Editing Harmondsworth

{{Use British English|date=September 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country                  = England
| region                   = London
| official_name            = Harmondsworth
| coordinates              = {{coord|51.4865|-0.4796|display=inline,title}}
| constituency_westminster = [[Hayes and Harlington (UK Parliament constituency)|Hayes and Harlington]]
| post_town                = WEST DRAYTON
| postcode_area            = UB
| postcode_district        = UB7
| london_borough           = Hillingdon
| dial_code                = 020
| os_grid_reference        = TQ055775
| charingX_distance_mi     = 15
| charingX_direction       = E by NE
| static_image_name        = Harmondsworth - geograph.org.uk - 88617.jpg
| static_image_caption     = Harmondsworth Village
| population               = 1478
| population_ref           = – 2011 census<ref name=ons01/>
}}
'''Harmondsworth''' is a village in the [[London Borough of Hillingdon]] in the county of [[Greater London]] with a short border to the south onto [[Heathrow Airport|London Heathrow Airport]] and close to the [[Berkshire]] county border. The village has no railway stations, but adjoins the [[M4 motorway]] and the [[A4 road (England)|A4 road]] (the Bath Road). Harmondsworth was in the historic county of [[Middlesex]] until 1965. It is an ancient parish that once included the large hamlets of [[Heathrow (hamlet)|Heathrow]], [[Longford, London|Longford]] and [[Sipson]].  Longford and Sipson have modern signposts and facilities as separate villages, remaining to a degree interdependent such as for schooling.  The [[Harmondsworth Great Barn|Great Barn]] and parish church are medieval buildings in the village.  The largest proportion of land in commercial use is related to air transport and hospitality.  The village includes public parkland with footpaths and abuts the [[River Colne, Hertfordshire|River Colne]] and biodiverse land in its [[Colne Valley Regional Park|Regional Park]] to the west, once the grazing meadows and woodlands used for hogs of [[Colnbrook]].

The west of the parish has two major airline headquarters (international and local) and two [[immigration detention]] centres: the larger is for a maximum of 620 men without [[leave to enter|leave (permission) to enter or remain]] in the United Kingdom.  Many international visitors stay within the [[Church of England|church-based]] [[ecclesiastical parish|bounds]] of Harmondsworth, as all hotels are branded as "Heathrow", [[Heathrow (hamlet)|a former hamlet and other farmsteads]] that were absorbed by the airport.

In October 2016 it was announced by HM Government that Heathrow Airport would receive permission to apply for a third runway. According to current [[Expansion of Heathrow Airport|expansion plans]], around half of the existing village of Harmondsworth will have to be demolished to make way for the north-west runway and surrounding grass [[Runway safety area|safety area]]. The other half, including the parish church and Great Barn, will be only a few metres from the airport perimeter.

== History ==
[[File:Detail_of_'A_Map_of_the_County_of_Middlesex_Reduced_from_the_an_Actual_Survey_in_four_Sheets_By_John_Rocque'.jpg|thumb|Detail of ''A Map of the County of Middlesex Reduced from an Actual Survey in four Sheets By [[John Rocque]]'' or ''Carte de la Province de Middlesex reduite D'apres un arpanlage en quatre feuilles Par Jean Rocque'', 1757.]]
[[File:Harlington as seen on Ordnance Survey map sheet 71, 1822-1890, with railway added 1891.jpg|thumb|left|Harmondsworth as seen on Ordnance Survey map sheet 71, 1822–1890, with railway added 1891.]]
Harmondsworth is mentioned in [[Domesday Book]], its name coming from the [[Old English language|Anglo-Saxon]] ''Heremōdes worþ'', meaning "Heremōd's [[enclosure]]", or ''Heremundes worþ'', meaning "Heremund's [[enclosure]]".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Middlesex/Harmondsworth|title = Key to English Place-names}}</ref>

Harmondsworth remains an [[ecclesiastical parish]], with the name first recorded in AD 780 when [[Offa of Mercia|King Offa]] granted land to his servant Aeldred.<ref>Philip Sherwood, ''Harlington and Harmondsworth'', Tempus, Stroud, 2002, pp. 8–9. (& Sherwood, ''Heathrow, 2000 Years of history'', Sutton Publishing, 1999, p. 15)</ref>

Before 1066 the manor was owned by [[Harold Godwinson]] (Earl Harold), and at the Conquest (1066) it passed to William I. In 1069 it was granted by the king, on the suggestion of [[William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford]] ({{circa|1020}} – 1071),<ref name="auto">''The Cult of St Katherine of Alexandria in Early Medieval Europe'', by Christine Walsh, Ashgate, 2007, p. 125.</ref> to the [[Benedictine]] Abbey of Holy Trinity, Rouen, afterwards known as [[Catherine of Alexandria|St. Catherine's]], which held it in 1086 and then until 1391.{{NoteTag|It seems appropriate considering the possible future and present Harmondsworth beset by airplane wheels that the 325 years owner of the manor was named after St Catherine of Alexandria whose attribute was the wheel on which she was martyred.}}<ref>V.C.H. Middlesex, volume i. pp. 123–4, and ''A History of the County of Middlesex, volume iv, Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood With Southall, Hillingdon With Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow With Pinner'', published by Victoria County History, London, 1971, and ''Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum'', i, ed. H. W. C. Davis, no. 29.</ref>

