Ruislip, United Kingdom

Under Edward the Confessor, Ruislip had been valued at £30, though the reduction to £12 by the time Ernulf de Hesdin took possession is believed to have been caused by a passing unit of the Norman Army taking crops. This led to the construction of buildings at Manor Farm to protect produce.

Before leaving England to fight in the Holy Lands, Ernulf de Hesdin gave ownership of Ruislip to the Benedictine Bec Abbey in 1087. He died fighting and is commemorated in annual masses held in June at Sacred Heart Church and on the remains of the motte-and-bailey at Manor Farm.

It was an ancient parish in the historic county of Middlesex, part of the hundred of Elthorne.

The parish church, St Martin's, has been dated to the mid-13th century. An earlier church is believed to have been built during the Norman period, as a stone was found within the grounds with markings from that time. The name St. Martin is believed to have been given to the church by the monks of the Bec Abbey, after Martin of Tours, a saint in Normandy. Before 1245, references to the church only name it as "Ruislip church".

The present church is said to have been built upon the insistence of the Proctor-General, William de Guineville, under the ownership of Bec Abbey, to serve the growing population. He used the priory at Manor Farm as his main residence The first recorded vicar was William de Berminton in 1327. The building itself has been remodelled in parts over the centuries and was substantially restored by George Gilbert Scott in 1870. It received Grade B listed status as an Anglican church in 1950, corresponding as Grade II.

Under the ownership of the Bec Abbey, timber from the woods around Ruislip – Park Wood, Mad Bess Wood and Copse Wood – was used in the construction of the Tower of London in 1339, Windsor Castle in 1344, the Palace of Westminster in 1346 and the manor of the Black Prince in Kennington. The woods were coppiced on rotation throughout the years with the timber sold to local tanneries. By the time King's College took ownership of the manor, the woods were let for sport, with pheasants kept for shooting.

In 1812, Bishop Winnington Ingram School was established by the vestry of St Martin's church in Eastcote Road. The school had 111 pupils by 1845 but fell into a state of disrepair until its rebuilding in 1931.

Ruislip came under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Police in 1845. By 1869, the police were renting a house in the High Street to serve as the local police station, the copyhold of which was purchased in 1873. A new station was built in The Oaks in 1961.

In 1863, the White Bear public house came under the ownership of the Harman's Brewery in Uxbridge. It had been built close to Primrose Hill Farm near the junction of the Ickenham Road and Kings End. Kings End was a hamlet, with one building dating back to the 16th century. It was named after a family who had lived there at that time.

A well was sunk in 1864 in the High Street at the junction with Bury Street, constructed by Mr Charles Page from Uxbridge. The first 15-foot (4.6 m) were dug, before 90.75-foot (27.66 m) was bored through the London clay and the final 30-foot (9.1 m) was cut through chalk. A drought in 1898 led to the parish council requesting a well be created on what are now the Pinn Meadows, to make use of the natural spring there. The Colne River Water Company agreed, upon the guarantee of £45 per year, and the service was established.

A report had been prepared for the parish council in 1903 which noted the population in Northwood – 2,700 by that time, with 530 houses – compared with the largely rural character of the rest of Ruislip parish. At a meeting of the Ruislip parish council on 28 October 1903, the forthcoming extension of the Metropolitan Railway from Harrow on the Hill to Uxbridge was also discussed as it was known that a station would be opened in Ruislip on the new line. Councillors were also aware that King's College, Cambridge, owners of much of the land in the parish and lords of the manor, were planning to sell some for development. With this in mind, a vote was cast which went in favour of becoming an urban district. The new district was designed to better reflect to increase in development, as councillors felt a parish council would work slower than an urban district.