Even newer than the new town of Harlow, is Church Langley. Sitting on the far eastern portion of Harlow Town and west of Matching Green, it was developed from 1992 and built over a period of thirteen years by sixteen different companies. Church Langley was developed as a self-sufficient community adjacent to the centre of Harlow Town. As a new neighbourhood, it was incorporated to service both the A414 and M11, and Harlow Council granted the permission for 3500 luxury new homes to be developed in the Church Langley region. Therefore, Church Langley is a very new area, and the architectural style is dominated by neo-Georgian and neo-Edwardian style suburban housing, with plenty of detached and semi-detached offerings.

Church Langley, when developed, hoped to usher in a fresh take on village life, and is often referred to as a village in media reporting today. However, it is actually a ward of Harlow Town, and is not a separate municipality. The town itself is built around a circular road, that connects the suburban sprawl to the shopping district; including the Tesco superstore and the vibrant Church Langley community centre. It was largely developed to ease pressure on the ever-growing Harlow population, and was marketed as a village to entice movement to the area.

One of the characteristic features of Church Langley, is the proximity to the nearby water-tower, built in 1993. The watertower’s prominence on the landscape has connected the local identity since it’s creation, and its unique sleek modernist design has even garnered online blogs dedicated to it!

Whilst this new area of Harlow has only been around for thirty years recent expansion has been slow to the area. This is mainly due to its short history and competing developments occurring east of Church Langley, with the vast Gilston Estate garden city proposals for the north of Harlow well underway.