[[File:Harmondsworth Great Barn, 19 July 2015, from the west.jpg|thumb|The Great Barn, 19 July 2015, from the west, showing its new roof and the church tower on the right.]]
[[File:Vues abbaye Sainte-Catherine.jpg|thumb|Owner from 1069: Abbaye [[Catherine of Alexandria|Sainte-Catherine]] du Mont, or Abbey of the Holy Trinity and Saint Katherine, at [[Rouen]] in Normandy.]]
[[File:Eudes Rigaud Rouen.png|thumb|Seal of [[Eudes Rigaud]] or Odo Rigaldus (c.1200–1275), the Archbishop of Rouen, who visited the priory at Harmondsworth in 1265 and 1268 and recorded only two monks in the priory.<ref name="auto" />]]

{{Blockquote|HARMONDSWORTH (Virgin Mary), a parish, in the [[Poor law union|union]] of [[Staines upon Thames|Staines]]...[[Middlesex]], 2½ miles (E. by N.) from Colnbrook; containing 1330 inhabitants. The [[benefice|living is a vicarage]], with that of [[West Drayton]] united, net income, £530; patron, H. De Burgh, Esq...The church has a Norman door, and a tower with angular turrets, On Hounslow heath, in the parish, is a square intrenchment, each side measuring 100 yards, supposed to have been the work of [[Julius Caesar|Caesar]] in his war with [[Cassivelaunus]].<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51008 |title = Harlow – Harraton |editor-first = Samuel |editor-last = Lewis |work = A Topographical Dictionary of England |publisher = Institute of Historical Research |year = 1848 |access-date = 23 November 2014 }}</ref> ''A Topographical Dictionary of England''||[[Samuel Lewis (publisher)|S. Lewis]], 1848}}

The manor and [[advowson]] (this grant did not include the knight's fees held in the king's hands nor the property farmed out by the priory), together with those of [[Tingewick]] (Buckinghamshire), were acquired from the abbey and prior in 1391 by [[William of Wykeham]], Bishop of Winchester, and formed part of the endowment of [[Winchester College]] and [[New College, Oxford]], aka ''St. Mary College of Winchester in Oxford''. Winchester College and New College retained the manor until 1543 when it was surrendered to Henry VIII in exchange for property elsewhere.<ref>Cal. Pat. 1388–92, 378, 434; E 212/D.S. 98; M.R.O., Acc. 446/ED. 108. And L. & P. Hen. VIII, xviii (2), p. 124. And C 66/729/6. Via ''A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4, Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood With Southall, Hillingdon With Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow With Pinner'', published by Victoria County History, London, 1971, pp. 7–10.</ref>

In 1547 the lordship and manor was granted to [[William Paget, 1st Baron Paget]], KG, PC.<ref>16. Cal. Pat. 1547-8, 45., via VCH, aka ''A History of the County of Middlesex, Volume 4, Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood With Southall, Hillingdon With Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow With Pinner'', published by Victoria County History, London, 1971.</ref>
The Pagets held on to the manor until the eighteenth century, selling most of early during the time of the heir of [[Henry Paget, 2nd Earl of Uxbridge]] (1719–1769), [[Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge (second creation)|Henry Bayley-Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge]] (1744–1812).<ref>Daniel and Samuel Lysons, ''An Historical Account of those Parishes in the County of Middlesex which are not included in the Environs of London'', (London, 1800), p. 139.</ref> [[William Paget, 5th Baron Paget|William, Lord Paget]] (1609–1678) sold some of it in 1672. Via his daughter [[Philip Foley|Penelope Foley]] the Pagets were ancestors of [[Charles Darwin]].

[[File:William Paget, 1st Baron Paget by Master of the Stätthalterin Madonna.jpg|thumb|[[William Paget, 1st Baron Paget|William Paget]], granted the lordship and manor in 1547.]]
 
Harmondsworth as an ancient parish of 30 [[Hide (unit)|hides]] (as assessed at [[Domesday]], 1086) or {{convert|3480|acres|km2}}<ref>[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/3431 Imperial Gazetteer 1870–72 John Marius Wilson] Extract featured at Vision of Britain, University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 2014-11-23</ref> (rather than today's surviving [[nucleated village|village nucleus]]) changed from agrarian and a few, isolated London suburban homes to mostly industrial gradually in 1929 with the opening of the Colnbrook by-pass which by-passed diminutive Longford to the north.<ref>In the late 14th and early 15th centuries the manor, rather than parish, of Harmondsworth, was reckoned to consist of about 1,321 a.(VCH).</ref>

Harmondsworth [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] from its 1880s creation until its 1964 abolition contained the same areas as its religious counterpart. Industrial development began in 1930 with the opening of the [[Transport Research Laboratory|Road Research Laboratory (RRL)]] on this road. In the same year, the [[Fairey Aviation Company]] opened an airfield, the Great West Aerodrome, south-west of Heathrow. This formed the nucleus of the later airport, and the Fairey hangar was eventually incorporated into Heathrow Airport as a fire station.

