Early history Sudbury, in the parish of Harrow, was in the
Hundred of Gore in the historic County of
Middlesex, and was one of ten hamlets which formed the larger of the Archbishop of Canterbury's two Harrow manors. The road to London and the proximity of
Harrow School enhanced its status. Its upkeep was supported in part by Sir John Lyon, founder of Harrow School. In 1842, main train station, Sudbury station opened. On 1 May 1882, the station was renamed to "Sudbury and Wembley". Later, in 1910, "Sudbury and Wembley" was renamed to "Wembley for Sudbury". Finally, in 1948, the station was renamed to "
Wembley Central" and it has remained "
Wembley Central" ever since.
Georgian era Wealthy sisters and local philanthropists the Copland Sisters after which many local landmarks from streets to schools were named commissioned Sir George Gilbert Scott, the architect who later designed the
Albert Memorial and
St Pancras station, to build the Church of St John in 1846 which marks the easterly extent of Sudbury. Opposite is Copland House, now a home for the elderly. The Coplands built Sudbury Lodge in the grounds of their father's home in Crabbs House. This would later change hands and be owned by another wealthy and philanthropic family; the Barhams. During the late Georgian period Sudbury was the home of the Express Dairy Company Limited run by the Barham Family. It was the first British Dairy to use glass milk bottles, the first to use milk churns and glass lined tanks to carry 30 0000 gallons of milk by train into London every night and one of the first to introduce pasteurisation to sterilise milk. It even supplied milk to Queen Victoria. For his services the owner and managing director George Barham Sr. was knighted in 1904. He died in 1913 leaving his business to his son Titus Barham.
Nineteenth century to modern times Titus Barham died aged 77 years in 1937. On the day of his death he had been due to be made the first Mayor of the new ward. He left considerable lands for the benefit of the public in this rural area. His former mansion in Barham Park was demolished in 1956. Much of the area originally given over to arable land for use by dairy herds was lost during the interwar period. Urbanisation began in earnest in the late 19th century with the arrival of the railways. Sudbury town became part of the
London commuter belt. The demand for housing was such that within the short interwar period much of the area became urbanised. Despite this it remains a relatively green area mainly due to strict planning control. In 1928 land was given over for the Vale Farm sports fields. There has been a swimming pool on the site since 1932. ==Parks and recreation==