• Enter West Street which leads down to your left…

Many of the buildings on your right used to be shops - and this was one of the most popular shopping streets in Harrow on the Hill. Number 15 West Street, the ‘Hatmaker’s Shop’, and number 13, ‘Sugarloaf’, are fine examples of old premises converted to modern houses. Look out for a small fire insurance plaque…

• As you continue down West Street to the junction with Crown Street you will pass the old 'Poor House' on your right...

In the nineteenth century, when the surrounding area was still farmland, seasonal work was often all that the poor could find during the warmer months. In the winter some poorer agricultural workers were forced to accept ‘poor relief’ from the parish and were housed here. It is likely that the pauper funeral that so moved Lord Shaftesbury as a Harrow schoolboy started from this place.

Across from the Old Poor House stands the Castle public house - one of the few remaining in the area today. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, there were many pubs in Harrow on the Hill to supply the poor with alcoholic oblivion.   ///copy.shady.laser

Today the Castle serves a fine range of beers in a pleasant atmosphere and is worth a visit for refreshment. Previous owners claimed Winston Churchill once drank here.