ECONOMIC HISTORY.
Agriculture.
In 1086
there was land for 16 ploughs on the manor of
Hendon, which was assessed at 20 hides; the lord
had three ploughs on his 10 demesne hides and the
villeins had another eight, but it was said that the
land could support five more. There was also
meadow for two oxen, as well as woodland for
1,000 pigs, which yielded 10s. The estate, worth
£8 in 1086, had been valued at £12 T.R.E. (fn. 93) A
series of farm accounts for the manor begins in
1316, (fn. 94) four years after Westminster abbey resumed
direct control, (fn. 95) and a survey was carried out in
1321. (fn. 96) The demesne consisted in 1321 of 469 a. of
arable land, 35 a. of meadow, and an unspecified
amount of wood, (fn. 97) while the freehold lands amounted to at least four carucates and 759 a. and the
copyhold to a further 1,043 a. (fn. 98) The manor of
Hodford was not included in the calculations.
In 1318 the chief crops on the demesne were
wheat (133 qr.) and oats (102 qr.), while smaller
crops included beans and peas. (fn. 99) Rye was grown
in 1324. (fn. 1) Animal and dairy farming was less
important than arable farming: in 1317 there were
51 cattle and 126 sheep on the demesne, apart from
oxen and draught-beasts. (fn. 2) In 1373-4 Westminster
made £18 from the sale of corn and malt and £11
from the sale of milk. (fn. 3) There were two fruit gardens
in 1321 (fn. 4) and an orchard on All Souls College's
estate near Parson Street in 1584. (fn. 5) A pound existed
c. 1550 and survived in 1831 at the corner of Brent
Street and Finchley Lane. (fn. 6)
As elsewhere in northern Middlesex Hendon later
specialized in hay-farming for the London market.
The proportion of arable land had declined by the
17th century, although many rents were still paid in
wheat and oats in 1574; (fn. 7) in 1630 there were only
40 a. of arable on All Souls College's estate of 219 a., (fn. 8)
while on Westminster's Hodford and Cowhouse
estate of 423 a. only 20 per cent was arable. (fn. 9)
Hodford and Cowhouse farms were both largely
given over to hay in 1760 (fn. 10) and Wyldes farm
produced only hay in 1800. (fn. 11) By 1798 there were
about 300 a. of arable in the parish to 7,700 a. of
grass and about 120 a. of wood. (fn. 12) The arable was
divided in 1801 between 116 a. sown with beans,
98 a. with wheat, 54 a. with oats, 15 a. with rye, and
13 a. with potatoes. (fn. 13) Local farmers were noted for
making compost, (fn. 14) with the result that Hendon's
bent grass was thought to be the best in Middlesex. (fn. 15)
Although a return to arable farming was advocated
in 1801, (fn. 16) the amount of arable continued to dwindle
until by 1843 it accounted for only 3 per cent of the
whole. (fn. 17) Wheat was still being grown c. 1880, however, in Sunny Hill fields and at Wild Hatch near
Golders Green. (fn. 18)
In the early and mid 19th century farm-rents were
progressively reduced with the price of hay, (fn. 19)
which fell by some 40 per cent between 1845 and
1849. (fn. 20) As suburban building approached, the
southern part of Hendon became conveniently
placed for dairy farming; (fn. 21) in 1868 there were two
substantial dairy farms, Lord Granville's (Hodford)
at Golders Green and Mr. Sumpton's nearer Church
End. (fn. 22) The farmer at Clitterhouse sent milk to
London twice daily in 1879 (fn. 23) and his farm was
wholly given over to dairying in 1881, (fn. 24) although by
1887 it was used for breeding cattle and for hay. (fn. 25)
Horses were raised on the near-by Cowhouse farm (fn. 26)
and in 1890 their breeding and training was widespread; there were several dairy farms and others
where sheep were fed for the London market. (fn. 27)
Upper Guttershedge farm, sometimes called Brent
farm, was being used for growing mushrooms in
1902. (fn. 28)
Economic distress caused a procession of the
unemployed to march from the parish pump in
Brent Street to the local board offices in the
Burroughs in 1887, when a soup kitchen was
opened in Hendon House and the vicar provided
free meals for the poor. (fn. 29) The spread of housing
soon afterwards affected the agricultural value of
land in southern Hendon. In 1894 the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners were forced to accept a lower rent
