ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY.
There
were 25 people mentioned on the manor of Harefield
in 1086, (fn. 47) and there were at least 44 free tenants of
the manor in 1316. (fn. 48) In 1560 there were 57 people
holding land from the manor, (fn. 49) and slightly earlier,
in 1547, there were 200 communicants in the parish. (fn. 50)
In 1664 107 people were listed in connexion with
hearth tax (fn. 51) and 85 people in Harefield were subject
to the poor assessment in 1690. (fn. 52) There were 951
people in the village in 1801, and the numbers rose
slowly to 1,516 in 1841. Having remained almost
stationary for 40 years the population rose steadily
after 1881, and steeply after 1921, until it reached a
total of 6,150 in 1951. In and after 1931, however,
this total included over 400 people in Harefield Chest
Hospital. (fn. 53)
Little is known of the occupations of the villagers,
but almost certainly most of them were occupied in
agriculture. In 1086 there were 10 villeins, 8 bordars,
3 cottars, and 3 slaves, as well as a priest. (fn. 54) During the
Middle Ages there must have been at least one miller
and often probably two. (fn. 55) There was a smith with a
forge in the village in 1545, (fn. 56) and at least one bricklayer in 1676. (fn. 57) The growth of a small industrial population began in the early 19th century, and in 1896 about
300 people were said to be employed by the asbestos
mills, the cement works, and in the building trade. (fn. 58)
Modern employment is divided between agriculture
and the light industries along the river and canal. (fn. 59)
Virtually nothing is known of the medieval agricultural organization of Harefield. In 1086 there was
woodland for 1,200 pigs. (fn. 60) The many acres of lowlying moor and heath probably made cultivation of
the western side of the parish difficult, and there is
evidence as early as 1308 of land drainage being
carried out. (fn. 61) About a century earlier both ditching
and assarting land was a condition of a conveyance. (fn. 62)
Indeed, throughout the 13th century assarts are
frequently mentioned, (fn. 63) and much of the parish was
probably covered with woodland and scrub. Cattle
were probably kept in some numbers, and in 1492 a
lease included the provision that buildings damaged
by horses and cattle 'horn high' were to be repaired. (fn. 64)
On the manor in the 14th century the proportion of
arable land to meadow was in the ratio of five to one,
and that of arable to woodland was approximately
the same. (fn. 65) Wheat and barley were among the crops
cultivated, (fn. 66) and in the 15th century oats were certainly grown. (fn. 67) In 1328 rent and labour services were
owned by both customary tenants and freeholders, (fn. 68)
but no details are known. Fishing was another activity
carried on in the manor, and four fishponds yielding
1,000 eels were noted in Domesday Book. (fn. 69) At least
one fishpond was in existence on the manor in 1328. (fn. 70)
Fishing in the Colne was carried on throughout the
Middle Ages, and many conveyances of property
include also the right of fishing in the river. (fn. 71) In the
late 15th century Harefield manor did not appear to
own any of the fishing in the river opposite Denham
(Bucks.), (fn. 72) but, at least in the 16th and 17th centuries,
it owned fisheries south of the mill. (fn. 73) In the 17th
century tenants of the manors were allowed wood for
their boats. (fn. 74)
At the Dissolution the manors of Harefield, Moorhall, and Brackenbury came into the hands of one
family and became for the most part one estate. In
the 16th and 17th centuries most of the land seems
to have been arable; in 1593 Harefield and Moorhall
manors consisted of 1,352 acres of arable, 460 acres
of meadow, and 349 acres of wood. The tenants
owned the right of pasture on the moor and heath
lands. (fn. 75) In the 17th century both spring wheat and
winter corn were being grown. (fn. 76) Later in the century
a certain amount of arable was being converted into
meadow land, and even in 1599 fines on the manor
had been rated at 5s. for each acre of meadow, 3s. 4d.
