Northwood (or Northwode as it was originally known), was first recorded as the name of a wood
and farm to the north of Ruislip. In 1437, Henry VI granted the property for life to one
John Somerset who was then the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Three years later, when he
founded Eton and Kings College, Cambridge, he required the land for purposes of endowment.
On his death in 1451 the Northwood estate was granted to Kings College, Cambridge. Much of the
land in Northwood, particularly the Copse Woods, is still influenced by covenants owned
by the College.
It is known that one of 2 granges within the manor of Ruislip existed in Northwood and was sited near
to the present Grange in the Rickmansworth Road. No historical records exist describing the
formation of the hamlet of Northwood until 1754 when a map drawn by John Rocque shows a few
houses in the area of North Wood. The Northwood School records of 1841 and 1851 show that the
chief occupations of the parents were farmers, agricultural labourers, brick makers and tile
makers.
In 1870 the population of Northwood was 442. Even in those days, however, the hamlet was well provided
with hostelries including The True Lovers Knot, or The Knot as it was known and The Gate
beerhouse. The Gate has a long history and probably marks the position of the old QuFerry
turnpike.
A map of Northwood dated 1868-1877 shows the many
farms and scattered dwellings at this time.
Northwood grew quickly with the arrival of the Metropolitan Railway, the station opening in 1888. A
charming description of the hamlet appeared in the 'New Ground for the Rambler' column in The
Watford Observer of 8th October 1887:
"A 40 minute ride from town on the Metropolitan extension (fare 1/6d) stands the village or hamlet of
Northwood and a quarter of a mile from this is the grand new station in all the glory of new
paint and fresh gravel. The station is in the midst of a very pretty county indeed. The
scenery in the immediate neighbourhood will surprise the visitor. If he will take with him a
telescope and look through the wrong end of it he will discovera region not unlike
Westmorland without its lakes, and especially charming must it be when the hawthorn is in
bloom and the fields and hedgerows are spattered with bluebells and primroses.
An amphitheatre of wooded hills rise around on all sides except the Valley of the Colne and below is
the grand old house (Moor Park) with its Corinthian columns and portico, its Italian gardens
and sculpture, grand old cedars, wooded glades across which the deer sheltered beneath the
splendid oaks and elms that stud the park."
From 1887 on, the modern Northwood developed. One of the first promoters was Mr Frank Murray Maxwell
Hallowell Carew (1866-1943) and his sons Reginald and Roy. But for a difference this gentleman
had with his wife, Dene Road would still be named Edith Road.