Harefield

Two sites near Dewes Farm have produced late Mesolithic artefacts. Harefield enters recorded history through the Domesday Book (1086) as Herefelle, comprising the Anglo-Saxon words Here "[danish] army" (cf. the English fyrd) and felle (later feld), "field". Before the Norman conquest of England, the Manor of Harefield belonged to Countess Goda, the sister of Edward the Confessor. Her husbands were French, Dreux of the Vexin and Count Eustace of Boulogne. Following the Norman conquest, ownership of Harefield passed to Richard FitzGilbert, the son of Count Gilbert of Brionne. It was listed in the Domesday Book as comprising enough arable land for five ploughs, with meadow land only sufficient…

The Harefield Academy replaced the John Penrose School in September 2005. The new academy is an age 11 to 18 school with accommodation for 750 students aged 11 to 15 and a further 250 post-16 students. The School is set in the village of Harefield on the edge of the green belt and is adjacent to the commencement of agricultural land. The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), a number of directors of Watford Football Club, and the London Borough of Hillingdon worked together to seek to bring about a significant improvement in educational and health standards. The Harefield Academy project is part of the Government's Academies initiative.