Facts about Harlow
Harlow History
The original Harlow New Town was built after World War II to ease overcrowding in London and the surrounding areas due to the devastation caused by the bombing during the Blitz. Harlow was a Mark One New Town along with other new towns such as Basildon, Stevenage and Hemel Hempstead. New Towns were designated following the New Towns Act of 1946, with the master plan for Harlow drawn up in 1947 by Sir Frederick Gibberd. The town was planned from the outset and was designed to respect the existing landscape.
The development incorporated the market town of Harlow, now a neighbourhood known as Old Harlow, and the villages of Great Parndon, Latton, Tye Green, Potter Street, Churchgate Street, Little Parndon, and Netteswell. Each of the town’s neighbourhoods is self-supporting with its own shopping precincts, community facilities and pubs. Harlow has one of the most extensive cycle track networks in the country, connecting all areas of the town to the town centre and industrial areas.
General Info
Harlow is a former Mark One New Town and local government district in the west of Essex, England. Situated on the border with Hertfordshire, it occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the upper Stort Valley, which has been made navigable through other towns and features a canal section near its watermill. Old Harlow is a village-size suburb founded by the early medieval age and most of its high street buildings are early Victorian and residential, mostly protected by one of the Conservation Areas in the district. In Old Harlow is a field named Harlowbury, a de-settled monastic area which has the remains of a chapel, a scheduled ancient monument.
