Description
Harefield House is a C17th house with a plain stuccoed front dating from the early C19th. The former estate grounds were largely built over with housing. In the 1920s it was owned by country house historian Avray Tipping, who laid out gardens and built some houses in the grounds, including 3 houses near the pond on Harefield Green, which date from c.1934. Harefield House was later occupied by the Ministry of Defence and remains in private ownership. A magnificent cedar tree behind the house is visible from the main road.
Practical Information
| Site location | High Street, Harefield |
|---|---|
| Postcode | UB9 |
| What3Words | ///earth.finest.salads |
| Type of Site | Private Garden |
| Borough | Hillingdon |
| Open to Public | No |
| Opening Times | private |
| Public Transport | Tube: Uxbridge then bus. Bus: 331, U9. |
| Research Updated | 1 November 2005 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ052904 |
|---|---|
| Site Ownership | County and Metropolitan Authority |
| Dates | C17th; 1920s |
| Designers | 1920s garden: A Tipping |
| Listed Structures | LBII: Harefield House |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | Hillingdon |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | Harefield |
| Tree Preservation Order | Yes - Plane + Cedar |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
| Other LA Designation | Proposal Area UH3 |
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.
Nearby parks and gardens
Harefield existed as an early settlement and its village green is one of 11 registered commons and former village greens in Hillingdon. The land was part of the Manor of Harefield, which remained in the ownership of the Newdigate family from C16th-C20th. Following the Enclosures Act of 1813, the 4-acre site was provided for the recreation of the inhabitants of the village. Harefield Village Green is largely open grass with perimeter trees and a pond on the south-east corner, near which is the War Memorial. In the north corner is the Harefield 2000 Memorial showing a hare within a globe that depicts the British Isles and Australia, with which Harefield has strong links.
Harefield Hospital was built in the 1930s as the county sanatorium for sufferers of TB in the grounds of the early-mid C18th Harefield Park, whose vestigial garden and fragment of parkland remain. The house is now used as the hospital's staff centre. There is a good cedar on the lawn and holm oak. Intrusive tennis courts have been built between the house and two formal ponds; the Lakeside Garden was restored in 1994. The Ha-ha remains, albeit in poor condition and there are remnants of deer park boundary bank and ditch. The walled garden has remains of old glasshouses.
Harefield's parish church of St Mary has remnants of the medieval building, although it was altered in 1768 and restored in 1841. It contains numerous fine memorials, such as those to the Newdigate family who held the Manor of Harefield from the C14th. The old manor house used to stand near the church but was demolished in 1814. The setting of the church and its walled churchyard remains rural. In WWI an extension to the churchyard was created as the Australian Military or ANZAC Cemetery and since 1921 an annual ceremony has been held here on 25 April.