for their estate west of Edgware Road, after the
tenant had complained of a drop in the price of hay
and of trespassing by visitors to the Welsh Harp. (fn. 30)
In 1905 Clitterhouse farm was said to be on the
immediate north-western outskirts of London and
to be growing less desirable as a dairy farm, since
the public broke down fences, although its building
value was steadily rising. (fn. 31) It was finally sold in
1921, (fn. 32) and the last farm in the area, Cowhouse or
Avenue farm, in 1931. (fn. 33)
Farther north good quality hay remained the
staple product of the Mill Hill area until at least
1900. (fn. 34) At the end of the 19th century all the available local men helped to harvest the hay, which was
taken daily to Cumberland Market. Extra labourers
came from Bedfordshire and Ireland, some 75 being
engaged at Moat Mount and the farmer at Lawrence
Street undertaking to bring a shipload of Irish men
and women to Mill Hill each year. Workers congregated at the Three Hammers, which opened at
6.30 a.m. At Church End a model dairy farm
existed near Hinge's farm from 1888, although both
had gone by 1970. (fn. 35) Goodhews and Dollis farms
were dairy farms in 1925 (fn. 36) but Goodhews was up for
auction in 1928 and was later sold for building.
The Express Dairy Co. took over Tithe farm, which
had become a centre for the distribution of milk by
1931, (fn. 37) and Frith Manor farm, which was being
used in 1958 as a rest-home for horses. (fn. 38) Most of the
countryside in north Hendon had given way to
suburban streets by the Second World War (fn. 39) but
the imposition of the Green Belt prevented them
from reaching the northern boundary; fields survived
north of Mill Hill and Highwood Hill in 1970, including those of Hendon Park farm, which had
become a dairy farm by 1937. (fn. 40) In 1956 there was a
total of 1,509 a. under crops and grass in the
borough of Hendon, including Edgware, of which
851 a. supported grass and 219 a. wheat. Other
crops were barley and oats and there were also 576
cattle and 1,374 pigs. (fn. 41)
Even allowing for the exclusion of the manor of
Hodford, it is clear that large areas were not under
cultivation in 1321. Several fields were of considerable size: there were 121 a. of arable and 15 a. of
meadow belonging to the demesne alone in Hillesden, 59 a. of arable and 10 a. of meadow in 'le
Brache', and 99 a. of arable and 5 a. of meadow in
Broadmead. (fn. 42) Much of the parish was woodland, of
which evidence has survived in names like Highwood Hill, Hendon Wood Lane, Cricklewood, and
Frith (wooded country). (fn. 43) There was a woodward in
1321, when the lord was entitled to profits from the
'hedgerows' or groves around the fields in the
manor, (fn. 44) and hedgerows were still substantial in the
16th century, (fn. 45) suggesting that many fields had been
assarted before the first survey. Westminster made
considerable profits from the sale of wood: 2,300
faggots were sold in 1321 (fn. 46) and in 1374 the profits
were greater than from any other single source
apart from rents. (fn. 47) Some wood was reserved by the
abbey for its own use and £42 was spent in 1374 on
the carriage of logs from Hendon to Westminster; (fn. 48)
timber from Hendon may have been used in work
on the abbey in the 14th century, (fn. 49) as it undoubtedly
was for the building of Hendon Place. (fn. 50) The abbey
paid John Nicholl of Highwood Hill in the early
16th century for making laths in Hendon wood (fn. 51) but
payments for hedging suggest that other woodland
was being cleared at that time. (fn. 52) Over half of All
Souls College's estate in Hendon was woodland (fn. 53)
and its scattered parcels may well have been bought
for their trees; woodland was reserved in leases of
1567 (fn. 54) and 1634 (fn. 55) but in the second grant it was
stated that large areas, including Hamonds Land
grove, west of Burroughs Lane, and Bush grove,
south of Colindeep Lane, were about to be grubbed
up. Hodford wood and Beecham grove, which
belonged to Westminster, had disappeared by
1649 (fn. 56) but in 1690 the lord still held 100 a. of wood
in demesne, which he leased out, (fn. 57) and in 1754 there
