In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Harefield like this:
HAREFIELD, a village and a parish in Uxbridge district, Middlesex. The village stands near the Grand Junction canal, the river Colne, and the boundary with Bucks, 3¾ miles N of Uxbridge r. station; was known at Domesday as Harefelle; and has a post-office under Uxbridge, and a police station. ...
The parish comprises 4,513 acres. Real property, £8,772. Pop., 1,567. Houses, 325. The property is divided among a few. The manor belonged, in the time of Edward the Confessor, to the Countess Goda; at Domesday, to Richard, son of Earl Brion; in 1284, to Roger de Bacheworth; in 1315, to Simon de Swanland; in next generation and till 1585, to the Newdegates; in 1585, to Sir Edmund Anderson; in 1601, to Sir Thomas Egerton, Lord keeper of the Great Seal, and his wife, the Countess Dowager of Derby; in the next generation, to their son, Lord Chandos; and from 1675 till the present time has belonged again to the Newdegates. Harefield Place, on a site near the church, was long the manorial seat; received a state visit from Queen Elizabeth; had associations or connexious with Milton's "Arcades" and "Comus;" was burned down, in 1660, in the time of Lady Chandos; was rebuilt, soon after 1675, by Sir Richard Newdegate; and was taken down early in the present century. Harefield Place is now the seat of the Newdegates. Breakspere House took name from the family of Breakspere; was the residence of Nicholas Breakspere, who became Pope Adrian IV.; and is now the seat of William W. Drake, Esq. A monastic house, a cell to Clerkenwell priory, was founded in the parish by Alice de Clare, who probably held the manor prior to Roger de Bacheworth. The living is a donative in the diocese of London. Value, £64.* Patron, C. N. Newdegate, Esq. The church is very ancient; belonged originally to either the Knights Templars or the Knights of St. John; underwent recent restoration and enlargement, at a cost of upwards of £3,000; and contains an elegant monument to the Countess of Derby, and several ancient monuments to the Newdegates. There are national schools, alms-houses for six widows, and other charities £73. Chief Justice Anderson was a resident.
Harefield through time
Harefield is now part of Hillingdon district. Click here for graphs and data of how Hillingdon has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Harefield itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Harefield, in Hillingdon and Middlesex | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/1807
Date accessed: 25th April 2024
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