for each pasture acre, and only 2s. 6d. for each arable
and woodland acre. (fn. 77) When Harefield Park was disparked about 1686 there was insufficient plough-land
there and at Moorhall close by to be able to let the
two together as a single farm. (fn. 78) By the mid-18th century there was a penalty of £6 an acre on the manor
for each meadow or pasture acre that was ploughed
up. This was increased to £10 an acre in 1766, when
the meadow was to be mown only once a year. At
this date the tenant of one of the farms owed the
Newdigates two days work a year. (fn. 79)
The commons and moors played an important
part in the economic life of the parish, and common
of pasture on the Harefield moors was also granted to
neighbouring places. Westminster Abbey was given
common on Harefield Moor in 1313 for Denham
manor, (fn. 80) Northolt owned common in Harefield
parish in 1518, (fn. 81) and at least by 1593 the inhabitants
of Uxbridge had pasture rights on the 84 acres of
Cow Moor. (fn. 82) In the Middle Ages rights of pasture
on the moor may not have been a privilege automatically attached to the cultivated land: on at least
one occasion common of pasture depended on a grant
from the lord of the manor. (fn. 83) In 1543 the lord owned
110 acres of the moor, as well as two moorland inclosures. (fn. 84) In 1636 (fn. 85) and 1692 (fn. 86) Harefield and Cow
Moors amounted to 310 acres, and Harefield Heath
to 100 acres, the total commons amounting in 1636
to 457 acres. Sheep seem to have been kept on the
moors to some extent, (fn. 87) and were stinted on the
heath in the late 17th century. (fn. 88) Cattle, pigs, and
horses were stinted (fn. 89) from March to September on
Cow Moor (fn. 90) and all the year round on Harefield
Moor. (fn. 91) The Dairyhouse, later Dewes, farm alone
had rights of common on Cow Moor all the year
round by special grant from the lord. (fn. 92) A fairly large
number of horses was kept in the village, and in 1659
about 130 died in an epidemic. (fn. 93) By the end of the
18th century part of the moor was also used for hay,
and was mown twice a year. (fn. 94)
Inclosure began early in Harefield. An inclosure
was conveyed in 1315, (fn. 95) and in the same year Simon
Swanlond allowed Thomas de Luda to inclose a
piece of the heath. (fn. 96) This inclosure was broken down
by some of the free tenants, who claimed common of
pasture there, but they agreed to let Thomas reinclose
it on condition that he did not add to it. (fn. 97) In 1341
permission to inclose was included in a conveyance
of 428 acres. (fn. 98) The open fields whose names are
found until the 17th century had vanished by the
mid-18th century. Among them are Smith Field,
South Field, Middle Field, Free Field, Shireborne
Field, (fn. 99) North Field, and Hill Field. (fn. 1) From the 16th
to the 18th centuries the manor court presented
many people for attempted inclosure of the commons, (fn. 2) although the lord himself had inclosures of
over 110 acres on the moor in 1543, (fn. 3) and 30 acres of
common had been inclosed in the south of the parish
by 1707. (fn. 4) Most of the parish was inclosed during the
16th and 17th centuries, and by 1754 only the moors
and common heath remained open. (fn. 5) In 1813
common-land amounting to 650 acres was inclosed
by Act, (fn. 6) despite a petition against the bill, which had
been promoted by the major landowners for the
greater improvement of their estates. (fn. 7)
In 1813 there were twenty farms in the parish. (fn. 8)
There were still twenty a century later, (fn. 9) and at least
twelve in 1959. The number had fallen to ten in 1855,
although it rose slowly again afterwards. (fn. 10) This may
have been due partly to the inclosure, partly to the
establishment of a certain amount of industry by the
Colne and the canal, and partly to the consolidation
of the landed estates around the large private houses
in the parish, such as Breakspears, Harefield Lodge,
Harefield Grove, and Harefield Park. In 1834 the
agricultural workers were said to be the class most
likely to require parish relief. Their wages, amounting
to 12s. per week and rising to 15s. for haymaking and
harvest, were recognized to be barely enough for
subsistence. (fn. 11) In 1875 the farm labourers were again
described as being amongst the poorest of the
villagers, (fn. 12) but in 1896 it was said that the worst
results of agricultural depression were averted by an
industrial expansion. (fn. 13) Market- and nursery-gardening were carried on to some extent in the 19th century (fn. 14) and since about 1845 watercress has been
extensively grown in the north-west corner of the
parish. (fn. 15) In 1947 there were three horticultural
holdings covering together some 453 acres. (fn. 16)
In the early 19th century a small pleasure fair was
held every April (fn. 17) and in the middle of the century a
cattle fair was said to have been held regularly in
Harefield. (fn. 18) The tradition in the 1820's that all those
born in the village had freedom of toll at markets,
fairs, and quays, and had the right to set up in
business in any city or town throughout the country
except in London (fn. 19) appears to record a privilege that
was unmentioned before or since.