were two large blocks on the demesne land north of
Highwood Hill, called Hyvers Hill and Grimsgate
woods. (fn. 58) Frith woods amounted to about 30 a. in
1711 but had dwindled by 1754 and had disappeared
by 1796. (fn. 59) Some of the woodland which had formed
much of the Clitterhouse estate in the 16th century (fn. 60)
survived until 1756, when Clitterhouse wood, north
of the farm-house, was to be felled and the land
incorporated into neighbouring fields, (fn. 61) but Older
hills, one of the woods belonging to All Souls
College, survived until after 1798, (fn. 62) when there was
about 120 a. of woodland left in the parish. (fn. 63) Part
of Westminster's woodland served as a deer-park
of 20 a. in 1517, when its formation had not destroyed any arable land or dispossessed any person. (fn. 64)
The location of the park is unknown.
In 1086 the demesne of Hendon manor consisted
of 10 hides; there were three villein holdings of
½ hide each, seven of a virgate each, and 16 of ½
virgate each, while 12 bordars had holdings amounting together to ½ hide. (fn. 65) The demesne served as a
home farm for Westminster from 1312 and was
managed by a serjeant or reeve. (fn. 66) At the time of the
Black Death Hendon seems to have become a refuge
for monks and cattle from abbey manors in the
London area. (fn. 67) In 1321 money rents amounted to
£44 4s. 4d. (fn. 68) and dues were also paid in wheat, oats,
and malt. (fn. 69) Customary labour services were owed
at the great reap, the second reap, and the dry reap
(drue bedrip); (fn. 70) they included ploughing, harrowing,
scything, threshing, and haymaking. (fn. 71) Several of the
services had already been commuted, the abbey in
1320 having made 31s. 4d. from the sale of works. (fn. 72)
From 1374 until 1416 the demesne, with its meadow,
pastures, and customary services, was leased to John
atte Hegge. (fn. 73) It was also being leased in 1446 (fn. 74) and
again in 1501 when the farmer, Christopher Roper,
was imprisoned for non-payment of his arrears of
rent, (fn. 75) having prevented the abbot's officers from
resuming possession. (fn. 76) A new farmer was appointed
in 1505. (fn. 77) The demesne lands had been split up
among at least 10 tenants by 1655 (fn. 78) and 17 tenants
were recorded in 1690. (fn. 79)
When auctioned in 1756 the demesne lands
totalled 1,226 a. (fn. 80) and consisted of two large blocks,
one stretching from the Hyde to Parson Street and
the other from Highwood Hill to the Hertfordshire
border. There were also two isolated fields near
Temple Fortune. The lands were divided in 1753
into six large farms, including those later known as
Church, Church End, Tithe, and Manor farms, and
the demesne in the northern part of the parish,
which included the later Barnet Gate farm and the
Hendon Park estate, was leased to one man, Abel
Brown. The Hendon manorial estate was described
by the surveyor, Thomas Browne, as the completest
and best in Middlesex; (fn. 81) four of its farms were
thought to be well managed and only one poorly,
while three of the farm-houses were fit for gentlemen
to live in. The location of the demesne lands of the
four smaller manors is unknown, although the
demesne of Frith and Newhall was mentioned in
1711. (fn. 82)
There were 52 freeholders and 77 copyholders of
the manor of Hendon in 1321. (fn. 83) By 1574 there were
84 copyhold tenants and 31 holding in free socage;
at least 57 were head tenants but there were also
some 'under-setters', who rented their lands from
the head tenants. (fn. 84) There were 39 head tenants in
1685, (fn. 85) some of them holding two or more tenements
and many belonging to the Nicholl and Marsh
families. Most of the copyhold land was in the north
of the parish, where modest farm-houses were
grouped together in Page Street, Drivers Hill, Mill
Hill, Highwood Hill, the southern end of Lawrence
Street, and the Hale. (fn. 86) Substantial blocks were
formed out of copyhold land during the 18th
century (fn. 87) but in some areas, particularly around the
Hale, the earlier system persisted in a confusion of
small holdings, (fn. 88) in sharp contrast to the large consolidated estates farther south.
