Place Name
William of Wykeham (1320 or 1324 – September 27, 1404) was Bishop of Winchester, Chancellor of England and, in 1379, the founder of New College, Oxford, which later came to own the manor of Harrow. Wykeham was not of noble birth but his intelligence was spotted early on and he enjoyed the patronage of the lords of the manor who helped with his schooling and with that took up a position within the church. As secretary to the constable of Winchester Castle he learned about building and his success as an administrator got him noticed in royal circles, overseeing building projects for Edward III (he was also the clerk of works when much of Windsor Castle was built). Within a short while more positions of authority followed allowing him to amass a personal fortune, quite a lot of which he spent on helping poor students at Oxford, until he founded New College. In 1502 New college was given the rights to the lands around Harrow which it sold off for building in 1926, with many of the streets named after former students and administrators.
