England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Harefield St Mary the Virgin

The Parish

The parish of Harefield lies in the extreme northwest of Middlesex forming stretches of the county's borders with both Buckinghamshire and with Hertfordshire. Harefield is located roughly 4 miles north of the town of Uxbridge and sits a couple of miles east of the A412 road which links Uxbridge with the Hertfordshire town of Rickmansworth. Harefield is a large crossroads village built on the eastern flanks of the River Coln's flood-plain, most properties lie along the lane which parallels the course of the Coln with extensions, mostly modern developments, to both east and west. The wider parish is extensive with subsidiary settlements at West Hyde, where there is a crossing of the Coln, and at South Harefield, the latter closer to the church and contiguous with the main settlement. Much of the modern development has been as a consequence of the presence of Harefield Hospital, built as a tuberculosis sanatorium it us now world-renowned for its heart treatments. At the time of this transcript Harefield would have been a farming parish, this close to the capital market gardening to supply fruit & vegetables to the capital would have supplemented the typical arable farming of the district. Early gazetteers also report the extraction of copper in the parish, although that has now ceased. Modern developments have come to the parish, the Grand Union Canal follows the valley & course of the Coln whilst the London to High Wycombe railway line carves through between Harefield and Ickenham. The Coln drains the parish southwards towards the Thames which turns water eastwards through London to the North Sea. Harefield is sited on a rising site, West Hyde being at 40 metres above the sea whilst the easternmost properties lie at 90 metres to the northeast land rises still more to top 110 metres at nearby Batchworth Heath. Harefield parish was extensive, covering around 4,500 acres which would have supported a population of close to 1,500 parishioners. In Domesday times Harefield was an equally profitable holding, held by Count Gilbert's son Richard it could muster 6 ploughs, meadows & woodland, a pair of mills but most profitably 4 fisheries.

The Church

St Mary's church sits almost a mile south of the village's main crossroads accessed from Church Hill to its east by a narrow rising metaled track. Outwardly the church seems a typical 14th century building modified by Victorian restoration but the interior reveals a more lengthy and complex history. The earliest fabric is 12th century and Norman and comprises masonry within the western wall of the nave. From the 13th century comes the chancel in Early English Gothic style, blocked lancet window in the northern wall confirming these origins. The rest of the main body, the nave is genuine 14th century, Decorated in style from the early period of that century. Bequests in wills confirm the dating of the western tower and the northern chancel chapel to the early 16th century, bequests are recorded in both 1500 and 1545 indicating a lengthy building phase. Roofing restorations were made as early as 1768 but the main restoration came early in the Victorian period when an extensive restoration was conducted in 1841 to complete today's church. Whilst the church is a fairly typical country church its collection of memorials moves Pevsner to lengthy documentation, they alone are worth a visit. The access road leaves Church Hill just north of its fork with Church Road, a white sign indicating the way. Outside the churchyard there is a triangular parking area allowing a relaxed visit. Unfortunately for the photographer a thick bank of trees takes away the favoured southeastern aspect but all other angles are available.