Description
Hillingdon House was the former manor house of West Hillingdon, an old settlement on the way to Uxbridge. The house was rebuilt in 1717 by the Duke of Schomberg but largely destroyed by a fire in 1844 and rebuilt by architect George Mair. It has been an RAF Officers' Mess since 1915 when the RAF bought the estate. There is a serpentine lake in the grounds, which still stretch down to the River Pinn, although the character has been eroded by RAF use.
Practical Information
| Site location | Hillingdon Road, Hillingdon |
|---|---|
| Postcode | UB10 |
| What3Words | ///smiles.tables.mini |
| Type of Site | Private Open Land |
| Borough | Hillingdon |
| Open to Public | No |
| Opening Times | private |
| Public Transport | Tube: Uxbridge (Piccadilly, Metropolitan) |
| Research Updated | 1 November 2005 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ065837 |
|---|---|
| Site Ownership | RAF |
| Site Management | RAF |
| Dates | C18th/C19th |
| Listed Structures | LBII: Hillingdon House . |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | Hillingdon |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | Not known |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | Yes (part) |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.
Nearby parks and gardens
Hillingdon Court was built in 1854-8 by P C Hardwick for the banker Charles Mills, later Lord Hillingdon. Since 1978 it has been the American Community School and although the grounds are much reduced, formal gardens remain to south and east, the latter with an open prospect to Hillingdon Court Park.
The public park was made out of former parkland of Hillingdon Court, the house and gardens of which are now the American Community School. The park has a fine spread of early/mid-C19th parkland oaks, with one or two older trees, some quite massive, plus one large clump of oak creating a woodland area, and another smaller clump. A fairly recent plantation has mixed tree species including oak, silver birch, poplar, aspen, sycamore and other species. Near tennis courts are ornamental rose gardens and a hedged garden with conifers, shrub beds and specimen trees.
Hillingdon and Uxbridge Cemetery opened in 1856, a notably early municipal cemetery. At the main entrance on Hillingdon Hill is the original gatehouse with its entrance arch. The cemetery has a pair of Early English style chapels, Church of England and Non-conformist, which were designed by Benjamin Ferrey. The cemetery has fine trees, including a good spread of ornamental conifers, notably Wellingtonias, cypresses, cedars and araucaria. A mature Araucaria is beyond the wall to the south, and also a fine old oak pollard from the pre-cemetery landscape.