By the late 1930s some residential building had taken place, although almost entirely in the northern half of the parish. Small estates were built off Hatch Lane around Candover Close and Zealand Avenue and further building took place along Sipson Road, around Blunts Avenue, and along the north side of the Bath Road at [[Sipson]] Green. [[Longford, London|Longford]] remained virtually untouched. A brick-works was established by the corner of Cain's Lane and Heathrow Road and the area of former heathland was extensively worked for gravel, sand, and grit. In the 1930s Middlesex County Council opened a large sewage pumping station to the west of Perry Oaks, which was converted to [[Heathrow Terminal 5]] in the early 21st century. The [[A30 road (Great Britain)|Great South West Road]] touched the south-east corner of the parish but played no part in its development. Although many of the orchards survived, their numbers had been greatly reduced and it seems probable that much of the former fruit-growing area was being used for market gardening. In 1944 Harmondsworth and Sipson retained their agricultural character despite some suburban housing. It was then suggested that further expansion in the Yiewsley and West Drayton area should be curtailed, as the land was primarily in demand for agriculture, which was greatly adhered to until 1971.<ref name=b>{{cite web |url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22382 |title = Harmondsworth: Introduction |editor1 = T F T Baker |editor2 = J S Cockburn |editor3 = R B Pugh |author1=Diane K Bolton |author2=H P F King| author3=Gillian Wyld| author4=D C Yaxley |work = A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4 |publisher = Institute of Historical Research |year=1971 |access-date=23 November 2014 }}</ref>

[[File:Farm buildings on the eastern end of Harmondsworth, western Middlesex, UK, July 2015.jpg|thumbnail|Farm buildings at the eastern end of Harmondsworth, July 2015.]]
In 1944, however, the modern pattern of Harmondsworth began to emerge with the transfer of the Fairey airfield to the Royal Air Force and its subsequent development by the Air Ministry as Heathrow R.A.F. station. This entailed the complete demolition of Heathrow and Perry Oaks hamlets, and widespread draining of the old flooded gravel pits. Many of the small buildings along the south side of the Bath Road that were still standing in 1960 were erected by the R.A.F.<ref name=b/>

Although not a [[post town]], in printed form Harmondsworth is frequently seen in books.  From 1937 the offices and warehouses of [[Penguin Books]] were here until their gradual closure in the 1990s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.penguinfirsteditions.com/index.php?cat=history |title=Penguin First Editions :: Early First Edition Penguin Books :: penguinfirsteditions.com |newspaper=Penguinfirsteditions.com |access-date= 21 June 2016}}</ref> In this period its books published in the country bore the publication location, "Harmondsworth, Middlesex".

In 1965 it became part of the London Borough of Hillingdon in the newly formed ceremonial county of Greater London.<ref>{{cite act| url = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1965/654/made| title = The London Government Order 1965| date=1965 | legislature = Parliament of the United Kingdom | type= Statutory Instrument}}</ref>

==Proceedings of court, 26 July 1245==
{{blockquote|Record of proceedings in the Church of [[Pinner|Pinnore]] [Pinner], before the Dean of Middlesex, and Baldric, Chaplain acting on behalf of the Priors of [[Bentley Priory|Benetleye]] [Bentley] and Hermodesworth [Harmondsworth], in the cause between the [[Bec Abbey|Abbot and Convent of Bec]], by Peter de Suynecumbe, Proctor, and John de Bleddel also Proctor for the Abbey of Bec [ [[Le Bec-Hellouin|Bec Herluin]] ] and the Rector of the Church of [[Great Wratting|Great Wrothing]] [Great Wratting] by Master Henry de Trippeleawe his Proctor, and the [[Dover Priory|Prior and Convent of Doure]] [Dover]. Question of certain proctorial letters received without seal of Prior, or Prior's name; necessary clause also deficient in them: decision that Prior of Doure pay all expenses.<ref>St George's Chapel, Windsor: SGC XI.G.27</ref>}}

==Henry III Fine Rolls==
[[Fine rolls]] of Henry III.
*(13 January 1250): "For the abbot of Rouen. The abbot of Sainte-Trinité-du-mont-de-Rouen gives the king £10 for having seisin of the manor of Harmondsworth after the death of the abbot of the same place, his predecessor."
*(18 January 1250): 18 January Westminster. "For the abbot of Sainte-Trinité-du-mont-de-Rouen. By a fine of £10 which the abbot of Sainte-Trinité-du-mont-de-Rouen has made with him, the king has rendered to him the manors of [[Tingewick]] in Buckinghamshire and Harmondsworth in Middlesex, which the king caused to be taken into his hand by reason of the death of William, formerly abbot of the same place, predecessor of the aforesaid abbot. Order to [[Henry Wingham|Henry of Wingham]] and his co-escheators in the aforesaid counties to cause the aforesaid abbot to have full seisin of the aforesaid manors together with the issues received in the meantime."
*(24 June 1271): 24 June Westminster. "Concerning a fine for the abbot of St Katherine's Rotom'. The king, by a fine of ten marks which the abbot of St. Katherine's de monte Rotomagen' has made with the king, has rendered the manors of Tingewik in Buckinghamshire and Harmondsworth in Middlesex which were taken into the king’s hand by reason of the death of Robert sometime abbot of the same place predecessor of the aforesaid abbot. Order to Master Richard de Clifford', escheator this side of the [[River Trent|Trent]], to cause the same abbot to have full seisin without delay of the aforesaid manors together with everything taken therefrom."

