Before the revolutionary New Towns Act of 1946, this was the historic centre of Harlow. First featured in the Domesday Book of 1086, Harlow’s history as an urban site is long and prolific. Situated presently at the northeastern point of Harlow Town, Old Harlow’s historic origins have been maintained, with two Grade I listed buildings and many more Grade II listed sites! Due to this history, the housing stock of Old Harlow thoroughly reflects this, and offers period manor houses, quaint cottages, Edwardian detached properties, and terraced townhouses.

Similar to many urbanised areas of Essex, Old Harlow began its urbanisation as a market town. Whilst first recorded in the Domesday Book, its origins as a town pre-date this time. The market identity is strongly encoded into the planning layout of the area, germinating from Market Street and beyond. It’s reputation as a prosperous location really took off during the Victorian and Edwardian periods, due to the 1842 opening of the Harlow Mill Station, operated by Northern and Eastern Railway. This connected North Essex and Hertfordshire directly to Liverpool Street in East London, and began the process of Harlow acting as a commuter town to London. This brought in significant affluence to the area, shown in the proliferation of high-budget housing found still today in Old Harlow.

According to local legend, Old Harlow isn’t just connected by National Rail and the M25, it also is host to a series of secretive subterranean tunnels! Rumour has it that the historic St. Marys Church on Churchgate Street was once connected to the Stafford Almshouses, located directly opposite. The church dates from the Medieval period, but the Almshouses were constructed c. 1600. Before it became an Almshouse, it was the home to a priest, who supposedly built a chapel in the cellar, and archaeological traces suggests this went throughout Churchgate Street!

When Old Harlow became subsumed into the new Harlow Town as part of the New Towns Act, it ceased to be the central hub of Harlow’s infrastructure. Due to this, and other economic factors, Old Harlow suffered infrastructural decline throughout the latter half of the 20th century. However, there has been recent planning efforts made to stimulate the economy of Old Harlow. Most notably, a garden-city is currently being proposed to the East of Old Harlow, and the local plans for the Harlow are aiming to increase the housing stock by nearly 10,000 homes!