Harefield
| Harefield | |
|---|---|
 St Mary the Virgin Church, Harefield | |
  Harefield Location withinGreater London | |
| Population | 7,399 (2011)[1] |
| OS grid reference | TQ055905 |
| •Charing Cross | 17 mi (27 km)SE |
| London borough | |
| Ceremonial county | Greater London |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | UXBRIDGE |
| Postcode district | UB9 |
| Dialling code | 01895 |
| Police | Metropolitan |
| Fire | London |
| Ambulance | London |
| UK Parliament | |
| London Assembly | |
Harefieldis a village in theLondon Borough of Hillingdon,England, 17 miles (27 km) northwest ofCharing CrossnearGreater London's boundary withBuckinghamshireto the west andHertfordshireto the north. The population at the2011 Censuswas 7,399.[1]Harefield is the westernmost settlement in Greater London, and lies outside the capital's contiguous built-up area.
Harefield is nearDenham,Ickenham,Northwood,Rickmansworth,RuislipandUxbridge.Pioneering heart surgery techniques were developed atHarefield Hospital.
History
[edit]Two sites near Dewes Farm have produced lateMesolithicartefacts.[2]Harefield enters recorded history through theDomesday Book(1086) asHerefelle,[3]comprising the Anglo-Saxon wordsHere"[danish] army" (c.f. the Englishfyrd)[4]andfelle(laterfeld), "field".[5]Before theNorman conquest of England,the Manor of Harefield belonged toCountess Goda,the sister ofEdward the Confessor.Her husbands wereFrench,Dreux of the Vexinand CountEustace of Boulogne.[6]
Following the Norman conquest, ownership of Harefield passed toRichard FitzGilbert,the son of CountGilbert of Brionne.It was listed in the Domesday Book as comprising enough arable land for five ploughs, with meadow land only sufficient for one plough. Woodland areas inMiddlesexwere registered in the number of pigs which could be supported there; Harefield had 1,200, the second highest in theHundred of Elthorneto Ruislip, with 1,500.[6]Tenvilleins(tenants) are also counted; they held their land freely from the lord in exchange for rent payments and labour. By the 12th or 13th century their land is believed to have passed back to the lord and become unfree. There were also sevenbordars(poorer tenants) with five acres each, while one had three. In addition, threecottars,who owned a cottage and garden, also feature.[6]
Harefield was eventually split into the main manor of Harefield, and the two smaller submanors of Brackenbury and Moorhall. It had been owned by the Clares, descended from Richard FitzGerald, before passing to the Batchworths by 1235. In turn, the Swanlord family took possession in 1315. By 1446, the Newdigate family owned Harefield - they still owned some land in the 1920s. John Newdigate exchanged most of his land in 1585 with theChief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas,Sir Edmund Anderson.He sold the manor toSir Thomas Egerton,who staged anelaborate entertainmentforQueen Elizabethin 1602.[6]
DuringWorld War I,Harefield Park was used as an Australian military hospital. The bodies of the servicemen who died there were buried with full military honours within the graveyard of St Mary's Church; the area, which also included the ground where the Harefield Place building stood, became a military cemetery.[6]
In 1929 Harefield became part of theMunicipal Borough of Uxbridge,then in 1965 the London Borough of Hillingdon.
Notable buildings
[edit]Harefield Hospital
[edit]Harefield Hospitalis a world-famousheartandlunghospital.It is part of the Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, the largest specialist heart and lung centre in the UK, and among the largest inEurope.Its sister hospital in the trust is theRoyal Brompton HospitalinChelsea.
Sir Magdi Yacoub,consultantcardiothoracicsurgeon at Harefield Hospital (1969–2002), carried out the first live lobelung transplant,and went on to perform more transplants than any other surgeon in the world. By the end of the 1980sHarefield Hospitalwas the leading transplant centre. Magdi Yacoub was involved in the development of heart and heart-lung transplants.
St Mary the Virgin Church
[edit]St Mary's Parish Church(off Church Hill) is Harefield's oldest building and an important focal point for the Harefield community. A priest is first mentioned in the manor of Harefield in theDomesday Book(1086). In the late 12th century theadvowsonwas given to theKnights Hospitallers,although theNewdigate familylater became patrons of the church. The church building has somemedievalfeatures, but was restored and altered in 1768, and again in 1841.[7]
The church cemetery contains the graves of over 100 soldiers of theFirst Australian Imperial Forcewho died at No. 1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital (Harefield Park Hospital) after being wounded inWorld War I.The hospital became Harefield prior toWorld War II.Each year onAnzac Daya commemoration service is attended by local dignitaries, representatives from the Australian and New Zealand governments, local school children and many retired servicemen. Following the church service the congregation move to the cemetery and form around the Anzac memorial. The last post and reveille are played, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony. Local school children also place flowers on the well-kept grave sites.