==Priors of the alien priory of S. Catherine du Mont, Harmondsworth==
*William, occurs 1260<ref>Close R. 1259–61, 182</ref>
*John de Walemond, occurs 1276<ref>Cal. Pat. 1272–81, 166</ref> 
*Richard, occurs 1279<ref>Cal. Pat. 1272–81, 346</ref> 
*William de Bosco alias de Yvelont, occurs 1297<ref>Cal. Pat. 1292–1301, 270</ref> 
*John de Ibelound
*Humphrey le Conte-Poyntour, occurs 1317<ref>Blomefield, Norf. ii. 320</ref> 
*John de Fraunkevyle, occurs 1321<ref>Blomefield, Norf. ii. 320 and London Reg. Gravesend (Cant. and York Soc.), 268.</ref> 
*William de Pestlamore, occurs 1329<ref>Blomefield, Norf. ii. 320.</ref> 
*John Busot(is)
*Roger Sorel, occurs 1342, 1345; recently dead in 1351<ref>Cal. Fine R. 1337–47, 262; 1347–56, 314; Cal. Close, 1343–6, 636.</ref> 
*John Cibe, occurs 1351;<ref>Cal. Fine R. 1347–56, 314.</ref> 
*Robert Beauchamp (Bello Campo), occurs 1352; 'late prior' in 1392<ref>Cal. Fine R. 1347–56, 325; 1369–77, 22; 1377–83, 24; Cal. Papal Pets. 1342–1419, 310; Cal. Close, 1377–81, 212; 1385–9, 500; 1389–92.</ref><ref>''The Heads of Religious Houses: England and Wales, II. 1216–1377'', edited by David M. Smith, Vera C. M. London, Cambridge University Press, 2004, page 165.</ref>

In 1390 William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, secured both papal and royal authority to acquire the lands of alien priories for his colleges,<ref>Archaeologia, lviii. 342–5.</ref> and in the following year he obtained from [[Richard II of England|Richard II]] a licence for St. Catherine's Abbey to sell him all its possessions in England, apart from the [[Blyth Priory|Priory of Blyth]]. These possessions comprised the manor of Harmondsworth with the advowson of the church and vicarage, the manor of Tingewick with its advowson, the advowsons of [[Saham Toney]] and St. Leonard's, and certain yearly pensions.<ref>Cal. Pat. 1388–92, 374, 434.</ref> The Bishop sent a member of his household, Richard Altryncham, to Rouen to negotiate with the abbey and convent about this buying of the priory as an endowment for his colleges. A sale was agreed on 15 October 1391, the price being fixed at 8,400 gold francs, which were paid in 1392 through a firm of Genoese bankers. The bishop also undertook to provide for the prior Robert Beauchamp and for John le Cellier, his companion, all such things in the way of wine, food, clothing, and lodging as befitted religious of their estate for the rest of their lives. He would also furnish a chapel for the abbey.<ref>''Archaeologia'', lviii. 343–5.</ref> The Harmondsworth property, centered on the priory which stood to the west of Manor Farm and the tithe barn, thus became part of the endowment of his two colleges at Winchester and Oxford.<ref>Cal. Papal Regs. 1362–1404, 441.</ref><ref>V.C.H. Mdx. ii. 6.</ref><ref>''A History of the County of Middlesex'', volume 1, published by Victoria County History, London, 1969, pp. 193–204.</ref>

==Church==
[[File:Church of St Mary, Harmondsworth - geograph.org.uk - 2507556.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Church of St Mary]]
The historic parish church of Harmondsworth is the church of St Mary, of which parts date from the 12th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22386 |title=Harmondsworth: Church &#124; British History Online |publisher=British-history.ac.uk |access-date=2016-06-21}}</ref><ref>{{NHLE |num=1194332 |desc=Grade I |access-date=30 January 2012}}</ref> There is an opinion<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chancelrepairliability.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/is-heathrow-airport-responsible-for.html|title=Chancel Repair Liability: Is Heathrow Airport responsible for a Chancel?|access-date=21 June 2016}}</ref> that [[Heathrow Airport]] is legally responsible for maintaining this church's chancel, because the airport now owns land (formerly in [[Heathrow (hamlet)|Heathrow village]]) which in 1819 at the [[enclosing]] of the commons had been assigned in lieu of [[tithe]]s used to maintain the chancel.

