Facts about Ruislip
Ruislip History
At the time of Edward the Confessor, the manors of Ruislip and Ickenham belonged to a Saxon named Walward Wit, a thane of the king who owned land in 11 counties. Ruislip parish included what are now Ruislip, Northwood, Eastcote, Ruislip Manor, and South Ruislip. Wit lost much of his land during the Norman conquest of England; Arnulf de Hesdin took control of Ruislip.
Under Edward the Confessor, Ruislip had been valued at £30, though the reduction to £12 by the time Ernulf de Hesdin took possession is believed to have been caused by a passing unit of the Norman Army taking crops. This led to the construction of buildings at Manor Farm to protect produce. Before leaving England to fight in the Holy Lands, Ernulf de Hesdin gave ownership of Ruislip to the Benedictine Bec Abbey in 1087.
General Info
Ruislip is an area in the London Borough of Hillingdon. Ruislip lies 13.8 miles west-north-west of Charing Cross, London. The manor of Ruislip appears in the Domesday Book, and some of the earliest settlements still exist today, designated as local heritage sites. The parish church, St Martin’s, dates back to the 13th century and remains in use.
The expansion of the Metropolitan Railway from Harrow in the early 20th century acted as a catalyst for development in the area. A station was opened in Ruislip in 1904 and a new urban district was created to reflect the forthcoming population growth; the Ruislip-Northwood Urban District split from the Uxbridge Rural District and continued until 1965.