The church holds the tomb in whichAlice Stanley, Dowager Countess of Derbywas laid to rest in January 1637. Dowager Stanley was aSpencer,fromAlthorpinNorthamptonshire,of the family to whichDiana Princess of Walesbelonged. She was the widow ofFerdinando, 5th Earl of Derby,who had been poisoned because of his closeness to the throne of England. Very soon after Ferdinando's murder in 1594 Alice had to move out ofLathomandKnowsleyin Lancashire. She came to live at Harefield Place in considerable splendour. The house stood to the south of the present church and parts of its moat and brickwork can still be seen.
Alice, Dowager Countess of Derbywas also Dowager ViscountessBrackley.Her second husbandThomas Egerton, Lord Ellesmere,an eminent lawyer andLord Chancellor of England,had died in 1617. But the Derby title was the one she preferred to be known by, and it is the one by which she is described on her funeral monument, which is surely one of the finest of its time anywhere in England. The mourning daughters beside the tomb are not meant to be lifelike representations of her actual daughters, Anne, Frances and Elizabeth; they conform to a stereotype often observed on grand monuments of this kind. But the figure of Alice Countess of Derby is probably closer to historical reality. She wears the coronet of a Countess, not a Viscountess, and at the foot of her tomb is a coroneted eagle, a reminder of the Stanleys' armorial crest. This commemorates their descent from the Lathoms, which was the foundation of their fortunes.
Sir Michael Shersby, MP for Uxbridge from 1972 to 1997, is buried in the churchyard along with his widow Lady Barbara.
Manor of Harefield
[edit]
The ancient Manor of Harefield was held by theNewdigate familyfrom about 1440. The old Manor house,Harefield Place,adjacent to St Mary the Virgin church, was replaced in 1786, when a new mansion house was built at Harefield Lodge. The old 'Harefield Place' fell into disrepair and was demolished in 1813, whereupon the new Manor house became known as Harefield Place. It was sold byCharles Newdigate Newdegatein 1877. In 1938 it was acquired by the local authority to serve as a hospital. In 1959 the land was redeveloped and is now the Harefield Place Golf Club.
Harefield House, a Grade IIlisted building,High Street, Harefield, was built by SirRoger Newdigatein about 1750. From about 1765 to 1809 it was occupied by J. M. Bruhl. DuringWorld War Iit served as No. 1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital. In 1937 it was acquired by theMinistry of Defenceand was occupied by the Aeronautical Inspection Directorate.
After 1982 the building was restored and converted to office use. In 2015 the building was used as the filming location for the interior of the island mansion in theTV adaptationofAgatha Christie's mystery novelAnd Then There Were None.[8]
Breakspear House (Breakspears), a Grade I listed building, originally constructed in the 17th century also falls within Harefield.
The Harefield Academy
[edit]The Harefield Academy replaced the John Penrose School in September 2005. The new academy is an age 11 to 18 school with accommodation for 750 students aged 11 to 15 and a further 250 post-16 students.
The School is set in the village of Harefield on the edge of the green belt and is adjacent to the commencement of agricultural land.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), a number of directors ofWatford Football Club,and the London Borough of Hillingdon worked together to seek to bring about a significant improvement in educational and health standards.
The Harefield Academy project is part of theGovernment's Academiesinitiative.
Sport
[edit]Harefield is home toHarefield United Football Club,which was founded in 1868 and is the oldest in Middlesex.[9]
Harefield is home to Harefield Cricket Club, whose first and second teams play their matches at the Woods Cricket Ground on Breakspear Road North. In 2008, however, the Dairy Farm Ground (behind the current first team pitch) was opened in order to accommodate the third and fourth XIs. This was done in conjunction with the Harefield Parochial Charity. In 2009, the first XI achieved promotion to the Home Counties Cricket League, and are therefore one division away from the highest level of club cricket in England and Wales. In 2010, HCC had the most successful season in its history, with the second, third & fourth XI's all winning their respective leagues. The Sunday Academy side won their division of the Chess Valley League. The 2014 season saw the first XI play their first season in the Premier Division and after a protracted relegation battle, they survived on the last game of season.[10]A second season in the top flight secured their status as the highest ranked club in the area.
