Roxeth, Harrow
Still a distinct locality in southern Harrow, though its identity was sapped by the naming of its station as South Harrow – but, happily, the council has revived the Roxeth ward name
Roxeth Hill links South Harrow with Harrow-on-the-Hill
First recorded in ad845, the name may mean “rooks’ place” or may be related to a dweller called Hrōc.
This was common land until its enclosure in 1817, but it became one of the first parts of the borough to experience suburban development – in the 1840s. In the area formerly called Roxeth Marsh a gas works was built in 1855 – which pushed the area downmarket for a while.
When the District Railway station opened in 1903 it was with the convoluted designation, South Harrow for Roxeth and Northolt, and the railway crossed Roxeth Marsh on a viaduct. Most of the area was built up between the wars.
Just over half of Roxeth’s residents are white; the largest minority is of Indian descent, and mainly Hindu. Three-quarters of homes here are owner-occupied.
RM Ballantyne, the Scottish writer of children’s adventure books, lived for eight years in Mount Park Road until his death in 1894.
