Administrative Boundary of Harrow

About Harrow

Harrow is a London borough in northwest London, England. Covering approximately 51 square kilometres on the hills northwest of central London, Harrow had a population of approximately 250,000 at the 2021 Census. The borough is dominated by the historic hilltop town of Harrow on the Hill, presided over by the spire of St Mary's Church and the buildings of one of England's most famous and historically distinguished schools. Harrow is also notable for a large and long-established South Asian community, one of the most significant Jain communities in the UK, and a wartime heritage connected to the RAF's command of the Battle of Britain. Harrow School Harrow School, founded by a Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth I in 1572 for "the godly education of youth," is one of the most celebrated public schools in England and one of the great educational institutions of the British Empire and Commonwealth. The school occupies a series of substantial red-brick buildings spread across the hilltop of Harrow on the Hill, commanding views over much of northwest London, and its most famous building — the Speech Room — was designed by William Burges. Harrow's alumni list is one of the most remarkable of any educational institution in the world, including seven British Prime Ministers (Robert Peel, Lord Aberdeen, Lord Palmerston, Spencer Perceval, Lord Goderich, Stanley Baldwin, and Winston Churchill), the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the King of Jordan, and notable poets (Lord Byron), novelists, soldiers, and imperial administrators. The school's traditions include songs sung from a terrace overlooking the Thames Valley, a distinctive straw boater hat uniform, and the Harrow Football game — an early form of association football. Bentley Priory and the Battle of Britain Bentley Priory, a Georgian mansion set in parkland at Stanmore in the north of the borough, served as the headquarters of RAF Fighter Command from 1936 to 1968 — and in that capacity was the nerve centre of the Battle of Britain in 1940, from which Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding directed the RAF's defence of Britain against the Luftwaffe. The Filter Room and Operations Room at Bentley Priory processed the radar and observer data that guided the squadrons defending Britain, and it was here that the critical decisions about the allocation of aircraft and pilots were made during the summer and autumn of 1940. The mansion is now the Bentley Priory Museum, open to the public and dedicated to the Battle of Britain and Dowding's leadership. South Asian Communities Harrow has one of the largest and most established South Asian communities of any outer London borough, with significant Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, and Jain populations. The Hindu community is concentrated around Harrow town centre and in Harrow Weald, where the large Shree Sanatan Hindu Mandir serves thousands of worshippers. The Jain community in Harrow is one of the most significant in the UK, with a major Jain centre in the borough. The South Asian community in Harrow has shaped the borough's character, with a flourishing Indian restaurant scene, South Asian food shops, and cultural events. Population and Demographics The 2021 Census recorded approximately 250,000 residents. Harrow is one of the most ethnically diverse outer London boroughs: approximately 39% White, 34% Asian (predominantly South Asian), 11% Black, and 7% mixed or other. GIS and Boundary Data The administrative boundary of Harrow London Borough is available for free download in GeoJSON and KML formats, sourced from the ONS Open Geography Portal (Crown copyright 2024). Compatible with QGIS, ArcGIS, Mapbox, and Google Earth, the dataset supports school heritage mapping, wartime operations history, South Asian community research, Jain heritage documentation, and demographic analysis across the Harrow local authority area.

📍 Administrative boundary of Harrow county