Little Stanmore
| Little Stanmore | |
| Middlesex | |
|---|---|
 Church of St Lawrence | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ189912 |
| Location: | 51°36’22"N, 0°17’2"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Edgware |
| Postcode: | HA8 |
| Dialling code: | 020 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Harrow |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Harrow East |
Little Stanmore is an ancient parish in the Gore Hundred of Middlesex, between Edgware and Stanmore.
Toponymy
Little Stanmore was named to distinguish it from Great Stanmore, which now takes the unqualified name Stanmore. The parish was also known as Whitchurch.[1] Whitchurch is a common place-name in Britain meaning 'white church', and probably referring to a church built of stone. The name has fallen out of use and is preserved in Whitchurch Gardens and Whitchurch Lane,[2] as well as the name of the ecclesiastical parish.
St Lawrence Church
The mediæval St Lawrence Church was reconstructed by James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos in the baroque style. The architect was John James, who also worked on the Duke of Chandos' nearby house called 'Cannons' (which was demolished in 1747). It is possible that James Gibbs oversaw the finishing touches to the church when he replaced John James as the Duke's architect in 1715. The interior retains early eighteenth-century paintings by artists such as Louis Laguerre and there is an organ played by Handel and restored in the 1990s to its original condition. In the churchyard is a tombstone to William Powell, supposedly "The Harmonious Blacksmith" who inspired one of Handel's keyboard works.
References
- ↑ Great Britain Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, Little Stanmore population. Retrieved 21 March 2010.
- ↑ Mills, D. (2000). Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names. Oxford.