St John the Baptist, Pinner

About this church

The name of the village first appears as Pinnora in 1232. "Ora" means "bank" or "edge" and the church is set on a bank. For most of its history Pinner was not a parish nor did it form part of the diocese of London. Originally it was a chapel subordinate to the ancient church of St Mary, Harrow on the Hill, forming part of the deanery of Croydon which came under the immediate jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury. This was because the Archbishop was the Lord of the Manor of Harrow. Over the years St. John's grew independent of St. Mary's in many ways, but it was not until 1766 that Pinner became a parish independent of Harrow. The relationship between them is acknowledged by the fact that the Vicar of Harrow is patron of the living of Pinner. In 1836 the two parishes were transferred to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Bishop of London. In recent times, as the population increased, Pinner Parish Church has in turn become the mother church of several new parishes - St. Anselm's, Hatch End to the North; St. George's, Headstone to the East; St. Alban's, North Harrow to the South East and St. Edmund the King, Northwood Hills to the North West.