History of Mill Hill
Mill Hill was until 1965 a district of the ancient civil parish and manor of Hendon. It became an independent ecclesiastical parish in 1836 measuring 3,570 acres (14 km²), centred on the church of St Pauls (see Buildings below). Farms and other small settlements in Mill Hill date to at least the 10th century. Until the 16th century the area was known variously as Lothersleage, Lothersley, and latterly Lotharlie. By the 14th century there was a route that ran from Hendon through Bittacy Hill up to Highwood Hill, still called The Ridgeway, and, as the writer Ralph Calder points out, the names of prominent local families found in the Black Book (1321) are familiar today as place names. These include Daws, Saunder, Page, and so on. Calder says the first reference to a mill in the area was in the 1350s, and he follows consistently the ownership of a mill from the 1630s until 1754. It may be that 'melnehel' (1374), considered by the Victoria County History, may refer to Holcome Hill, certainly the location of the later mill that Calder examined. The oldest documented use of the name Mill Hill (Myll Hylles), as a place name for the area is much later (1544).
Mill Hill Village
Mill Hill Village as a place name arose in the 20th century to differentiate the area from the more suburbanised Mill Hill Broadway. The area did not have a village centre and was until the late 17th century the North Western part of the parish and manor of Hendon. Much of this hamlet was constructed on wasteland either side of the roads from 17th century onwards. The road became increasingly important as an alternative to the Edgware Road as means of travelling North West out of London. A number of inns and public houses were opened to serve travellers, many, like the Kings Head and The Angel, have now disappeared. By the end of the 18th century Mill Hill had many more inns than was usual in a settlement of its size. During the second half of the 17th century a number of large houses and estates, such as Littleberries, Ridgeway House, and Belmont House were laid out. The inhabitants of these houses were mostly well off London merchants and traders who required a home in the country, which was suitably close to their business interests. Mill Hill’s population had risen significantly by the 1820s and around what is now High Street there were even a handful of shops. In 1807 Mill Hill School was established for the children of nonconformists at what had been the home, Ridgeway House, of the Nicolls, an important local family, and this was the first of a number of large institutions to exploit the large houses which had already been established. From the 17th century Mill Hill, as with other adjacent areas of Middlesex, was well known for its hay, a crop which required large numbers of migrant workers during the summer. It may have been that the country sports that were played outside the Kings Head at Whitsun, were part of a Whitsun Ale when labour was hired. By 1920 hay ceased to be an important crop, and Mill Hill looked as if it would be swallowed up by the encroaching suburban development. In 1929 Hendon Council purchased more than 50 acres (200,000 m2) of the Arrandene estate for use as a recreation ground but also in order to retain Mill Hill Village distinct character.
There have been a number of famous and important residents. These include William Wilberforce the abolitionist at Highwood Hill, his friend Stamford Raffles at Hendon Park, who was the founder of Singapore in the 1820s. Peter Collinson, the botanist, lived at Ridgeway House until his death in 1767, and at Sunnyside on Hammers Lane lived James Murray one of the compilers of the New English Dictionary.