Some Harmondsworth clergy:
* 1437–1440† Richard Wyche <small>(burned at the stake for [[Lollardy|Lollard heresy]])</small>
* 1511–1515 [[John Edmunds (English academic)|John Edmunds]]<ref>{{acad|id=EDMS504J|name=Edmunds, John}}</ref>
* 1594–1623† Leonard Davies <small>(also Sub-Dean of the [[Chapel Royal]])</small><ref>{{cite journal|last=Rust|first=Douglas|year=1996|journal=West Middlesex Family History Society Journal|title=Leonard Davies, Vicar of Harmondsworth|volume=14|number=1|pages=13–15|url=http://www.west-middlesex-fhs.org.uk/downloads/1996%20No%201%20March.pdf|access-date=5 November 2023}}</ref>
* 1628–1650† Emanuel Hodges<ref>{{alox1|title=Hodges, Emanuel}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Galloway|first=James|year=1995|title=English Arminianism and the parish clergy : a study of London and its environs c.1620-1640|publisher=University of Adelaide}}</ref>
* 1664–1697† John Jenney<ref>{{acad|id=JNY665J|name=Jenney, John}}</ref>
* 1698–1714† John Bush<ref>{{alox1|id=pp201-227|name=Bush, John}}</ref>
* 1714–1727† Thomas Fyson<ref>{{acad|id=FSN694T|name=Fysen, Thomas}}</ref>
* 1727–1760† John Lidgould<ref>{{acad|id=LGLT713J|name=Lidgould, John}}</ref>
* 1760–1764† William Rayner
* 1764–1772 William Harvest
* 1772–1779 Charles Jeffreys Cottrell<ref>{{acad|id=CTRL776CJ|name=Cottrell, Charles Jefferies (Jeffreys}}</ref>
* 1779–1786 Robert Burt <small>(Chaplain to [[George IV|George, Prince of Wales]]; officiated at his secret marriage to [[Maria Fitzherbert]] in 1785)</small><ref>{{acad|id=BRT772R|name=Burt, Robert}}</ref>
* 1786–1796 John Hubbard
* 1796–1808† John Theodosius Langhorne <small>(son of the poet [[John Langhorne (poet)|John Langhorne]])</small><ref>{{acad|id=LNN786JT|name=Langhorne, John Theodosius}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Lysons|first=Daniel|year=1800|title=An historical account of those parishes in the county of Middlesex, which are not described in the Environs of London|page=144|url=https://archive.org/details/historicalaccoun00lyso/page/144|access-date=11 November 2023}}</ref>
* 1809–1843† Frederick Tomkins<ref>{{alox2|title=Tomkins, Frederick}}</ref>
* 1844–1866 Robert Lill De Burgh<ref>{{acad|id=D821RL|name=De Burgh, Robert Lill}}</ref>
* 1866–1874† James Percy Arnold<ref>{{acad|id=ANLT854JP|name=Arnold, James Percy}}</ref>
* 1874–1875† John Hitchcock<ref>{{acad|id=HTCK837J|name=Hitchcock, John}}</ref>
* 1875–1879 Henry Worsley<ref>{{alox2|title=Worsley, Henry (4)}}</ref>
* 1878–1882 Thomas Curling Lewis<ref>{{alox2|title=Lewis, Thomas (Curling)}}</ref>
* 1882–1916 John Charles Taylor<ref>{{acad|id=TLR875JC|name=Taylor, John Charles}}</ref>
* 1916–1924† William Bellett Sealy<ref>{{acad|id=SLY876WB|name=Sealy, William Bellett}}</ref>

† ''Vicar died in post''

==Great Barn==
[[File:Harmondsworth Great Barn east exterior.jpg|thumb|left|The Great Barn in Harmondsworth, dating back to the 14th or 15th century]]
[[File:Harmondsworth Great Barn interior looking north.jpg|thumb|Interior of the Great Barn looking north]]
The other notable historic building in Harmondsworth is the Grade I-[[listed building|listed]] [[Harmondsworth Barn|Harmondsworth Great Barn]], Britain's largest [[barn]].<ref>Nails are only used on the sides.</ref> On the site of an earlier great barn, it was put up between 1425 and 1427 on land bought by [[William of Wykeham]], Bishop of Winchester, in 1391, to endow his colleges [[Winchester College]] and [[New College, Oxford]]. It is the largest extant timber-framed building in England and was described by the English poet [[John Betjeman]] as the "Cathedral of Middlesex".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/harmondsworth-barn/history/ |title=History of Harmondsworth Barn |publisher=English Heritage |access-date=2016-06-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://village.vossnet.co.uk/a/awharris/overview.htm |title=Harmondsworth |work=village.vossnet.co.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080224092452/http://village.vossnet.co.uk/a/awharris/overview.htm |archive-date=24 February 2008 |access-date=21 June 2016}}</ref> As of January 2012 the barn is owned by [[English Heritage]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16776801 | work=BBC News | title=Medieval Harmondsworth Barn bought by English Heritage | date=30 January 2012}}</ref>

