Harewood ( ) is a village,

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, former manor and ecclesiastical parish, in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England, today in the

metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of districts of England, local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan distr ...

of the

City of Leeds Leeds, also known as the City of Leeds, is a metropolitan borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in West Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of Leeds and the towns of Farsley, Gar ...

. The civil parish population at the 2011 census was 3,734.

Etymology

The name of Harewood is first attested in the tenth-century Rushworth Gospels manuscript, in the form ''æt Harawuda'' ('at Harewood'); it is next attested in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086, as ''Hareuuode''. Although consideration has been given to an origin involving the Old English word ''hār'' ('grey'), commentators agree that, as the name's present-day form suggests, the name comes from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

words ''hara'' ('

hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores and live Solitary animal, solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are precociality, able to fend for themselves ...

') and ''wudu'' ('wood'). Thus it once meant 'wood characterised by hares'.

Location

Harewood sits in the Harewood ward of

Leeds City Council Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. Leeds has had a council since 1626, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974 it has been a metropolitan borough council. It provides the ...

and Elmet and Rothwell parliamentary constituency. The A61 from

Leeds city centre Leeds city centre is the central business district of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is roughly bounded by the Leeds Inner Ring Road, Inner Ring Road to the north and the River Aire to the south and can be divided into several quarters. A ...

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

passes through the village. The A659 from Collingham joins the A61 outside the main entrance to

Harewood House Harewood House ( , ) is a English country house, country house in Harewood, West Yorkshire, Harewood, West Yorkshire, England. Designed by architects John Carr (architect), John Carr and Robert Adam, it was built between 1759 and 1771, for Ed ...

( ) to descend the slopes of the Wharfe valley before continuing towards Pool-in-Wharfedale.

Amenities

The Harewood Arms

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

and hotel is opposite the entrance to the Harewood Estate. Other facilities in the village include a medical centre, mobile library, cemetery, community cafe, and a village hall. It is the location of the UK's longest motorsport hillclimb, Harewood speed Hillclimb (pronounced ). The exterior set for the

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...

'' is located in the Harewood estate.

Education

Harewood C of E Primary School is a state-funded

faith school A faith school is a school in the United Kingdom that teaches a general curriculum but which has a particular religious character or formal links with a religious or faith-based organisation. The term is most commonly applied to state-funded fai ...

which stands opposite the grounds of the Harewood estate on the A61 and was built by the estate in 1864 for estate workers' children. In 2005 and 2008 the school was awarded "outstanding" grading following Ofsted inspections. The school maintains its historic links with the estate, the children regularly use its grounds and educational facilities. Gateways School is an independent private school with a

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

. The junior school and nursery are co-educational, admitting boys and girls to age 11.

Manor

The manor of Harewood was the seat of the de Romelli family, from which it passed by marriage of the heiress Avice de Romelli to her husband William de Curcy II (d. circa 1130),

feudal baron A feudal baron is a vassal holding a heritable fief called a ''barony'', comprising a specific portion of land, granted by an overlord in return for allegiance and service. Following the end of European feudalism, feudal baronies have largely be ...

of Stoke Curcy (now

Stogursey Stogursey is a small village and civil parish in the Quantock Hills in Somerset, England. It is situated from Nether Stowey, and west of Bridgwater. The village is situated near the Bristol Channel, which bounds the parish on the north. The ...

) in Somerset, whose granddaughter and eventual heiress Alice de Curcy (sister and heiress of William de Curcy IV (d.1194)) married Warin FitzGerold (1167-post-1216), eldest son and heir of Henry FitzGerold (d.1174/5), Chamberlain to King Henry II. Alice's daughter and sole heiress was Margaret FitzGerold, who married Baldwin de Redvers (1200–1216), eldest son and

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

of William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon (d.1217) and father of Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon. The eventual heiress was Isabel de Forz, eldest daughter of Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon (1217–1245). Her heir to the manor of Harewood was her distant cousin Warin de Lisle (d.1296) of Cambridgeshire, whose paternal grandmother was Alice FitzGerold. The De Lisle family then moved their seat to Rougemont Castle within the manor of Harewood. Warin's son was Robert de Lisle, 1st Baron Lisle (title created 1311) called "of Rougemont" to distinguish his family from the unrelated Baron Lisle "of Wootton, Isle of Wight", created in 1299. The site of Rougemont Castle was abandoned in about 1366 when the Lisle family built Harewood Castle nearby, of which much of the ruined stone structure survives, also hidden in overgrown woodland. Harewood Castle itself was abandoned as a residence soon after 1600 when it was owned by Sir William Wentworth of Gawthorpe Hall. The manor of Harewood containing both ruined castles was purchased in 1738 by the Lascelles family, which built there as its seat the surviving palatial 18th-century mansion known as

, still owned by the family, which was created

Earl of Harewood Earl of Harewood (), in the County of York, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The title was created in 1812 for Edward Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood, a wealthy sugar plantation owner and former Member of Parliament fo ...

in 1812.

Harewood House

, a

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

was designed by architects John Carr and

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (architect), William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and train ...

, and built between 1759 and 1771 for Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood. Its garden of more than is set in a landscape of designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown.

All Saints' Church

All Saints' Church, the former parish church, stands to the west of the village, in the grounds of Harewood House which was built in the 18th century. The village was relocated in the late 18th century, leaving the church isolated from the village population. It is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

but is no longer used regularly for worship and is in the care of the

Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...

Harewood Parish Council

The area covered by the parish council includes Harewood, Slaid Hill, Wigton Moor and Wike. Wigton Moor is the most populous part of the parish. Weardley was served by its own parish council from 1866 until 1 April 1937, when its parish was abolished and it merged with Harewood. The parish council manages and maintains Harewood Cemetery.Harewood Parish Council
Harewood Cemetery Improvement
accessed 18 May 2024

Location grid

References

External links

Harewood Parish Council website
* {{authority control City of Leeds Villages in West Yorkshire Civil parishes in West Yorkshire