Harrow Weald Common

{{Infobox UK legislation

| short_title = Metropolitan Commons (Harrow Weald) Supplemental Act 1899

| type = Act

| parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom

| long_title = An Act to confirm a Scheme relating to Harrow Weald Common in the Parish of Harrow Weald in the County of Middlesex.

| year = 1899

| citation = 62 & 63 Vict. c. xxxvii

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| royal_assent = 20 June 1899

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| original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/62-63/37/pdfs/ukla_18990037_en.pdf

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The word weald is derived from Old English wald, a wooded upland. Harrow Weald Common is one of the remnants of the once extensive Forest of Middlesex. In the 18th century it was a haunt of highwaymen. Following the inclosure acts, one of the rights granted to the commoners was gravel extraction, and this took place on a large scale in the 19th century. In the 1880s there was an attempt to get government agreement to the sale of the Common, but a successful campaign to oppose this was supported by W. S. Gilbert, who lived locally at a house called Grim's Dyke. The {{visible anchor|Metropolitan Commons (Harrow Weald) Supplemental Act 1899}} (62 & 63 Vict. c. xxxvii) revoked most of the rights of the commoners and a board of Conservators was set up to manage the Common. {{Cite web |url=http://www.londongardensonline.org.uk/gardens-online-record.asp?ID=HRW020 |title=London Gardens Online, Harrow Weald Common, Grim's Dyke Open Space, The City Open Space |access-date=2012-06-24 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060004/http://www.londongardensonline.org.uk/gardens-online-record.asp?ID=HRW020 |url-status=dead }}

Harrow Weald Common is common land, and in 1965 it was placed under the protection of Harrow Council.[http://www.harrow.gov.uk/download/10370/old_redding_complex London Borough of Harrow, Management Plan: Old Redding Complex, 2010, p. 1] {{webarchive|url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120914205953/http%3A//www.harrow.gov.uk/download/10370/old_redding_complex |date=2012-09-14 }}[http://common-land.com/lands/view/2227 Common Land in England, Harrow Weald Common] In 1973, the Chief Commons Commissioner determined that there was no known owner of the land.{{cite web |url=https://acraew.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/Greater%20London/HARROW%20WEALD%20COMMON%20-%20HARROW%20NO.CL.36.pdf |title=In the Matter of Harrow Weald Common}} The Harrow Weald Common Conservators are now a friends group which manage the site.{{Cite web |url=http://www.harrow.gov.uk/info/200073/parks_and_open_spaces/2230/parks_in_harrow/13 |title=Harrow Council, Harrow Weald Common |access-date=2012-06-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120819163302/http://www.harrow.gov.uk/info/200073/parks_and_open_spaces/2230/parks_in_harrow/13 |archive-date=2012-08-19 |url-status=dead }}

The site includes Grims' Dyke Open Space. Grim's Dyke or Grim's Ditch is an ancient earthwork which runs for three miles between Harrow Weald Common and Pinner Green. Its purpose is unknown, and it may date from the fifth or sixth centuries. Adjacent to the site are the City Open Space, Harrow Weald SSSI, a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest, and Bentley Priory Nature Reserve, a biological SSSI.

There is access from Common Road and Old Redding.

• Harrow parks and open spaces

{{reflist}}

• [https://archive.today/20121224100027/http://visitwoods.org.uk/en/visit-woods/Pages/wood-details.aspx?wood=24590&site=Harrow-Weald-Common-and-Weald-Wood%23.T8LEfpH2Ir0 VisitWoods, Harrow Weald Common and Weald Wood, a London Borough of Harrow wood ]
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/domesday/dblock/GB-512000-192000/page/12 BBC, Domesday Reloaded, Harrow Weald Common]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120819163302/http://www.harrow.gov.uk/info/200073/parks_and_open_spaces/2230/parks_in_harrow/13 Harrow Council, Harrow Weald Common]
• [http://www.londongardensonline.org.uk/gardens-online-record.asp?ID=HRW020 London Gardens Online, Harrow Weald Common, Grim's Dyke Open Space, The City Open Space] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060004/http://www.londongardensonline.org.uk/gardens-online-record.asp?ID=HRW020 |date=2016-03-04 }}

{{coord|51.624|-0.346|dim:2000_region:GB|display=title}}

Category:Nature reserves in the London Borough of Harrow

Category:Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Harrow

Category:Common land in London