This is a post about the history of "Barbers" and "Harold Hill".
History of "Barbers"
Originating from the Latin term ‘barba’ which translates to beard, "Barbering" is an ancient tradition, which is thought to of originated 3500 b.c. Although no one understands the complete history of "Barbering", it does make for an interesting story, in which the origins of a ‘clean shave’ lie deeper than cleanliness and vanity.
The earliest records of "Barbers" show that they were the foremost men of their tribe and were also responsible for religious ceremonies. To this day in India, the veneration of the hair continues and those who cut and dress the hair are important characters. Led by superstition, primitive man believed that both good and bad spirits entered the body through hair on the head, which could only be driven out by cutting the hair. These beliefs of barbers were also common in ancient Asia. In fact, wherever there were legends and superstitions about hair, barbers flourished.
"Barbering" was introduced to Rome in 296 B.C. where all free men of Rome were required to be clean-shaven, while slaves were forced to wear beards – and hence ‘barbarians’ as the name used during that period to describe tribes who were bearded. As a part of Roman daily tradition, "barbering" also became the forefront for social gathering, debates and gossip, few Roman tonsores became wealthy and influential, running shops that were favourite public locations of high society.
In the Middle Ages "Barbers" often served as surgeons and dentists, in addition to "hair cutting", they performed surgery, bloodletting and leeching, fire cupping, enemas, extraction of teeth, neck manipulation, cleansing of ears and scalp, draining of boils, fistula and lancing of cysts with wicks; earning them the name “barber surgeons”. Interestingly, this is where the barber pole originated – featuring red and white spiralling stripes, the barber’s pole indicated the two crafts, surgery in red and barbering in white. It wasn’t until surgeons were entered into British war that the two occupations saw a divide.
Both law and superstition continued to play their part in various countries. In England, cutting of the hair or nails on Sundays, at one time, was considered to be extremely ill-advised.
In modern culture, it is now common to see men with all different hair styles, beards and moustaches and with men’s vanity and fashion becoming the forefront of barbering, it comes as no surprise that this is now multibillion pound industry.
History of "Harold Hill", "Havering", Greater London
The area that became "Harold Hill" formed part of the "Harold Wood" and "Noak Hill" wards of the parish of Hornchurch; the large ancient parish occupied the same area as the royal manor and liberty of "Havering". The boundary between "Harold Wood" and "Noak Hill" was formed by a tributary of the River Ingrebourne. In the "Harold Hill" area the manor was subdvided into "Dagnams", "Cockerells" and "Gooshays". The "Havering" courts and Romford vestry were the principal local government in the area. The Havering liberty was abolished in 1892 and the vestry in 1894. Following the Local Government Act 1894 the area was split between the parishes of Romford Rural (in the west) and Noak Hill (in the east), each with a parish council and within the Romford Rural District. In 1900 the Romford Rural parish was abolished and the area was then split between the Romford Urban District (in the west) and Noak Hill in Romford Rural District (in the east). In 1934 Romford Urban District absorbed Noak Hill, bringing the whole area under the authority of Romford Urban District Council. Romford was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1937 governed by Romford Borough Council, which was the local authority during the construction of the estate. The Municipal Borough of Romford was abolished in 1965 and Harold Hill became part of the "London Borough of Havering" in Greater London.
"Harold Hill" was a planned community, conceived as part of the "Greater London" Plan in 1944 as a satellite town on the edge of the built up area. Land for the estate, which consisted of the remaining 850 acres (3.4 km2) of Dagnams, was purchased in 1947 by the London County Council. The rest of Dagnams had been sold off in 1919, with the land used for the estate consisting of parkland, woodland and farmland. The area was within the designated Metropolitan Green Belt, but an exception was made for the development because of the exceptional housing need in London following the Second World War. Reflecting the urgency of the problem, housing was initially prefabricated. Construction of 7,631 permanent homes, housing 25,000 people, began in 1948 and was complete by 1958. The development is fairly low density with large sections of parkland retained in the centre and edges of the estate. The estate was constructed primarily in brick, with mostly terraces of houses and some flats. Provision was made for community facilities and three shopping areas were planned to break up the size of the development. Some industrial development already existed to the south and adjacent to the A12 road and this was retained.
Harold Hill has clear geographic boundaries formed in the south by the A12 road, in the east by the M25 motorway and in the north where the built up area ends at Noak Hill Road. There are large sections of parklands and woodlands in the middle and on the edges of the estate, including Central Park and Dagnam Park. The land is gently undulating, the most significant feature is a tributary of the River Ingrebourne called Carter's Brook and Paine's Brook, which runs north to south through the middle of Harold Hill. To the south is Harold Wood, to the north is Noak Hill, to the west is Gidea Park and to the east is South Weald. Harold Hill is part of the Romford post town in the RM3 postcode district, which also includes Harold Wood and Noak Hill. Climate data for Harold Hill is taken from the nearest weather station at Greenwich.
Harold Hill does not have a London Underground or National Rail station. The nearest railway station is at Harold Wood, approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the centre of the estate. The nearest London Underground station is at Upminster, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) to the south. Transport for London provides bus routes 174, 256, 294, 496, 499 which give daytime connections to Becontree Heath, Dagenham, Emerson Park, Gidea Park, Hornchurch, Noak Hill, Queen's Hospital and Romford; and night bus route N86 which runs to Stratford via Romford and Ilford.
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