A similar barn, built 25 years later in 1451–53, but shorter (with eight bays as opposed to the Harmondsworth barn's 12), is at [[Old Burghclere]], Hampshire. This monumental barn was also built on land acquired by [[William of Wykeham]]. While the Harmondsworth barn was part of Winchester College's endowment the Burghclere barn passed to the family of [[Fiennes]] who had married the heiress of Wykeham's great-nephew heir. It now is part of the [[Highclere Castle|Highclere]] estate belonging to [[George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon|Lord Carnarvon]].<ref>local knowledge & ''A History of the County of Hampshire'', Volume IV, edited by William Page, London, 1911, pp. 277–281.</ref>

==Government==
===Local government===
* 1894: Rural districts brought in. Harmondsworth civil parish, created in the 1870s was put in [[Staines Rural District]].
* 1930: Harmondsworth civil parish was transferred to [[Yiewsley and West Drayton Urban District]].
* 1949: Harmondsworth civil parish was merged with Yiewsley and West Drayton.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10102157&c_id=10001043 | title=Harmondsworth CP/AP Middlesex through time – Administrative history of Parish-level Unit: hierarchies, boundaries | work=[[A Vision of Britain through Time]] | publisher=[[University of Portsmouth]] & others | year=2008 | access-date=2009-01-18 }}</ref>
* 1965: [[Middlesex]] county was abolished. Yiewsley and West Drayton was transferred to the [[London Borough of Hillingdon]], in [[Greater London]].
* Harmondsworth forms a minority of the [[Heathrow Villages]] [[Wards of the United Kingdom|ward]] (2008-date), which elects three councillors to Hillingdon London Borough Council and had a population of 12,199 in 2011.<ref name=ons01>[http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk Key Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030211201309/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/ |date=11 February 2003 }} [[United Kingdom Census 2011]] ''[[Office for National Statistics]]'' Retrieved 31 October 2014</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/index.jsp?articleid=10031 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120802060447/http://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/index.jsp?articleid=10031 | url-status=dead | archive-date=2012-08-02 | title=Heathrow Villages ward | publisher=[[London Borough of Hillingdon]] | date=2009-01-14 | access-date=2009-01-18 }}</ref>

===United Kingdom government===
There are two [[UK Border Agency]] immigration removal centres in Harmondsworth: [[Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre]] and [[Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre]].<ref>"[http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/managingborders/immigrationremovalcentres/colnbrook Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905122608/http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/managingborders/immigrationremovalcentres/colnbrook |date=5 September 2008 }}." [[UK Visas and Immigration]]. Retrieved 13 February 2010.</ref><ref>"[http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/managingborders/immigrationremovalcentres/harmondsworth Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211023713/http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/managingborders/immigrationremovalcentres/harmondsworth |date=11 December 2008 }}." [[UK Border Agency]]. Retrieved 13 February 2010.</ref>

[[File:Elevation and Plan of Harlington, Harmondsworth and Cranford Cottage Hospital.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Harlington, Harmondsworth and Cranford Cottage Hospital]], founded 1884.]]

==Cottage Hospital==
The [[Harlington, Harmondsworth and Cranford Cottage Hospital]] was established in 1884 and opened in 1885. It was halfway between Harmondsworth and Cranford on the Sipson Road, about four furlongs west of Harlington.

==Economy==
[[File:WatersideBAHQLondon.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Waterside (building)|Waterside]], the headquarters of [[British Airways]]]]
[[British Airways]] is headquartered in [[Waterside (building)|Waterside]] in Harmondsworth.<ref>"[http://www.britishairways.com/travel/csr-harmondsworth-moor/public/en_en Contact Information]." ''British Airways''. Retrieved 18 May 2009.</ref> The building officially opened in 1998.<ref>"[http://www.britishairwaysjobs.com/baweb1/?newms=info41 Our locations]." ''British Airways''. Retrieved 18 September 2009.</ref> An office of [[American Airlines]] occupies Orient House, Waterside.<ref>"[http://www.americanairlines.cn/intl/cn/footer_en/impressum.jsp Impressum]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20140424192339/http://www.americanairlines.cn/intl/cn/footer_en/impressum.jsp Archive]). American Airlines China. Retrieved 24 April 2014. "American Airlines, Inc. Orient House (HAA3), Po Box 365, Waterside, Harmondsworth, UB7 0GB United Kingdom"</ref>

Harmondsworth has two [[Public house|pubs]]: The Crown and the Five Bells.<ref name="Pubs">{{cite web|url=http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/areas/harmondsworth/greater-london/|title=Pubs in Harmondsworth : Pubs Galore|access-date=21 June 2016}}</ref>

The village was formerly home to [[Penguin Books]], from 1937.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.penguinfirsteditions.com/index.php?cat=history|title=Penguin First Editions :: Early First Edition Penguin Books :: penguinfirsteditions.com|website=penguinfirsteditions.com|access-date=2018-01-15}}</ref>

==Education==
Harmondsworth Primary School is in Harmondsworth.<ref>"[http://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/index.jsp?articleid=9530 Harmondsworth Primary School] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927031800/http://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/index.jsp?articleid=9530 |date=27 September 2011 }}." [[London Borough of Hillingdon]]. Retrieved 27 June 2010.</ref>

==Transport==
The area is served by various buses and by [[West Drayton railway station]] centred {{convert|2|mi}} north, across the [[M4 motorway]]. The Bath Road ([[A4 road (England)|A4]]) is the predecessor to this route and passes through the village with junctions in the neighbouring villages leading to the M4 motorway.

