walks and seasonal activities.

Headstone Manor and its green spaces

The local history archive at Headstone Manor & Museum contains more than 60,000 objects. The museum also offers exhibitions, family activities and community events. The Nature-Finders trail runs around the medieval moat and park, and visitors can follow it there. So alongside history, this place offers an outdoor trail and opportunities for community activities.

Headstone Manor is a significant Scheduled Monument with four historic listed buildings and a 14th-century moat. Headstone Manor Park covers more than 50 acres of recreational space. A footpath runs around the entire park, offering another way to plan time outdoors. The Moat Café at Headstone Manor serves fresh coffee, cakes and light snacks.

Art, events and historic traces

Harrow Arts Centre is the only professional performing arts venue in the London Borough of Harrow and offers an entertainment programme throughout the year. If you would like to combine your visit with a performance, check the dates for your planned stay. In Pinner, the Heath Robinson Museum is dedicated to the work of William Heath Robinson, who is known as an artist, illustrator, humorist and social commentator. The two attractions offer distinct cultural experiences: performing arts at one, and the work of a single artist at the other.

Near Hatch End, a 1.04-kilometre section of Grim’s Ditch, also known as Grim’s Dyke, survives in four separate protected areas. The prehistoric linear boundary survives there as an earthwork and archaeological remains. This sets it apart from Harrow’s surviving buildings and collections: here, you can encounter traces of a prehistoric boundary, rather than an events or museum programme.

St Mary’s Church is a Grade I listed church with a Norman west tower; its lead spire is visible from afar. Below the churchyard lie the Churchfields, with medieval agricultural terraces. These made it possible to use a plough and oxen on the steep slope. This place also has a literary connection: Lord Byron wrote early poems at the Peachey Tomb in the churchyard while he was a pupil at Harrow School.

Parks and seasonal activities

Pinner Memorial Park is close to the centre of Pinner. Its features include a pond with ducks and geese, a small budgerigar aviary and an ornamental Peace Garden. The park can be reached via Pinner Underground station and bus routes H11, H12, H13 and 183. It opened in 1950 as a public memorial to Pinner residents who lost their lives serving the cause of freedom against intolerance, racism and oppression. Your visit can therefore take in both the parkland and this specific historical context.

Canons Park is a Grade II registered park and garden and includes a children’s playground. Roxbourne Park has a miniature railway, which children can ride on Sundays in summer. The park also provides access to Roxbourne Nature Reserve. The miniature railway rides depend on the season and day of the week, so check the specific dates before your visit.

Choose your hotel location based on your plans

When looking for a hotel in Harrow, it helps to first decide which activities matter most to you: a cultural offering, historic sites or time in one of the parks. That way, you can choose according to your own travel plans, without assuming that the different attractions form a single route.

Discover more destinations: Harrow, Pinner, Harrow On The Hill, Sutton, Brent, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Merton.

For the wider travel overview: Greater London.