Harefield is also home to an Elite Gymnastics Academy. The Harefield Academy, Northwood Road, opened in September 2005 on the John Penrose School site.[11]
Victoria Cross recipients
[edit]Harefield is associated with three recipients of theVictoria Cross.Two booklets in the Reference section of Harefield library give details of the three recipients of the award.
- Lieutenant-GeneralGerald GoodlakeVC(1832–1890), who served with theColdstream Guardsin theCrimean War,is buried in St Mary's parish churchyard.
- PrivateCecil John KinrossVC(1896–1957), who distinguished himself atPasschendaeleinWorld War I,was born in Harefield; he moved with his family in 1912 toLougheed, Alberta.
- SergeantRobert Edward RyderVC(1895–1978), who served inWorld War Iin theMiddlesex Regiment,was born and is buried in Harefield. Ablue plaqueon The Old Workhouse marks his birthplace.
A gold plaque in theRoyal British LegionHall honours the exceptional bravery of bothGoodlakeVCandRyderVC.In 2011, Hillingdon Council erected ablue plaquein honour of the courage ofKinrossVCat the place of his birth on the anniversary of his birthday, 17 February.
Other notable people
[edit] |
- Rhodes Boyson(1925–2012), Conservative Member of Parliament
- Brian Connolly(1945–1997), singer ofglam rockbandSweetgrew up in Harefield andHayesfrom the age of 12
- Thomas Egerton, Lord Ellesmere(1540–1617) and wifeAlice Spencer(1559–1637), lived in Harefield from 1601; QueenElizabeth Ivisited the couple in July 1602
- Alexander Fleming(1881–1955), biologist andNobel Prizewinner for the discovery ofpenicillin,was Regional Pathologist atHarefield Hospital,1939; this is recorded on ablue plaqueat the main entrance door to the hospital
- Russell Grant(born 1951), TV astrologer, grew up in Harefield and was head chorister at St Mary's parish church
- PoliticianCharles Newdigate(1816–1887), lived in Harefield, and was buried in Harefield Church, which he had personally spent much money restoring
- JudgeSir Richard Newdigate(1602–1678), lived in Harefield, and was buried in Harefield parish church, where a monument was raised to his memory
- Henry Avray Tipping(1855–1933), designed and built Little Hammonds in Breakspear Road North. Tipping was architectural editor ofCountry Lifemagazine and was responsible for the layout of the garden atChequers
- Thomas Wakley(1795–1862), medical and social reformer, and founder ofThe Lancet,lived at Harefield Park, 1845–1856; he has a memorial stone in the grounds ofHarefield Hospital
Transport
[edit]There is notubeorrailwaystation in Harefield. However buses in the area link toNorthwoodandUxbridgetube stations andDenhamandRickmansworthrailway stations. Harefield is served by route331operating betweenUxbridgeandRuislip,and routeU9betweenUxbridgeandHarefield Hospital.
Nearest Underground stations
[edit]Nearest railway stations
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ab"Usual resident population".NOMIS.Office for National Statistics. 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 7 November 2020.Retrieved6 May2013.
- ^J. Cotton, J. Mills, G. Clegg (1986) 'Archaeology in West Middlesex,' Echo Press, Loughborough. pp. 29–31
- ^Domesday Book,http://keithbriggs.info/documents/DB_place-name_forms_ Alpha betic.pdf
- ^Bosworth, Joseph. "HERE." An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary: Based on the Manuscript Collections of the Late Joseph Bosworth. Ed. Thomas Northcote Toller. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1898. 532. See:http://bosworth.ff.cuni.cz/018861
- ^D. MILLS. "Harefield." A Dictionary of British Place-Names. 2003. Retrieved 21 November 2011 from Encyclopedia:http:// encyclopedia /doc/1O40-Harefield.html
- ^abcdeBowlt, Eileen. M. (1996).Ickenham & Harefield Past.London: Historical Publications.ISBN0-948667-36-2.
- ^Church records
- ^Deehan, Tom (22 December 2015)."BBC's And Then There Were None filmed in Cornwall and Hillingdon".The Location Guide.Archived fromthe originalon 13 January 2017.Retrieved27 December2015.
- ^"Harefield United FC: Club History".Archived fromthe originalon 29 April 2010.Retrieved31 August2010.
- ^"FOOTBALL: Sub Shaw strikes dramatic winner for Wantage".
- ^The Harefield Academy website
External links
[edit]
- Harefield Park Hospital,Australian War Memorial,11 June 1974
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