The first non-agricultural industry in Harefield,
other than the paper mills, (fn. 20) was the digging of lime
and chalk. A marl-pit for digging chalk and lime was
conveyed by the lord in 1318. (fn. 21) There was a chalk
pit on the manor in 1545, (fn. 22) and in 1636 customary
tenants of the manor were allowed to sell chalk, lime,
and sand from their lands. (fn. 23) In the 19th century industrial development started, probably under the
stimulus of the Grand Junction Canal, and took
place along the canal banks. Lime kilns were in
existence in 1813; (fn. 24) and in 1818, when they were
being fully worked, they were employing about 150
people. (fn. 25) Chalk pits were also in existence in 1816, (fn. 26)
and both lime and chalk was still being worked in
1820. (fn. 27) Lime continued to be produced until at least
1902. (fn. 28)
There was a tile kiln on the manor in 1545 (fn. 29) and
1564, (fn. 30) but nothing further is known until 1800
when there was a brick kiln in Harefield. (fn. 31) There was
a brickworks in the village by 1866 which existed
until the 1880's, when the firm turned over primarily
to the manufacture of cement. Bricks were also produced until about 1922. (fn. 32) Stone was being quarried
in the parish in 1831, (fn. 33) and surface workings, mainly
for sand, took up quite a large area in the north and
centre of the parish. (fn. 34)
The site of an earlier mill (fn. 35) had been taken over by
1795 by the Mines Royal Company, (fn. 36) and was used
as a copper mill. The buildings were erected in 1803,
and the mill, powered by water from the Colne,
specialized in sheet copper and bolts which it supplied
to the Royal Navy. (fn. 37) In 1803 121 workmen were
employed, but this number had decreased by 1818
to about 70. (fn. 38) The company remained in the parish
until some time after 1855, (fn. 39) after which date the
works passed through a number of hands, becoming
paper mills in the 1870's. In 1882 the United Asbestos
Company leased the mills, which they held until the
1930's. (fn. 40) Their works consisted of three factories,
which produced asbestos goods of all varieties under
government contracts, fire-proof embossed wallpaper, and india rubber, which was itself used in the
making of asbestos. (fn. 41) In the 1930's the buildings
were taken over by three rubber firms who occupied
most of them in 1959, some parts, however, being
leased out. (fn. 42)
One or two small light industries appeared in the
village during the 19th century, and there are
references to a clockmaker, (fn. 43) a small brewery, (fn. 44) a
straw-bonnet maker, (fn. 45) and a firm of colour manufacturers. (fn. 46) In the late 19th century a mineral-water
company settled in the north of the parish (fn. 47) and was
still there in 1959. During the first half of the 20th
century new arrivals in the parish included two precast concrete firms, a printers' ink firm, a paint works,
and three light engineering works. (fn. 48) The largest of
these, Acrow Engineers, developed a site at Moorhall
in 1941, and in 1959 employed 250 people, mainly
resident in Harefield and Denham. (fn. 49) The Ministry
of Supply opened the laboratories of the Aeronautical Inspection Directorate in 1940, and further
buildings have since been erected around an older
house. They employed predominantly local staff
who numbered over 100 in 1959. (fn. 50) A case against
further industrialization of the parish was made in
1944, (fn. 51) the recommendations in which have largely
been followed, principally because of the absence
of fast communications. In 1959 it was still predominantly an agricultural area.
Twice during the 19th century industry was
blamed for spoiling the village. In 1816 the absence
of a rural 'simplicity of manners' was blamed on the
copper mills, (fn. 52) and the Baptist chapel was said to
have been founded because of the 'dissolute habits'
of the villagers on Sunday. (fn. 53) In the late 19th century the members of the chapel were described as
being almost entirely working class, (fn. 54) and in 1894
there were bitter accusations in the parish council
that the council blocked all the proposals of one
councillor because he represented the working men. (fn. 55)
Early trade unions do not, however, appear to have
made much mark in the parish, although the
National Union of Gas Workers and General
Labourers held a meeting on the village green in
1889. (fn. 56) Bricklayers and carpenters were said to be
able to earn up to £3 per week, (fn. 57) and a brick-setter
averaged £2 per week throughout the year. (fn. 58)
At the beginning of the 19th century there was a
friendly society in the village with 71 members, and
six children belonged to the 'schools of industry'. (fn. 59)
In 1833 a benefit society was registered, meeting at
the 'King's Arms'. (fn. 60) A coal club was in existence in
1866, (fn. 61) and a clothing club for the cottagers by 1872. (fn. 62)
The memorial hall, erected in the late 1860's, in
memory of Robert (d. 1866), son of Robert Barnes
of Manchester, (fn. 63) was built as a workmen's hall and
was to be administered on strict principles of temperance. (fn. 64) It comprised a reading-room and lecture
hall, (fn. 65) but was little patronized, and after 1870 the
building was used as an infant school. (fn. 66) In the 1930's
it was used as a maternity and child welfare clinic by
the county council and during the Second World
War it was taken over for civil defence purposes. (fn. 67)
The memorial hall was replaced as a men's club by
the Breakspears Institute, presented by Alfred Henry
Tarleton of Breakspears, which was opened in 1896.
The building included a reading-room, library, and
bathroom. Indoor games were also provided. (fn. 68) Tarleton came to the parish about the time when much of
the Newdigate property was sold, (fn. 69) and he virtually
occupied the position of squire, patronizing village
activities like the working-men's club, and providing
a site and entertainment for village festivities in the
park at Breakspears. (fn. 70) He also provided a manual
fire-engine manned by his estate workers for the
village in 1896, (fn. 71) and replaced it by a steam-engine
in 1898. (fn. 72) In the early 20th century a refreshment
room appeared, (fn. 73) which remained at least until the
Second World War. (fn. 74)
Some social amenities in the late 19th century were
provided by the asbestos works, which supported a
string band, (fn. 75) a brass band, (fn. 76) and a football club. (fn. 77)
The works provided a self-service canteen where the
wives and children of the employees could meet as
a family for meals. Cooking facilities were also provided. (fn. 78) A horticultural society was founded in
1889, (fn. 79) and the Harefield Cricket Club elected its
first officers early in 1892. (fn. 80) The Court of Foresters
met in 1893, (fn. 81) and a choral society was active during
the Second World War. (fn. 82) Only village shops served
the parish in 1959, the nearest shopping centre being
at Uxbridge.
HAREFIELD PARISH
immediately before the inclosure of the commons in 1813