[[File:Top grade farm land between Harmondsworth, Middlesex, and Heathrow airport, July 2015.jpg|thumb|left|Arable farmland between Harmondsworth and Heathrow airport, Middlesex, July 2015.]]
[[File:The tower of the church of St Mary, Harmondsworth, west Middlesex, July 2015.jpg|thumb|right|The tower of the church of St Mary, Harmondsworth, July 2015.]]
==Demography==
The area comprises well-populated and scarcely populated areas but which have differing constitutions as to the buildings in which people live and stay: hotels, homes and the two immigration control institutions (in the east and north census output areas). Thus the population fluctuates to a greater or lesser extent, dependent on land use.<ref name=ons02>[http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk Key Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030211201309/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/ |date=11 February 2003 }} [[United Kingdom Census 2011]] ''[[Office for National Statistics]]'' Output areas E00012181,12184,12185+12188 Retrieved 31 October 2014</ref>

{| style="border:1px solid darkgrey;" cellspacing="0"
|+ '''2011 Census statistics'''
! Part!!Population on date of census!!Area in km<sup>2</sup>
|- style="background: #44EE88"
|Centre and east||354||0.124
|- style="background: #44EE88"
|North||341||0.012
|- style="background: #44EE88"
|West||319||0.021
|- style="background: #44EE88"
|South: includes 25% of Heathrow Airport||464||0.422
|- style="background: #44EE88"
|Total||1478||0.589
|}

==Some people associated with Harmondsworth==
[[File:William of Wykeham, by Sampson Strong (c.1550–1611), oil on panel, 50 x 40 inches. New College, Oxford.jpg|thumb|William of Wykeham, as imagined by [[Sampson Strong]] (c.1550–1611), oil on panel, 50 x 40 inches. [[New College, Oxford]].]]
[[File:Shield_of_William_of_Wykeham_(died_1404)._Argent_two_cheverons_sable_between_three_roses_gules.gif|thumb|Shield of William of Wykeham. ''Argent two cheverons sable between three roses gules''.]]
[[File:John Byng, 1st Earl of Strafford by William Salter.jpg|thumb|[[John Byng, 1st Earl of Strafford|Baron Strafford, of Harmondsworth, in the county of Middlesex]] (1772–1860) by [[William Salter (artist)|William Salter]].]]
*[[Offa of Mercia]], 780 AD, ''Hermonds'' (Harmondsworth) granted by Offa, King of Mercia, to his servant Aeldred
*[[Harold Godwinson]] (Earl Harold or Harold II) (killed 1066), the last Anglo-Saxon king of England
*[[William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford]] ({{circa|1020}} – 1071), advised King [[William the Conqueror|William I]] to grant Harmondsworth to an abbey in [[Rouen]], the then capital of Normanandy
*[[William of Wykeham]] (1320 or 1324–1404), [[Bishop of Winchester]] and [[Chancellor of England]], bought Harmondsworth in 1391
*Godfrey atte Perry, of Harmondsworth, MP for Middlesex, 1383 and 1388<ref>''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386–1421'', edited by J.S. Roskell, L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe, 1993.</ref><ref>In May and June 1393 he was a guest in the household of William of Wykeham.</ref>
*[[William Paget, 1st Baron Paget]], KG, PC, [[Lord Privy Seal]], granted lordship and manor of Harmondsworth in 1547
*Sir [[Philip Hoby]] (1505–1558), the king leased him Longford mills for 60 years
*Sir [[Thomas Paston]], bought Hoby's interest in the Longford mill in 1548
*[[Thomas Paget, 3rd Baron Paget]], attainted in 1587
*Sir [[Christopher Hatton]] (1540–1591), KG, on third Lord Paget's attainder manor leased to Hatton by Queen Elizabeth I, 1587
*[[William Paget, 4th Baron Paget]], granted Harmondsworth and West Drayton in fee in 1597, and in blood 1604
*[[William Paget, 5th Baron Paget]] (1609–1678)
*[[William Paget, 6th Baron Paget]]
*[[Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge (first creation)|Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge]]
*Elizabeth, Dowager Countess of Uxbridge (1674–1749), (daughter of [[Sir Walter Bagot, 3rd Baronet]]), in 1747 she gave £100 stock to the parish to be distributed to ten poor families who did not receive parish relief, no one family receiving more than 10 shillings a year
*[[Thomas Paget, Lord Paget]] (1689–1742)
*[[Henry Paget, 2nd Earl of Uxbridge|Henry, Lord Paget, later Earl of Uxbridge]], his heir sold Harmondsworth rectory 1772 and the barn 1774<ref>[[Daniel Lysons (antiquarian)|Daniel and Samuel Lysons]], ''An Historical Account of those Parishes in the County of Middlesex which are not included in the Environs of London'', London, 1800, p. 139.</ref>
*[[Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge (second creation)|Henry Bayley-Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge]] (1744–1812)
*Field Marshal [[Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey]] (1768–1854), KG, GCB, GCH, PC
*[[Henry Paget, 2nd Marquess of Anglesey]], sold the manor<ref>Thorne, ''Environs of London'', p. 320. Via ''A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4, Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood With Southall, Hillingdon With Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow With Pinner'', Victoria County History, London, 1971, pp. 7–10.</ref>
*[[William Heather]] (c.1563–1627), musician, founder of [[Heather Professor of Music]], Oxford
*[[Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland]] (c.1714–1786), KG, PC, and [[Duke of Northumberland|others]], owners of the [[Duke of Northumberland's River]]
*Sir [[Heathcote baronets|William Heathcote]], 3rd Baronet (1746–1819), owned Harmondsworth rectory 1772–1789
*[[George Byng (1735–1789)|George Byng]], MP
*[[John Byng, 1st Earl of Strafford|Baron Strafford, of Harmondsworth, in the county of Middlesex]] (1772–1860), (aka Field Marshal John Byng, 1st Earl of Strafford, GCB, GCH, PC)
*[[Richard Cox (horticulturist)|Richard Cox]] (c.1766–1845), breeder of [[Cox's Orange Pippin]]
*Henry Smith of Harmondsworth Hall, in 1875 he bequeathed £300 to be given to the poor in blankets. In 1958 The Blanket Charity the charity income amounted to over £7, from which six blankets were purchased<ref>Some of the stock was transferred in 1878 to the use of the National School. (J. Webb, ''History of Charities and Fishing Rights in Harmondsworth'', 1880, pp. 13–14.)</ref>
*Thomas Wild (1848–1932), of Wild & Robbins, market gardener (1931 growing: "cabbages lettuce leeks kale spinach broccoli New Zealand spinach rhubarb chokes potatoes beet greens Brussels [sprouts] onions marrows parsnips"
*[[Rowland Richard Robbins]] (Dick) (1872–1960), CBE, JP, market gardener, President of the [[National Farmers' Union of England and Wales|National Farmers' Union]] (NFU)
*[[Lionel Robbins]] (1898–1984) (Baron Robbins, CH, CB, FBA), economist;<ref>''Lionel Robbins'', by Susan Howson, Cambridge University Press, 2011.</ref><ref>''Autobiography of an Economist'', Lord Robbins, St Martin's Press, Macmillan, 1971.</ref>
*[[Caroline Robbins]] (1903–1999), historian
*[[Norman Macmillan (RAF officer)|Norman Macmillan]] (1892–1976), OBE, MC, AFC, DL
*Sir [[Charles Richard Fairey]] (1887–1956), MBE, of [[Fairey Aviation Company]], founded the airport at Heathrow in 1930
*Sir [[John Betjeman]], CBE (1906–1984), called the 1426 Great Barn ''the cathedral of Middlesex''.<ref>[[Simon Jenkins]], "John Betjeman's Heathrow", in ''The Selling of Mary Davies and Other Writings'' (London, 1993), pp. 63–70; & Candida Lycett Green, pers. comm. to English Heritage's account of Harmondsworth Great Barn for its website.</ref>

