Discover Harmondsworth: History and Landscape

Harmondsworth is a destination for travellers who want to combine historic buildings with open landscapes and distinctive local stories. Harmondsworth Barn, the historic village with its Conservation Area and Harmondsworth Moor each give your stay a different focus. You can include cultural discoveries and walks in the open air in your travel plans, choosing for yourself whether to spend the day exploring architectural history or enjoying the landscape.

Historic Harmondsworth and its buildings

Harmondsworth Village is a Conservation Area with 19 listed buildings. At the heart of the historic village is St Mary's Church, which is designated as a Grade II* Listed Building. Next to the church, on Harmondsworth Village Green, stands the village war memorial. The green commemorates the villagers who fought and lost their lives in the First World War.

One particularly impressive building is Harmondsworth Barn. The barn was built between 1425 and 1427, is 58 metres long and constructed almost entirely from oak. Its walls rest on a low masonry base. Harmondsworth Hall on Summerhouse Lane is a Grade II listed building from the early 18th century. Sun House is also part of the local history: it is the oldest residential building in Harmondsworth and was built in the 16th century.

Around St Mary's Church, you will encounter further unusual historical details. Beneath two yew trees in front of the church, a large table tomb marks the resting place of Richard Cox, a retired brewer and horticulturist from nearby Colnbrook. He was the first to grow the famous Cox's Orange Pippin apple variety. Another story leads into the technological history of the Second World War: after initial tests had been carried out at the Building Research Establishment in Garston, the work was moved to Harmondsworth at the beginning of 1941. There, scale models of the Möhne Dam were built at a scale of 1:50 to test Barnes Wallis's original idea.

Experience Harmondsworth Moor on foot

The open parkland at Harmondsworth Moor includes meadows, rivers, lakes and ponds. Winding paths lead through the open landscape and newly planted woodland. Helpful for planning your day: parking for Harmondsworth Moor is located at the southern end of the park and can be accessed via Tarmac Lane and Accommodation Lane.

If you would like to plan a longer walk, you can follow the West Drayton walk. The route is 3.7 miles long and passes through open, green landscapes, including The Closes, Harmondsworth Moor and Saxon Lake. The specific route length makes it easier to fit this walk into your travel plans. In addition, the history of early market gardening is a reminder that strawberries were an important crop in the area around Harmondsworth in the early 20th century.

Which accommodation suits your travel plans?

When looking for a holiday rental in Harmondsworth, you can first decide what you would like to focus on during your stay. If you are particularly interested in architectural history, Harmondsworth Barn, Harmondsworth Hall, Sun House and St Mary's Church offer a varied selection of subjects to explore. If landscape and outdoor activity are your priorities, Harmondsworth Moor and the 3.7-mile West Drayton walk offer a different direction. Those who would like to combine both can spread the historic details and landscape experiences over several days.

This turns the search for accommodation into a question of finding the right travel rhythm: would you prefer individual cultural discoveries, longer walks in the countryside or a mixture of both? Harmondsworth offers specific points of interest for this without requiring you to limit yourself to just one type of excursion. You can also compare Uxbridge, West Drayton, Ruislip, Ickenham, Northwood, Harlington and Harefield for further destination pages.

For the higher-level travel overview: Hillingdon.