Description
A church is recorded here as early as 1190 and Ruislip is mentioned in Domesday Survey. The village, which centred around St Martin's Church and Manor Farm, remained undeveloped until the early C20th, the railway reaching Ruislip in 1904. In the churchyard are a couple of long wooden graveboards, one that of Olive White of Southill Farm Eastcote. Relatively rare now, wooden graveboards were once a common sight in Middlesex churchyards, generally used due to the expense of stone and granite. The churchyard has a number of railed chest tombs, a fine old yew and other trees, and two lych-gates. Near the church is Ruislip War Memorial.
Practical Information
| Previously known as | Ruislip Parish Church |
|---|---|
| Site location | High Street, Ruislip |
| Postcode | HA4 8DG |
| What3Words | ///powers.chips.hears |
| Type of Site | Churchyard |
| Borough | Hillingdon |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | unrestricted. Church open daily 8.30am-4pm |
| Public Transport | Tube: Ruislip (Metropolitan, Piccadilly). Bus: 331, H13, U10. |
| Research Updated | 1 October 2016 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
The Manor of Ruislip was given to the Benedictine Abbey of Bec in c.1087 and it was owned by the monks until 1404; it was the second largest medieval parish in Middlesex and included Eastcote and Northwood. In 1451 Henry VI gave Ruislip to his new foundation of King's College Cambridge, which was the chief landowner in the area. Following the arrival of the railway the first suburban development grew along the new road that linked the station to the south of the village with the old hamlet of Kingsend. In 1909 King's College proposed a garden suburb scheme, which was then incorporated into a plan of 1914 by Ruislip-Northwood Urban District Council, although this was never completed. As a result Park Wood was preserved as open space, having been designated for 'superior detached houses'.
St Martin's Church is a flint and rubble building with stone dressings dating from the C13th, and over the years it has been heavily restored and extended. It has a C15th battlemented south-west tower, finely carved bread cupboard of 1697, and a C12th font. There are numerous memorials to the Hawtreys family of nearby Eastcote House (q.v.), including late C16th brasses and a fine set of funeral hatchments. On the north of the churchyard are some fine old buildings including a 2-storey timber framed house built c.1570, which was converted in 1616/7 to ten 2-roomed back-to-back cottages for housing the poor, those fronting the High Street later becoming the Verger's cottage and now leased by the Harding Housing Association. In the churchyard near the Almshouses is the grave of the singer Elizabeth Schumann. Near the High Street entrance of the new churchyard area is a chest tomb for Annie Hall OBE with Chest tomb for Annie Hall OBE with lettering by Eric Gill. At the northern end of the new churchyard is the grave of Monsignor Edward Stanley Sutton (1887-1964), Roman Catholic Priest of Ruislip from 1933-64. The church has two lych-gates, that on Eastcote Road was originally erected as a memorial to the Vicar of Ruislip, Revd Thomas Marsh-Everett (d.1900);but the gates were stolen and replaced in 2003 with oak gates, in memory of Jo Cotton. The lych gate on High Street was erected in 1902 to commemorate the Coronation of Edward VII. A quiet garden was created in 2004 with shrubs, bulbs and seating around a sculpture in wood by Sister Bridget Mary.
Ruislip War Memorial, dedicated on 2 April 1920, was originally located in the churchyard but was relocated to its current site in 1976, across the road from the church at the crossroads of Eastcote Road and the High Street. The 1939-45 names were not added until 1980. Nearby is a trough provided by the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association, moved here in 1970.
St Martin's Church is a flint and rubble building with stone dressings dating from the C13th, and over the years it has been heavily restored and extended. It has a C15th battlemented south-west tower, finely carved bread cupboard of 1697, and a C12th font. There are numerous memorials to the Hawtreys family of nearby Eastcote House (q.v.), including late C16th brasses and a fine set of funeral hatchments. On the north of the churchyard are some fine old buildings including a 2-storey timber framed house built c.1570, which was converted in 1616/7 to ten 2-roomed back-to-back cottages for housing the poor, those fronting the High Street later becoming the Verger's cottage and now leased by the Harding Housing Association. In the churchyard near the Almshouses is the grave of the singer Elizabeth Schumann. Near the High Street entrance of the new churchyard area is a chest tomb for Annie Hall OBE with Chest tomb for Annie Hall OBE with lettering by Eric Gill. At the northern end of the new churchyard is the grave of Monsignor Edward Stanley Sutton (1887-1964), Roman Catholic Priest of Ruislip from 1933-64. The church has two lych-gates, that on Eastcote Road was originally erected as a memorial to the Vicar of Ruislip, Revd Thomas Marsh-Everett (d.1900);but the gates were stolen and replaced in 2003 with oak gates, in memory of Jo Cotton. The lych gate on High Street was erected in 1902 to commemorate the Coronation of Edward VII. A quiet garden was created in 2004 with shrubs, bulbs and seating around a sculpture in wood by Sister Bridget Mary.
Ruislip War Memorial, dedicated on 2 April 1920, was originally located in the churchyard but was relocated to its current site in 1976, across the road from the church at the crossroads of Eastcote Road and the High Street. The 1939-45 names were not added until 1980. Nearby is a trough provided by the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association, moved here in 1970.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ091876 |
|---|---|
| Site Ownership | Diocese of London |
| Site Management | Church |
| Dates | c.1250 |
| Listed Structures | LBII*: St Martin's Church. LBII: Ruislip Almshouses; Chest tomb for Annie Hall OBE with lettering by Eric Gill |
| 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 | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | Ruislip Village |
| Tree Preservation Order | Not known |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| 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
Churchfield Gardens were formerly fields next to the old Ruislip parish church of St Martin's. The land was passed over to Ruislip and Northwood UDC by Harold George Dyke on 16 November 1927, the land transfer document dictating that it was to be preserved for use as a public open space in perpetuity. It was laid out as a recreation ground, with a formal rose garden in the north part, which is still in place today with a central ornamental feature. The park opens out to a grassed area, with various trees including a grove of horse chestnuts.
The Manor Farm Site contains much of historical interest centred around remains of a Norman Motte and Bailey fort. It remained in use as a farm until 1932, when it was given to Ruislip-Northwood UDC. The historic buildings include the Great Barn, Cow Byre, and the Little Barn, which have been converted for public use in a pedestrianised area with some landscaping, including a scented garden for the blind. The Manor House now provides an interpretation centre.
Warrender Park was created on a fragment of the landscape park of High Grove. The Highgrove Estate was inherited by the Warrender family in 1894. In 1935 Miss Eleanor Warrender sold the 4.35-hectare site to Ruislip-Northwood UDP for a recreation area, which was initially named Eastcote Recreation Ground. By the late 1970s it was called Warrender Park after the family. High Grove Nature Reserve has woodland with parkland trees and a pond, possibly a relic from the former garden.