Mills.
A windmill worth 12s. a year existed in
1321 (fn. 89) and may have given its name to 'melnehel'
(Mill Hill), mentioned in 1374. (fn. 90) The mill at Mill
Hill survived in 1685, when it was held by Robert
Crane. (fn. 91) It had disappeared by 1754 but its name
was perpetuated by Mill field, (fn. 92) in 1970 a recreation
ground on the south side of the Ridgeway. Another
windmill, called Goldherd's mill, is said to have
stood in the 15th century between Clitterhouse and
Cowhouse farms. (fn. 93) The existence of a third mill at
some date is suggested by another Mill field south
of the Bald Faced Stag on Edgware Road, adjoining
Silk stream. (fn. 94)
Markets and fairs.
A fair was reputed to have
been held at the Burroughs during Whitsun week in
1697 (fn. 95) but it never obtained a charter. A small fair
was still held at the same place c. 1720, (fn. 96) and had
degenerated by the end of the 18th century into an
occasion for rural sports. (fn. 97)
Trade and industry.
In 1318 116 qr. of malt
were made on the demesne and in 1319 a malthouse was recorded. (fn. 98) A brewhouse existed at the
Burroughs c. 1530 (fn. 99) and charcoal was made at
Clitterhouse grove in 1558. (fn. 1) In 1753 bricks were
being made on the waste near Church End Farm
and an abandoned brick-kiln stood north of Highwood Hill. (fn. 2) Another brick-kiln, at Golders Green,
was shown in a map of 1754 (fn. 3) and at Childs Hill
yellow clay was being used for brick-making and
blue clay for tile-making and pottery in the early
19th century. (fn. 4) There were 16 brick-makers in
Hendon in 1851 (fn. 5) and the Hendon & Finchley Brick
& Tile Works was manufacturing in Finchley Lane
in 1866, (fn. 6) although the industry died out soon afterwards.
Retail trades in the early 19th century catered for
a predominantly rural population; in 1796 there
were four carpenters' shops, three blacksmiths',
wheelwrights', and butchers', a plumber's, a
baker's, and a collar-maker's. (fn. 7) By 1828 a chairmaker had started a business south of the Crown inn
at Cricklewood, where a successor was producing
'rustic chairs' in 1855; (fn. 8) a brick-layer owned a shed
in 1828 at the corner of Brent Street and Shirehall
Lane. (fn. 9) In 1831 162 families were engaged in
agriculture and 163 in trade or manufacturing; 177
persons were employed in retail trade or handicraft
out of a population of 3,110. (fn. 10) In 1839 there were
53 retail shops and small businesses, including a
hairdresser's, a dressmaker's, an auctioneer's, a
corn dealer's, and several builders, carpenters,
painters and glaziers, while a watch-maker had
opened a shop at Golders Green. (fn. 11) In 1855 the
22 retailers in Brent Street, the largest shopping
centre, included a tobacconist, an undertaker, a
draper, an ironmonger, and a toy dealer. (fn. 12) There
were also smaller groups of shops at the Hyde,
Mill Hill, Childs Hill, Church End, the Burroughs,
and Golders Green. A nurseryman and a seedsman
had started business in Brent Street by 1862 (fn. 13) and in
1863 there were also two nurseries at Mill Hill and
one at Childs Hill. (fn. 14) A large brewery at the Hyde,
later known at Hendon Brewery, was first recorded
in 1862 (fn. 15) and there was another brewery at Highwood Hill in 1870, which closed soon afterwards. (fn. 16)
The Hendon Co-Operative Society was founded in
1874 and had 1,944 members in 1914; it was
transferred to the London Co-Operative Society in
1925. (fn. 17) By 1886 there were 11 laundries at Childs
Hill, (fn. 18) presumably catering for Hampstead, where
several small-scale domestic concerns were still open
in 1935. (fn. 19)
The opening of the Midland Railway's main line
to St. Pancras in 1868 did little to stimulate industry
until shortly before the First World War. At the
marshalling yard of Brent sidings goods from the
north were sorted, (fn. 20) Childs Hill engine-shed was
used in 1897 for repairing engines, (fn. 21) and carriage
sidings were later built near by. In 1970 the
marshalling yard lay derelict but a depot for diesel
trains occupied part of the site. The Express Dairy
Co. opened a bottling factory in Claremont Road,
adjoining Cricklewood station, in the late 19th
century (fn. 22) and was still there in 1970.