==Notable buildings==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Name!!Type!!Built!!Occupant!!Demolished?!!Current use
|-
![[Harmondsworth Great Barn]]
|[[Barn]]
|Early 15th century
| 
| No
|
|-
! Manor Farm
| Farmhouse
| Early 19th century
|
| No
| Farm until the early 1970s, then offices
|-
! Harmondsworth Hall
| House
| Early 18th century
| 
| No
| Home and hotel
|-
! The Grange
| House
| From 1675
| 
| No
| Offices
|-
! The Lodge
| House
| Early 19th century
| 
| No
| Domestic until the early 1960s, then offices
|}

==Nearest places==
{{Geographic location
|title     = Nearest Places
|Centre    = Harmondsworth
|North     = [[West Drayton]]
|Northeast = West Drayton
|East      = [[Sipson]]
|Southeast = across [[London Heathrow Airport|Heathrow Airport]]<br />[[Bedfont]]
|South     = across [[London Heathrow Airport|Heathrow Airport]]<br />[[Stanwell]]
|Southwest = [[Stanwell Moor]]
|West      = [[Colnbrook]]
|Northwest = across part of [[Iver]]<br />[[Langley, Berkshire|Langley]]
}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|London}}

== Notes ==
{{NoteFoot}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* Sherwood, Philip. (2009) ''Heathrow: 2000 Years of History''. The History Press {{ISBN|978-0-7509-5086-2}}
* Philip Sherwood, ''Harlington and Harmondsworth'', Tempus, Stroud, 2002.
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20230206065943/http://stmarysharmondsworth.com/ St Mary's Church, Harmondsworth website]
* [https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/harmondsworth-barn/history/ English Heritage's page on the barn.]

{{commons category|Harmondsworth}}

{{LB Hillingdon}}

[[Category:Areas of London]]
[[Category:Districts of the London Borough of Hillingdon]]
[[Category:Places formerly in Middlesex]]