HARROW-ON-THE-HILL, urban district, Middlesex, England, 12 m. W.N.W. of St. Paul's cathedral, London, served by the L.M.S., Metropolitan and District railways. Pop. (1931) 26,378. It takes its name from its position on an isolated hill rising to a height of 373 ft. On the summit is the church of St. Mary, said to have been founded by Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury, and Norman work appears at the base of the tower.
Harrow school was founded in 1571 by John Lyon, whose brass is in the church, a yeoman of the neighbouring village of Preston who had yearly during his life set aside 20 marks for the education of poor children of Harrow ; though a school existed before his time. Though the charter was granted by Queen Elizabeth in 1571, and the statutes drawn up by the founder in 1590, two years before his death, it was not till 1611 that the first building was opened for scholars. Lyon settled about two-thirds of his property on the school. About 166o the headmaster, taking advantage of a concession in Lyon's statutes, began to receive "foreigners," i.e., boys from other parishes, who were to pay for their education. From this time the prosperity of the school may be dated. In 1809 the parishioners of Harrow appealed to the court of chancery against the manner in which the school was conducted, but the decision, while it recognized their privileges, confirmed the right of admission to foreigners. Control was originally vested in six persons of standing in the parish who had the power of filling vacancies in their number by election among themselves; but under the Public Schools act of 1868 the governing body consists of six members who are elected re spectively by the lord chancellor, the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and London, the Royal Society and the assistant masters of the school. Harrow was originally an exclusively classical school, but is such no longer. The principal buildings are modern. The fourth form room, however, dates from 1611, and on its panels are cut the names of many eminent alumni, such as Byron, Robert Peel, R. B. Sheridan and Temple (Lord Palmer ston).
A considerable extension of Harrow as an outer residential suburb of London has taken place north of the hill, where is the urban district of Wealdstone (pop. 1931, 27,001), and there are also important printing and photographic works.