Harefield is a village in the London Borough
of Hillingdon
in Greater
London
. It is located northwest of Charing Cross
. It is situated on top of a hill and just
inside the north-west boundary of Greater London and the M25 motorway
.
Harefield
is famous for its hospital
, where pioneering heart surgery techniques were
developed. Nearby is Mount Vernon Hospital
, known for its plastic surgery and oncology
departments amongst others.Harefield is also home to an
Elite Gymnastics Academy. The Harefield Academy, Northwood Way,
Harefield opened in September 2005 on the John Penrose School
site.
History
Notable buildings
St Mary the Virgin Church
The church cemetery at St. Mary the Virgin, on Church Hill, houses
the graves of over 100 soldiers of the
First Australian Imperial
Force who died at No. 1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital
(Harefield Park Hospital) after being wounded in
World War I. The hospital became Harefield prior
to WWII. Each year on
Anzac Day a
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.
Manor of Harefield
The ancient Manor of Harefield was held by the
Newdigate family from 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 by
Charles Newdigate Newdegate in
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 also features the cheekily named novelty
men's underwear shop Harefield Tackle.
Harefield House, a Grade 2
listed
building, High Street, Harefield, was built by Sir
Roger Newdigate in about 1750. From about
1765 to 1809 it was occupied by
J M Bruhl.
During World War I it served as No. 1 Australian Auxiliary
Hospital. In 1937 it was acquired by the
Ministry of Defence and
was occupied by the Aeronautical Inspection Directorate. After 1982
the building was restored and converted to office use.
Sport
Harefield
is home to Harefield Cricket Club, whose First and Second teams
play their matches at the Woods Cricket Ground on Breakspear Road
North, and whose Third XI play home games at Hervines Park, in the
nearby town of Amersham
.
However, in 2008, a new ground has been prepared behind the current
First Team pitch to accommodate the Third XI and a newly formed
Fourth XI. This was done in conjunction with the Harefield
Parochial Charity.
Famous residents
- Brian Connolly, lead singer with
the highly popular 1970s glam rock band
The Sweet, lived at 126 Ash Grove,
Harefield. Mike Jerome, later to find fame as a comedian, lived across the road and was a childhood
friend. Arriving as a 12 year old from Glasgow
, Connolly
lived and was schooled in Harefield from 1957. As an
adolescent, Connolly played in a country and western band with
Jerome until he found musical fame with The Sweet in the early
1970s. Connolly used the name of his foster family McManus during
his Harefield days. Achieving great fame and wealth he loved the
area, residing in Hayes
in his early
pop-star days and was living in nearby Denham
when he died in 1997.
Transport
Trains
Although there is no tube or railway station in Harefield, three
buses serve different locations which have tube stations on the
Metropolitan line and
Piccadilly line.
These are: Uxbridge
, Ruislip
, Northwood
and Rickmansworth
. Rickmansworth is also on the
Chiltern Railway.
Buses
Nearest railway stations
Nearest places
References
External links
, 11 June 1974
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