The Pyramid Night Light Works was established
at Childs Hill by 1886. (fn. 23) The Courier Co., steam
printers, were operating in Brent Street in 1890. (fn. 24)
Schweppes began to make soft drinks at West
Hendon in 1896, on a site chosen near an artesian
well and because of its proximity to Edgware Road
and the Midland Railway; (fn. 25) in 1970 the factory, one
of the largest of its kind, held almost 700 employees.
By 1902 Best & Co., portmanteaux manufacturers,
had opened in Brent Street and the Normal Powder
and Ammunition Co. in Guttershedge Lane. (fn. 26) The
Phoenix Telephone Co. leased land for a factory in
Cricklewood Lane in 1911 (fn. 27) and an optical works,
occupied in 1970 by U.K. Optical Bausch & Lomb,
was opened at the top of Bittacy Hill in 1912. (fn. 28)
Johnson's of Hendon, manufacturers of photographic
chemicals, opened a factory, which later adjoined
Hendon Way, in 1913. (fn. 29) By 1914 Colindale possessed
a trunk factory in Colindale Avenue, an engineering
works in Colindeep Lane, a 'linaline works' in
Booth Road, and two laundries. (fn. 30)
The building trade received an impetus from the
extension of the Underground railway to Golders
Green. Farrow and Howkins, a firm of contractors
founded at Childs Hill in 1908, were prominent
builders near the station and became one of the
largest local companies. (fn. 31) Work was carried out
before the First World War on roads and sewers in
Hendon and on speculative estates elsewhere in
Middlesex. In 1920 premises were opened in
Highfield Road, which later became the head offices,
in 1926 the firm was reconstituted as Howard
Farrow Construction Ltd., and by 1970 there were
1,200 employees. Another major building firm was
John Laing & Son Ltd., which moved its headquarters from Carlisle to Mill Hill in 1926 and built
new head offices in 1956. (fn. 32)
Aircraft were first made in Hendon by Everett,
Edgcumbe and Co. of Colindale soon after 1900 and
were flown from a field later bought by Claude
Grahame-White, which became the nucleus of
Hendon Aerodrome. (fn. 33) They were later made in
factories adjoining the airfield after its opening in
1911. Production was stimulated by the outbreak of
the First World War: 1,000 men were employed in
1915, a new factory was completed in 1916, and by
1917 the buildings covered 50 a. After the war
Grahame-White turned to motor-cars and furniture,
until the government took over the airfield and the
adjoining factory in 1922, when the manufacture of
aircraft was resumed. (fn. 34) In 1912 Handley Page Ltd.
established an aircraft factory at Cricklewood after
moving from Barking (Essex). (fn. 35) Pioneer military
aircraft were built there during the First World
War and flown from the company's adjacent air
field. In 1929 the airfield was closed and a new one
built at Radlett (Herts.); the construction of aircraft
at Cricklewood continued until after 1964, (fn. 36) when
the premises were sold to become the Cricklewood
trading estate.
