19 Facts About Harlow

Harlow is a large town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England.

Old Harlow is a historic village 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.

Harlow was in Roman times the site of a small town with a substantial stone built temple.

Harlow was, along with places such as Basildon, Stevenage and Hemel Hempstead a result of the New Towns Act of 1946, with the master plan for Harlow drawn up in 1947 by Sir Frederick Gibberd.

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.

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From 1894 to 1955 the Harlow parish formed part of the Epping Rural District of Essex.

Since becoming a new town, Harlow has undergone several stages of expansion, the first of which was the "mini expansion" that was created by the building of the Sumners and Katherines estates in the mid-to-late seventies to the west of the existing town.

Since then Harlow has further expanded with the Church Langley estate completed in 2005, and its newest neighbourhood Newhall has completed the first stage of its development, with the second stage underway in 2013.

An attempt to have Harlow North designated an "Eco Town" was rejected by the Minister for Housing, Caroline Flint MP, in April 2008.

Harlow was originally expected to provide a majority of employment opportunities in manufacturing, with two major developments of The Pinnacles and Templefields providing the biggest employers in the region; as with the rest of the country, this manufacturing base has declined and Harlow has had to adjust.

Harlow defeated Labour's Phil Waite, his predecessor being Bill Rammell, who had been the MP since the 1997 election, but had only held the seat at the 2005 general election by a majority of 97 votes.

Harlow is reached from junctions 7 and 7a of the M11 motorway, which runs from London to Cambridge, placing it within a short distance of Stansted Airport and the A120 and the orbital M25 motorway.

Bishop's Stortford is the closest large town to London Stansted Airport, though Harlow is only 10 miles from this major transport hub, and therefore provides several hundred airport employees.

Harlow is served by the NHS Princess Alexandra Hospital, situated on the edge of The High, which is the main Town Centre area of Harlow.

St Nicholas School is an independent school in the town while Harlow College provides sixth form and further education and St Mark's West Essex Catholic School and BMAT STEM Academy provide sixth form education.

Les Smith, a Harlow resident, represented Great Britain at the 1992 Barcelona Paralympic Games.

Harlow has a local museum, which hold exhibitions and which contains artefacts on Harlow's historic past, charting the story of the town through the ages.

Harlow Museum is in Muskham Road, and is set within the grounds of a sixteenth-century manor building with walled gardens.

Harlow was home to The Square, named one of the Top 10 Small Venues in the UK by NME, but the venue was closed due to re-development of the site, and was demolished in 2018.