In 1914 the government opened several factories
for munitions and aircraft components at Colindale
and the Hyde. Their sale in 1920 led to a great
expansion of industry, (fn. 37) which was encouraged by
extensive road-building, (fn. 38) and the number of large
factories rose from six in 1911 to 16 in 1921 and to
65 in 1931. (fn. 39) By 1931 13,570 persons worked in
Hendon factories, nearly half of them near Cricklewood and the North Circular Road and about a
third at Colindale and the Hyde on Edgware Road.
Smaller concentrations were at West Hendon and
Mill Hill. The largest single employers were motor
firms, (fn. 40) although manufacturers of foodstuffs,
furniture, electrical equipment, machinery, paper
products, and aircraft all employed over 500
persons. (fn. 41) By the Second World War factories lined
both sides of the road from Cricklewood to Burnt
Oak, their products including shampoos, speedometers, motor bodies, ball bearings, tennis racquets,
radiators, organs, cellulose lacquers, potato peelers,
hair curlers, and sheet metal. (fn. 42) Elsewhere industry
was much more thinly spread; in 1937, however, in
addition to the laundries in Childs Hill, factories
making wallpaper, tires, neon signs, and other
products were scattered along Hendon Way.
Smith's Potato Crisps opened their first factory in
two garages in Crown Yard, Cricklewood, with
12 employees in 1920. They moved in 1921 to a
disused canteen for aircraft workers in Somerton
Road and in 1938 (fn. 43) left for a new factory on the
North Circular Road, outside the parish. The Duple
Group moved to the Hyde in 1925 and produced
public service vehicles on a site which eventually
covered 12½ a., including the former Cowleaze
farm-house; the factory was sold to Messrs. Ronald
Lyons in 1968 but the head offices of the organization remained at Hendon. The labour force, which
was 30 in 1925, rose to 1,000 in the Second World
War and subsequently fell to about 650. (fn. 44) A branch
of the Car Mart Ltd., later Kenning Car Mart Ltd.,
motor distributors and repairers, was founded in
1938 on land reclaimed from Brent reservoir in
1924-5. During the Second World War the depot
was taken over by the de Havilland Aircraft Co. for
the production of pioneer jet engines but in 1946
the premises reverted to their normal use and in
1970 the labour force was 150. (fn. 45) Clang Ltd. was
founded in 1932 by Curt Lange in the premises in
Crown Yard formerly owned by Smith's Potato
Crisps; the firm made domestic electrical accessories
but extended its range after 1946 to include commercial weather-proof electrical fittings and motor
trailer electrical connexions. In 1940-1 Clang took
over no. 108 Cricklewood Lane, which had previously housed eight separate trades, including the
building of car bodies, and in 1943 it expanded to
no. 110 Cricklewood Lane, formerly occupied by a
refrigerator manufacturer. Both factories were later
improved and in 1970 the labour force was 220. (fn. 46)
Other firms which have remained since before 1939
include Rawlplug in Hale Lane, Titanine in
Sheaveshill Avenue, Franco Traffic Signs in
Aerodrome Road, (fn. 47) and Spurling Motor Bodies in
Rookery Way. (fn. 48)
Several concerns have moved to Hendon since
1945. Among them is the National Cash Register
Co., which built a large three-storeyed block by the
North Circular Road in 1956 as a service engineers'
training school and a repair depot for cash registers. (fn. 49)
In 1966 the firm also acquired a large factory on the
Willesden boundary, at the junction of Edgware
and the North Circular roads, which had formerly
been used by Scribbons-Kemp, biscuit makers. (fn. 50)
Keyswitch Relays took over a factory in Cricklewood Lane in 1963 and built a new office block in
front of it. The firm, which employed some 300
persons in 1970, produced electro-magnetic relays
for industry and telecommunications and also
occupied a block in the Cricklewood trading estate. (fn. 51)
Other firms on that estate in 1970 included Phonographic Equipment Distributors, Associated Leisure,
Les Leston, steering-wheel manufacturers, and
Victor International Plastics.